Language Research

2. Background: Background notes

Independence achieved from the U.K. on January 1, 1901 (federation of UK colonies)

Constitution was ratified on July 9, 1900 and became effective on January 1, 1901.

Australia became a commonwealth of the British Empire in 1901. It was able to take advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop its agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort during World Wars I and II. Long-term concerns include pollution, particularly depletion of the ozone layer, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef. A referendum to change Australia’s status, from a commonwealth headed by the British monarch to an independent Republic, was defeated in 1999.

The first people to live in Australia, called Aborigines, migrated there about 40,000 years ago. The continent remained relatively unknown by outsiders until the 17th century. British convicts established the first European settlement in 1788 at Botany Bay in southeastern Australia. Australia grew as a group of British colonies during the 19th century, and in 1901 the colonies federated to form a unified independent nation.

Aborigines have inhabited every region of the island continent. Today they live in all states and territories of Australia, with the highest population concentrations in the states of Queensland and New South Wales. In 1996 the Aboriginal population of Australia numbered approximately 314,000, accounting for slightly more than 1.7% of the total population. Australia is also the original home of a much smaller group of indigenous people, the Torres Strait Islanders. These people live primarily in the far northeast of the country, nearest to the neighboring island of New Guinea. Estimated resident population of indigenous people was 2.1% in 1996.

The size of Australia’s Indigenous population declined dramatically after European settlement as a result of the impacts of colonization. New diseases, some of which were not life threatening to Europeans, had devastating effects on Indigenous communities because they lacked immunity. The number of Indigenous people also decreased as a result of the mistreatment of Aboriginal people, the dispossession of their land and the disruption and disintegration of their culture. According to estimates from L. R. Smith (L.R. Smith, 1980 The Aboriginal Population of Australia. Australian National University Press, Canberra), by 1901 the population of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people was 93,000.

The majority of Australia’s inhabitants are people of European descent. Most of them have a British or Irish heritage, but about 18% of the total population has other European origins. Asians, including Middle Easterners, account for 7% of the population. In 1991 the largest overseas-born groups were from Great Britain and Ireland (22.5%), other European countries (30%), and Asia and the Middle East (21%). Before World War II (1939-1945) more than 90% of the people were of British or Irish origin. Since then, more than 2 million Europeans from other countries have migrated to Australia. Since 1975, about 125,000 Southeast Asians have been admitted to the country, most as refugees.

Where today’s Australian were born

Independence achieved from the U.K. on January 1, 1901 (federation of UK colonies)

Constitution was ratified on July 9, 1900 and became effective on January 1, 1901.

Australia became a commonwealth of the British Empire in 1901. It was able to take advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop its agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort during World Wars I and II. Long-term concerns include pollution, particularly depletion of the ozone layer, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef. A referendum to change Australia’s status, from a commonwealth headed by the British monarch to an independent Republic, was defeated in 1999.

The first people to live in Australia, called Aborigines, migrated there about 40,000 years ago. The continent remained relatively unknown by outsiders until the 17th century. British convicts established the first European settlement in 1788 at Botany Bay in southeastern Australia. Australia grew as a group of British colonies during the 19th century, and in 1901 the colonies federated to form a unified independent nation.

Aborigines have inhabited every region of the island continent. Today they live in all states and territories of Australia, with the highest population concentrations in the states of Queensland and New South Wales. In 1996 the Aboriginal population of Australia numbered approximately 314,000, accounting for slightly more than 1.7% of the total population. Australia is also the original home of a much smaller group of indigenous people, the Torres Strait Islanders. These people live primarily in the far northeast of the country, nearest to the neighboring island of New Guinea. Estimated resident population of indigenous people was 2.1% in 1996.

The size of Australia’s Indigenous population declined dramatically after European settlement as a result of the impacts of colonization. New diseases, some of which were not life threatening to Europeans, had devastating effects on Indigenous communities because they lacked immunity. The number of Indigenous people also decreased as a result of the mistreatment of Aboriginal people, the dispossession of their land and the disruption and disintegration of their culture. According to estimates from L. R. Smith (L.R. Smith, 1980 The Aboriginal Population of Australia. Australian National University Press, Canberra), by 1901 the population of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people was 93,000.

The majority of Australia’s inhabitants are people of European descent. Most of them have a British or Irish heritage, but about 18% of the total population has other European origins. Asians, including Middle Easterners, account for 7% of the population. In 1991 the largest overseas-born groups were from Great Britain and Ireland (22.5%), other European countries (30%), and Asia and the Middle East (21%). Before World War II (1939-1945) more than 90% of the people were of British or Irish origin. Since then, more than 2 million Europeans from other countries have migrated to Australia. Since 1975, about 125,000 Southeast Asians have been admitted to the country, most as refugees.

Where today’s Australian were born – %

Australia – 76.7%

Britain and Ireland – 6.6%

Continental Europe – 6.4%

Asia – 5.0%

Oceania – 2.1%

Middle East and North Africa – 1.2%

Other parts of the world – 2.0%

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