Portal:Australia

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Introduction  

View from Connors Hill in Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia -

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The flag of Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of 7,688,287 km² (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest country in the world and the largest in Oceania. Australia is the world's flattest and driest inhabited continent. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates including deserts in the interior and tropical rainforests along the coast.

The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the last glacial period. By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke 250 distinct languages and had one of the oldest living cultures in the world. Australia's written history commenced with Dutch exploration of most of the coastline in the 17th century. British colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of the penal colony of New South Wales. By the mid-19th century, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and five additional self-governing British colonies were established, each gaining responsible government by 1890. The colonies federated in 1901, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. This continued a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942, and culminating in the Australia Acts of 1986.

Australia is a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy comprising six states and ten territories. Its population of almost 28 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Canberra is the nation's capital, while its most populous cities are Sydney and Melbourne, both with a population of more than 5 million. Australia's culture is diverse, and the country has one of the highest foreign-born populations in the world. It has a highly developed economy and one of the highest per capita incomes globally. Its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to the country's economy. It ranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights.

Featured article -

  Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

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Silverchair was an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, Ben Gillies on drums, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got their big break in mid-1994 when they won a national demo competition conducted by SBS TV show Nomad and ABC radio station Triple J. The band was signed by Murmur and were successful in Australia and internationally. Silverchair has sold over 10 million albums worldwide. (Full article...)

More Australian featured content

Selected biography -

Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

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Cynna Kydd (née Neele; born 18 September 1981 in Kyabram, Victoria) is a former Australian professional netball player. Kydd achieved some success in netball and swimming in her early life, and played in the Dairy Farmers State League at the age of 16. She was also selected for the national under-21 team in 1999 and was accepted by the Australian Institute of Sport, before launching her professional career. (Full article...)

More Australian featured biographies

Did you know (auto-generated) -  

• ... that the developers of Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number suggested that Australian customers pirate their game?
• ... that Episode 8055 of the Australian television soap opera Neighbours is the first episode in the show's history to star and be directed and written entirely by women?
• ... that an Australian High Court case found a hotel chain to have used third-party contractors to avoid paying employees their required benefits?
• ... that in the 1920s, Australian journalist E. George Marks predicted military conflict in the Pacific between Japan and the United States?
• ... that Mark Hutton was the first Australian to be a starting pitcher in a Major League Baseball game?
• ... that Anna Burke was the second woman to give birth while a member of the Australian House of Representatives?
• ... that Tupou VI was crowned by D'Arcy Wood, an Australian, in order to respect the tradition of native Tongans not touching the king's head?
• ... that politics in The Simpsons have caused controversy in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, and Japan?

More Australian facts

In the news  

31 March 2025 – Australia–North Korea relations

The Royal Australian Air Force deploys a long-range maritime patrol aircraft P-8 Poseidon to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, to monitor North Korean maritime activities in the Yellow Sea, including weapons shipments prohibited under international sanctions. (NK News)

8 March 2025 – 2024–25 Australian region cyclone season

Cyclone Alfred

One person is confirmed killed and thirteen others are injured in floods caused by Cyclone Alfred as it passes through Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. (AP)

5 March 2025 – 2024–25 Australian region cyclone season

Tropical Cyclone Alfred

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli announces the suspension of public transport services and the closure of 640 schools in South East Queensland, Australia, as Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall early Friday morning local time. (ABC News Australia)

3 March 2025 – 2024–25 Australian region cyclone season

Cyclone warnings are issued to residents of Brisbane, South East Queensland and the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales as Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall on Thursday or early Friday local time. (The Guardian Australia)

Selected pictures -

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  2008 Australian Grand Prix

  Photo credit: Fir0002

  Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg at corner 6 of the 2008 Australian Grand Prix, during one of the race's safety car periods. This first race of the 2008 Formula One season was won by McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Heidfeld and Rosberg finished second and third, respectively.
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  Cripps Pink

  Photo credit: Fir0002

  Two whole Cripps Pink apples and a cross-section of a third. More commonly known by the trademarked name "Pink Lady", this apple cultivar was originally bred by John Cripps by crossing the Australian apple Lady Williams with a Golden Delicious. The apple shape is ellipsoid, it has a distinctive pink hue mixed with a green "background," and taste is tart.
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  Dusky Robin

  Photo: JJ Harrison

  The Dusky Robin (Melanodryas vittata) is a small passerine bird native to Tasmania. A member of the Australian Robin family, it is not related to European or American Robins. It is a brown-plumaged bird of open woodland, measuring 16–17 cm (6.3–6.7 in) in length.
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  Statue of the Dog on the Tuckerbox at Gundagai, New South Wales.

  
  The Dog on the Tuckerbox is an Australian historical monument and tourist attraction, located at Snake Gully, eight kilometres from Gundagai in New South Wales. It was sculpted by local stonemason Frank Rusconi and was unveiled by the then Prime Minister of Australia Joseph Lyons on 28 November 1932 as a tribute to pioneers.
  
  Photo credit: AYArktos
  
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  Fleet Air Arm (RAN)

  Photo: Fir0002

  A Eurocopter AS350 "Squirrel" helicopter flown by 723 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the section of the Royal Australian Navy responsible for the operation of aircraft. The FAA is currently an all-helicopter force, operating four separate models in the anti-submarine warfare and maritime support roles.
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  Elabana Falls, Lamington National Park

  
  Lamington National Park is a 206 square kilometre conservation area situated on the Lamington Plateau in Queensland, 75 kilometres south of Brisbane. It is part of the World Heritage site, Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves. Most of the park is situated 900 m above sea level only 30 km from the Pacific's ocean shores. The plateau and cliffs, remnants of a huge volcano, remain one of the world's most special sanctuaries.
  
  Photo credit: Malcolm Jacobson
  
  
  
  
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  The pinnacles with dusk approaching

  
  The Pinnacles Desert is an area of unique limestone formations within the Nambung National Park in Western Australia. The desert contains many thousands of pillars, which rise up to five metres, with shape and texture having been defined by calcification processes and erosion. Since The Pinnacles was incorporated into the national park in the 1960s, the area has become significant tourist attraction.
  
  Photo credit: Sean Mack
  
  
  
  
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  Hobart

  Photo credit: Noodle snacks

  A view of the greater Hobart area, as seen from Mount Wellington. The state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania, Hobart is located in the state's south-east, on the estuary of the River Derwent.
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  Tallow Beach.

  
  
  Byron Bay is a coastal town in the state of New South Wales of almost 30,000 people. Located approximately 800 kilometres north of Sydney and 200 kilometres south of Brisbane, the town is situated near Cape Byron at the eastern-most point of the Australian continent. The town is a popular tourist destination and is known for its pristine beaches, wildlife, alternative lifestyle and music festivals.
  
  Photo credit: Mike Lehmann
  
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  Victoria Police

  Photo: John O'Neill

  An officer of the Victoria Police, the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian state of Victoria. The agency was founded in 1835 from an existing colonial police force of 875 men. As of 2011, the Victoria Police has over 12,190 sworn members, and over 2,900 civilian staff across 393 police stations.
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  A view of Manly Beach looking North from above the Manly Surf Lifesaving Club at the Southern end of the beach.

  
  
  
  

  Manly Beach is a well-known beach situated off Manly in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney.

  
  
  Photo credit: Petesmiles
  
  
  
  
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  Satellite image of Mawson Peak on Heard Island

  
  Heard Island and McDonald Islands is an Australian territory comprising uninhabited, barren islands in the Southern Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The islands have been a territory of Australia since 1947 and became a World Heritage Site in 1997. It contains the only two active volcanoes in Australian territory, one of which, Mawson Peak, is the highest Australian mountain.
  
  Photo credit: NASA World Wind
  
  
  
  
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  End of Skyshow 2006 seen from golf course, corner of Ward Street and Mills Terrace, North Adelaide

  
  
  Skyshow is an annual fireworks event held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide since 1985. The half-hour fireworks display is synchronised to pop music and presented by local commercial radio station SAFM. Originating as an Australia Day celebration, the event was subsequently moved to late summer, usually February. Although beset with serious financial difficulties in the late 1990s until rescued by the South Australian Government, it is estimated some 150,000 people attend the main festivities in Bonython Park, whilst many more watch from vantage points along the Adelaide Hills.
  
  Photo credit: Alex Sims
  
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  Zizina labradus

  Photo credit: John O'Neill

  A Common Grass Blue (Zizina labradus), a small Australian butterfly. This specimen, perched on a rose, is approximately 10 millimetres (0.4 in) in size. Females generally have a larger wingspan compared to males (23 and 20 mm or 0.9 and 0.8 in respectively).
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  Beautiful Firetail

  Photo: JJ Harrison

  A Beautiful Firetail (Stagonopleura bella) male (top) and female. In this common Australian species of estrildid finch, nest-building and raising children is done collaboratively.
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  Australian Synchrotron

  Photo credit: John O'Neill

  A panoramic view across the interior of the Australian Synchrotron (a subatomic particle accelerator) in Clayton, Victoria. Dominating the image is the storage ring, showing the optical diagnostic beamline at front right. In the middle of the storage ring is the booster synchrotron and linac. The yellow, green and red magnets on the trolley (front left) are a demonstration of the bending and focusing magnets used in the storage ring to produce the synchrotron radiation and maintain the electron beam.
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  Sydney Opera House

  Photo credit: Chmouel

  The Sydney Opera House in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
  
  Situated on Bennelong Point at Sydney Harbour, the Sydney Opera House is one of the most distinctive and famous 20th-century buildings, and one of the most famous performing arts venues in the world.
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  Jeremy Doyle

  Photo: Sport the Library

  Jeremy Doyle (1983–2011) was an Australian wheelchair basketball player. Left paraplegic after a car accident, he was classified as a 1 point player. While representing his country Doyle won two gold medals, first at the 2009 Paralympic World Cup and again at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship.
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  Fuel dumping

  Photo credit: John O'Neill

  Fuel dumping is a practice used by aircraft that are equipped to jettison fuel in the event of certain types of emergency situations. This RAAF F-111 aircraft is performing a dump-and-burn fuel dump at the Australian International Airshow, a procedure where the fuel is intentionally ignited using the plane's afterburner. This type of fuel dumping is also referred to as "torching" or a "zippo".
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  Tasmanian Native-hen

  Photo credit: Noodle snacks

  The Tasmanian Native-hen (Gallinula mortierii) is a flightless rail between 43 to 51 cm (17 to 20 in) in length, one of twelve species of birds endemic to the Australian island of Tasmania. Although flightless, it is capable of running quickly and has been recorded running at speeds up to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h).
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  Aeshnidae

  Photo: JJ Harrison

  The Tasmanian Darner (Austroaeschna tasmanica) is an Australian species of dragonfly in the Aeshnidae family, which includes some of the largest of the dragonflies on the planet. Also referred to as "hawkers", the name "darner" derives from the fact that the female abdomens look like a sewing needle, as they cut into plant stem when they lay their eggs through the ovipositor.
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  Metallic Ringtail

  Photo: JJ Harrison

  The Metallic Ringtail (Austrolestes cingulatus) is an Australian species of damselfly, so named because of its glossy metallic colouration and the "rings" on each abdominal segment. It is widely distributed in Tasmania, Victoria, eastern New South Wales and south eastern Queensland.

On this day  

3 April:

Ludwig Leichhardt

• 1848 – Explorer Ludwig Leichhardt was last seen on the Darling Downs.
• 1954 – Vladimir Petrov, a Soviet diplomat, defects to Australia, sparking the Petrov Affair.
• 1969 – Actor Ben Mendelsohn is born.
• 1982 – After almost 27 years in power, the Liberal/National coalition government is voted out in Victoria and replaced by the ALP.

More Australian anniversaries...

General images  

The following are images from various Australia-related articles on Wikipedia.

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  Kylie Minogue, one of Australia's most successful pop musicians (from Culture of Australia)
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  St Mary Mackillop established an extensive network of schools and is Australia's first canonised saint of the Catholic Church. (from Culture of Australia)
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  Didgeridoo performers (from Culture of Australia)
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  The Princess Theatre in Melbourne (from Culture of Australia)
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  A commemorative statue of John Simpson Kirkpatrick, a famous stretcher bearer who was killed in the Gallipoli Campaign. (from Culture of Australia)
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  A group of Australian men wearing speedos (from Culture of Australia)
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  Golden Wattle, Australia's floral emblem and the source of Australia's national colours, green and gold (from Culture of Australia)
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  Governor Arthur Phillip hoists the British flag over the new colony at Sydney Cove in 1788 (from Culture of Australia)
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  Actor playing the bushranger Ned Kelly in The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), the world's first feature film (from Culture of Australia)
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  The verandah is the dominant feature of this Federation Filigree-style pub in Ravenswood. (from Culture of Australia)
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  Parliament House, Canberra (from Culture of Australia)
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  The Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne (from Culture of Australia)
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  Cricket match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, 1860s (from Culture of Australia)
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  Noongar traditional dancers in Perth (from Aboriginal Australians)
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  Singer-songwriter Paul Kelly (from Culture of Australia)
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  Anzac Day dawn services are held throughout Australia every April. (from Culture of Australia)
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  PCA of Orang Asli (Semang) and Andamanese, with worldwide populations in HGDP (from Aboriginal Australians)
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  Founded in 1993, Sydney's Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. (from Culture of Australia)
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  The University of Sydney (from Culture of Australia)
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  South Australian suffragette Catherine Helen Spence (1825–1910). The Australian colonies established democratic parliaments from the 1850s and began to grant women the vote in the 1890s.
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  A Luritja man demonstrating method of attack with boomerang under cover of shield (1920) (from Culture of Australia)
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  Sydney Opera House (foreground) and Sydney Harbor Bridge (from Culture of Australia)
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  Men from Bathurst Island, 1939 (from Aboriginal Australians)
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  Skiing in Australia began in Kiandra, a goldmining town in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, in the 1860s. (from Culture of Australia)
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  Federation Bungalow in Killara, Sydney (from Culture of Australia)
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  An Aboriginal encampment near the Adelaide foothills in an 1854 painting by Alexander Schramm (from Aboriginal Australians)
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  House in Killara, New South Wales (from Culture of Australia)
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  Phar Lap winning the Melbourne Cup, "the race that stops a nation" (from Culture of Australia)
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  C. J. Dennis, poetic humourist of Australian English (from Culture of Australia)
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  Sheep grazing in rural Australia. Early British settlers introduced Western stock and crops and Australian agriculture now produces an abundance of fresh produce. (from Culture of Australia)
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  The first State of Origin shield (from Culture of Australia)
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  Convict architecture at Port Arthur, Tasmania (from Culture of Australia)
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  An Eastern Arrernte man of the Arltunga district, Northern Territory, in 1923. His hut is decked with porcupine grass. (from Aboriginal Australians)
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  Cover of Old Bush Songs, Banjo Paterson's 1905 collection of bush ballads (from Culture of Australia)
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  Statue in Fremantle of an Australian rules footballer taking a spectacular mark (from Culture of Australia)
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  Portrait of Madame Melba by Rupert Bunny (from Culture of Australia)
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  William Wentworth (1790–1872) was among the first to articulate a vision of Australian nationhood. (from Culture of Australia)
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  A high-set Victorian-era Queenslander with a large veranda in Brisbane (from Culture of Australia)
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  Countries of birth of Australian estimated resident population, 2006 (from Culture of Australia)
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  Interior of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney (from Culture of Australia)
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  Dwellings accommodating Aboriginal families at Hermannsburg Mission, Northern Territory, 1923 (from Aboriginal Australians)
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  Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney (from Culture of Australia)
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  Dame Edna Everage, a comic creation of Barry Humphries (from Culture of Australia)
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  Birdsville Hotel, an Australian pub in outback Queensland (from Culture of Australia)
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  Nan Tien Temple, a Buddhist temple in Wollongong. Multicultural immigration has increased Australia's religious diversity. (from Culture of Australia)
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  A swagman in bushman's apparel, wearing a brimmed hat and carrying swag and billy can (from Culture of Australia)
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  The Wiggles performing in the United States in 2007 (from Culture of Australia)
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  The Matildas, Australia's national women's football team (from Culture of Australia)
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  The surf lifesaving movement originated in Australia. (Pictured: surf lifesavers, Bondi Beach, 1930s). (from Culture of Australia)
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  The Bulletin, founded by J. F. Archibald (left), nurtured bush poets such as Henry Lawson (right). (from Culture of Australia)
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  Donald Bradman is often cited as statistically the greatest sportsman of any major sport. (from Culture of Australia)
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  Corroboree at Newcastle by convict artist Joseph Lycett, ca. 1818. Aboriginal Australian religious practices associated with the Dreamtime have been practised for tens of thousands of years. (from Culture of Australia)
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  Historical image of Aboriginal Australian women and children, Maloga, New South Wales around 1900 (in European dress) (from Aboriginal Australians)
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  Bush tucker harvested in Alice Springs (from Culture of Australia)
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  The SBS building in Melbourne's Federation Square. SBS is Australia's multicultural broadcaster. (from Culture of Australia)
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  A billycan used for heating water (from Culture of Australia)
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  The initial human settlement of Oceania is estimated to have been between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago. Archaeogenetic results indicate a colonisation of southern Sahul (Australia) before 37,000 years ago and an incubation period in northern Sahul (Papua New Guinea), followed by westward expansions within Australia after about 28,000 years ago. (from Aboriginal Australians)
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  A typical Queenslander house in Brisbane (from Culture of Australia)

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WikiProject  

Flag of the Commonwealth of Australia	Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia

Consider joining WikiProject Australia, a WikiProject dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of topics related to Australia. The project page and its subpages contain suggestions on formatting and style of articles, which can be discussed at the project's notice board. To participate, simply add your name to the project members page.

As of 2 April 2025, there are 207,741 articles within the scope of WikiProject Australia, of which 598 are featured and 894 are good articles. This makes up 2.98% of the articles on Wikipedia, 5.28% of all featured articles and lists, and 2.16% of all good articles (see WP:AUSFG). Including non-article pages, such as talk pages, redirects, categories, etc., there are 415,482 pages in the project.

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