The name Australia comes from the Latin word australis, meaning "southern". Many people have called it Oz since, and the people are often nicknamed Aussies.
Australia (real name The Commonwealth of Australia) is the world's largest island, and also a continent. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Asia lies to the north.
The first people to go to Australia came from Indonesia and had been living there in isolated communities for tens of thousands of years when Europeans arrived. The first Europeans were Dutch, but the best known explorer to arrive was Captain Cook, who was British.
The eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770. At first it was used as a place where convicts could be transported from Britain. The first prison colony was founded in 1778 at Botany Bay, just to the south of modern Sydney.
As exploration continued, the whole of the island was claimed by Britain as six self-governing Crown Colonies.
A great addition to the population occurred in the mid 19th century when there was a gold rush.
In July 1900 Queen Victorian signed the document making Australia an independent federal state, and on 1 January 1901, the six colonies joined to form the Commonwealth of Australia. It became a dominion (self-governing part) of the British Empire in 1907. Australia is now an independent country that still chooses to have the British Queen as head of state, rather than to have an elected president.
In the second half of the 20th century, Australia tried to increase its population by inviting people from Britain to emigrate. They offered passage to Australia for ten pounds. These immigrants were called the ten pound poms (pommy being a nickname for the British). Since then most immigration has been from Asia.
Just about 24 million people currently live in Australia (2015), with most living in cities along the east coast.
Much of Central Australia is near desert and is known as the outback. The only mountains are near the east coast and called the Great Dividing Range.
The largest city is Sydney, but the capital is Canberra.
Australia Day marks Australia Day is the official National Day of Australia. It is celebrated on 26 January, and marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales, and the raising of the Flag of Great Britain at Sydney Cove by Governor Arthur Phillip.
