Until the early 19th century, Australia was best known as " New Holland", a name first applied by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 (as Nieuw-Holland) and subsequently anglicised.
When Europeans first began visiting and mapping Australia in the 17th century, the name Terra Australis was naturally applied to the new territories. The name Australia (pronounced / ə ˈ s t r eɪ l i ə/ in Australian English ) is derived from the Latin Terra Australis ("southern land"), a name used for a hypothetical continent in the Southern Hemisphere since ancient times. It is a member of international groupings including the United Nations, the G20, the Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, AUKUS, Five Eyes, the Quad, the OECD, the WTO, APEC, the Pacific Islands Forum and the Pacific Community. Having the eighth-highest Human Development Index, and the ninth-highest ranked democracy globally as of 2020, Australia ranks highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties, and political rights, with all its major cities faring exceptionally in global comparative livability surveys. Immigrants account for 30% of the country's population, the highest proportion among major Western nations. Australia is a regional power, and has the world's thirteenth-highest military expenditure. It has a high-income economy, with the world's tenth-highest per capita income. Īustralia is a highly developed country, with the world's twelfth-largest economy. Australia generates its income from various sources, including mining-related exports, telecommunications, banking, manufacturing, and international education. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, and mountain ranges in the south-east. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy, comprising six states and ten territories.Īustralia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the time of an 1850s gold rush, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established. In 1770, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788, a date which became Australia's national day. Indigenous Australians inhabited the continent beginning about 65,000 years ago, prior to the first arrival of Dutch explorers in the early 17th century, who named it New Holland. Canberra is the nation's capital, while the largest city is Sydney, and other major metropolitan areas include Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide. Australia's population of nearly 26 million, in an area of 7,617,930 square kilometres (2,941,300 sq mi), is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. It is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country.
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands.