The
first human habitation of Australia is
estimated to have occurred between 42,000
and 48,000 years ago. The first Australians
were the ancestors of the current Indigenous
Australians; they arrived via land bridges
and short sea-crossings from present-day
Southeast Asia. Most of these people were
hunter-gatherers, with a complex oral
culture and spiritual values based on
reverence for the land and a belief in
the Dreamtime. The Torres Strait Islanders,
ethnically Melanesian, inhabited the Torres
Strait Islands and parts of far-north
Queensland; they possess distinct cultural
practices from the Aborigines. Lieutenant
James Cook charted the East coast of Australia
on HM Bark Endeavour, claiming the land
for Britain in 1770. The first undisputed
recorded European sighting of the Australian
continent was made by the Dutch navigator
Willem Jansz, who sighted the coast of
Cape York Peninsula in 1606.
During
the seventeenth century, the Dutch charted
the whole of the western and northern
coastlines of what they called New Holland,
but made no attempt at settlement. In
1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped
the east coast of Australia, which he
named New South Wales and claimed for
Britain. The expedition's discoveries
provided impetus for the establishment
of a penal colony there following the
loss of the American colonies that had
previously filled that role. Port Arthur,
Tasmania was Australia's largest penal
colony. The British Crown Colony of New
South Wales started with the establishment
of a settlement at Port Jackson by Captain
Arthur Phillip on 26 January 1788. This
date was later to become Australia's national
day, Australia Day. Van Diemen's Land,
now known as Tasmania, was settled in
1803 and became a separate colony in 1825.
The United Kingdom formally claimed the
western part of Australia in 1829. Separate
colonies were created from parts of New
South Wales: South Australia in 1836,
Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859.
The Northern Territory (NT) was founded
in 1863 as part of the Province of South
Australia. South Australia was founded
as a "free province" —
that is, it was never a penal colony.
Victoria and Western Australia were also
founded "free", but later accepted
transported convicts. The transportation
of convicts to Australia was phased out
between 1840 and 1864.
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