Portal:Australia
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Introduction
Island Archway on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia -
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. Australia 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. It is the world's oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with some of the least fertile soils. 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 more than 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.
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Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.
The Victoria Cross for Australia is the highest award in the Australian honours system, superseding the British Victoria Cross for issue to Australians. The Victoria Cross for Australia is the "decoration for according recognition to persons who in the presence of the enemy, perform acts of the most conspicuous gallantry, or daring or pre-eminent acts of valour or self-sacrifice or display extreme devotion to duty". (Full article...)
Selected biography -
Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
Steve Dodd (1 June 1928 – 10 November 2014) was an Aboriginal Australian actor, notable for playing Aboriginal characters across seven decades of Australian film. After beginning his working life as a stockman and rodeo rider, Dodd was given his first film roles by prominent Australian actor Chips Rafferty. His career was interrupted by six years in the Australian Army during the Korean War, and limited by typecasting. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that in 1919 nurse Hilda Hope McMaugh became the first Australian woman to qualify as a pilot?
- ... that the Australian spider Progradungula barringtonensis has been called a "ghost of Gondwana"?
- ... that Australiformis semoni is a parasite that infests marsupials in Australia and New Guinea and whose infestation could cause debilitating ulcerative granulomatous gastritis?
- ... that Peter Read coined the term "Stolen Generations" to refer to Aboriginal children who were forcibly separated from their families by Australian governments?
- ... that the Australian Light Weight Air Warning Radar was once loaded using canoes and later manhandled up a 200-foot cliff?
- ... that the 2022 Optus data breach affected over a third of Australians?
- ... that Episode 7921 of Neighbours featured Australia's first televised fictional same-sex wedding since the country voted in favour of legalising same-sex marriage?
- ... that Barcroft Boake, the author of one of Australia's most anthologised poems, hanged himself with a stockwhip a few months after it was published?
In the news
- 3 February 2025 –
- A teenage girl is killed in a shark attack off the coast of Queensland, Australia. (BBC News)
- 2 February 2025 – 2025 Queensland floods
- Two people are killed and thousands are forced to evacuate their homes in over 1,000 millimetres (39 in) of flooding in North Queensland, Australia. (BBC News)
- 26 January 2025 – 2025 ATP Tour
- 2025 Australian Open
- In tennis, Jannik Sinner defeats Alexander Zverev 6–3, 7–6 (7–4), 6–3, in the men's singles final to win his second Australian Open title and his third Grand Slam overall. (The Guardian) (ATP News)
- 25 January 2025 – 2025 Australian Open
- In tennis, Madison Keys wins her first major title after defeating the two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5, to win the women's singles title at the Australian Open. (CNN)
- Henry Patten and Harri Heliövaara defeat Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 6–7 (16–18), 7–6 (7–5), 6–3, in the men's doubles final to win their first Australian Open title and their second joint Grand Slam title. (BBC News) (AO)
Selected pictures -
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Photo credit: John O'NeillA 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. -
Photo credit: Fir0002The Cairns Birdwing (Ornithoptera euphorion) is a birdwing butterfly of the Papilionidae family. It is Australia's largest butterfly, and is native to the tropical north of Queensland. -
McHugh lookout, Atherton Tableland, Queensland.
The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It is located west to south-west inland from Cairns, well into the tropics, but its elevated position provides a climate suitable for dairy farming. It has an area of around 32,000 km² with an avaerage altitude between 600 and 900m AHD. The area was originally explored for its tin and gold deposits, but today is primarily agricultural.
Photo credit: Mike Lehmann -
Photo credit: ChmouelThe 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. -
Photo: John O'NeillAn 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. -
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. -
Photo: JJ HarrisonThe 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. -
Alpine Range scenery as viewed just past Mt Hotham.
The Australian Alps are the highest mountain ranges of mainland Australia. They are located in south-eastern Australia, straddling far southern New South Wales and eastern Victoria. The Alps contain the Australian mainland's only peaks exceeding 2,000 metres AHD and it is only here that snow occurs regularly.
Photo credit: Fir0002 -
Photo credit: Fir0002Two 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. -
Photo: John O'Neill; edit: JJ HarrisonBrian Nankervis (b. 1956), an Australian comedian and writer, shown here during a live performance. Nankervis rose to popularity while playing Raymond J. Bartholomeuz on Hey Hey It's Saturday; since 2005 he has been a host of the gameshow RocKwiz. -
Photo credit: James Francis HurleySoldiers of an Australian 4th Division field artillery brigade on a duckboard track passing through Chateau Wood, near Hooge in the Ypres salient, October 29, 1917. The photo was taken in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, which was one of the major battles of World War I. -
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 -
Photo credit: Noodle snacksThe 26-metre (85 ft) radio telescope at Mount Pleasant Radio Observatory, located 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Hobart, Tasmania, is the southernmost antenna used in Australia's Very Long Baseline Interferometry network. The facility is owned and operated by the University of Tasmania. -
Kiewa Valley
The Kiewa River is a major tributary of the Murray River in Australia and the source of approximately 40% of the Murray's flow. The river's headwaters include Victoria's highest mountain, Mount Bogong, and wind their way north-west about 100 kilometres, gradually slowing before joining the Murray west of Albury.
Photo credit: Mattinbgn -
Perth Mint
The Perth Mint is Australia's oldest operating mint. After the foundation stone was laid in 1896 by John Forrest, the Mint opened on June 20, 1899 as a branch of the Royal Mint in London to refine gold and manufacture gold sovereigns and half sovereigns to be used as currency in the colony.
Photo credit: Moondyne -
Photo credit: Noodle snacksA 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. -
Photo credit: Noodle snacksThe 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). -
An Eastern Banjo Frog, found in eastern Australia.
The Eastern Banjo Frog, Limnodynastes dumerilli, is a frog species from the family Myobatrachidae. It is native to eastern Australia and has been introduced to New Zealand. The frog is also commonly called the "pobblebonk" after its distinctive "bonk" call, which is likened to a banjo string being plucked.
Photo credit: Fir0002 -
Soldiers of 11th Battalion posing on the Great Pyramid of Giza on 10 January 1915, prior to the landing at Gallipoli.
The Australian 11th Battalion was an Australian Army unit in World War I. It was among the first infantry units raised for the First Australian Imperial Force during the war and was the first battalion recruited in Western Australia. Along with the 9th, 10th and 12th Battalions, it formed the 3rd Brigade. By the end of the war, the Battalion suffered casualties of 1,115 killed and 2,249 wounded (including gassed). Prior to the Gallipoli landing, the Battalion was posted in Egypt.
Photo credit: Unknown -
Photo credit: Frank HurleyA group of Australian infantry wearing Small Box Respirators (SBRs) at the Third Battle of Ypres in September 1917. After the introduction of poison gas in World War I, countermeasures were developed. SBRs represented the pinnacle of gas mask development during the war, a mouthpiece connected via a hose to a box filter (hanging around the wearer's neck in this picture), which in turn contained granules of chemicals that neutralised the gas. The SBR was the prized possession of the ordinary infantryman; when the British were forced to retreat during the German Spring Offensive of 1918, it was found that while some troops had discarded their rifles, hardly any had left behind their respirators. -
Photo credit: LiquidGhoulThe head of a Coastal Carpet Python, the largest subspecies of Morelia spilota, a non-venomous Australian python, showing its forked tongue, a feature common to many reptiles, who smell using the tip of their tongue. Having a forked tongue allows them to tell which direction a smell is coming from. -
Photo: Benjamint444The Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) is a large species of frogmouth found throughout the Australian mainland, Tasmania, and southern New Guinea. Unlike the owl for which it is often mistaken, the Tawny Frogmouth is not a bird of prey. Instead, it is almost exclusively insectivorous. For defense, it relies on cryptic camouflage, standing still to appear part of a branch.
On this day
_and_USS_Midway_(CV-41)_underway_on_16_May_1981_(6380752).jpg)
- 1852 – the Supreme Court of Victoria sits for the first time in Melbourne.
- 1954 – Queen Elizabeth II plants a tree at the Australian War Memorial to mark the beginning of the Remembrance Driveway between Canberra and Sydney.
- 1964 – HMAS Voyager collides with HMAS Melbourne and sinks south-east of Jervis Bay, killing 82.
- 1973 – Australia's first legal casino, the Wrest Point Casino, opens in Hobart, Tasmania.
- 1981 – Townsville International Airport opens in Queensland.
General images
The following are images from various Australia-related articles on Wikipedia.
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The Wiggles performing in the United States in 2007 (from Culture of Australia) -
Portrait of Madame Melba by Rupert Bunny (from Culture of Australia) -
Nan Tien Temple, a Buddhist temple in Wollongong. Multicultural immigration has increased Australia's religious diversity. (from Culture of Australia) -
The Princess Theatre in Melbourne (from Culture of Australia) -
Men from Bathurst Island, 1939 (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Dwellings accommodating Aboriginal families at Hermannsburg Mission, Northern Territory, 1923 (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Cricket match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, 1860s (from Culture of Australia) -
The Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne (from Culture of Australia) -
Didgeridoo performers (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) -
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) -
Golden Wattle, Australia's floral emblem and the source of Australia's national colours, green and gold (from Culture of Australia) -
A Luritja man demonstrating method of attack with boomerang under cover of shield (1920) (from Culture of Australia) -
The University of Sydney (from Culture of Australia) -
The Matildas, Australia's national women's football team (from Culture of Australia) -
Singer-songwriter Paul Kelly (from Culture of Australia) -
A group of Australian men wearing speedos (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) -
Historical image of Aboriginal Australian women and children, Maloga, New South Wales around 1900 (in European dress) (from Aboriginal Australians) -
The Bulletin, founded by J. F. Archibald (left), nurtured bush poets such as Henry Lawson (right). (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) -
Interior of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney (from Culture of Australia) -
The surf lifesaving movement originated in Australia. (Pictured: surf lifesavers, Bondi Beach, 1930s). (from Culture of Australia) -
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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Anzac Day dawn services are held throughout Australia every April. (from Culture of Australia) -
The verandah is the dominant feature of this Federation Filigree-style pub in Ravenswood. (from Culture of Australia) -
A typical Queenslander house in Brisbane (from Culture of Australia) -
Cover of Old Bush Songs, Banjo Paterson's 1905 collection of bush ballads (from Culture of Australia) -
Governor Arthur Phillip hoists the British flag over the new colony at Sydney Cove in 1788 (from Culture of Australia) -
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) -
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. -
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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PCA of Orang Asli (Semang) and Andamanese, with worldwide populations in HGDP. (from Aboriginal Australians) -
William Wentworth (1790–1872) was among the first to articulate a vision of Australian nationhood. (from Culture of Australia) -
Skiing in Australia began in Kiandra, a goldmining town in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, in the 1860s. (from Culture of Australia) -
Founded in 1993, Sydney's Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. (from Culture of Australia) -
The first State of Origin shield (from Culture of Australia) -
A swagman in bushman's apparel, wearing a brimmed hat and carrying swag and billy can (from Culture of Australia) -
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) -
Convict architecture at Port Arthur, Tasmania (from Culture of Australia) -
Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney (from Culture of Australia) -
Parliament House, Canberra (from Culture of Australia) -
Kylie Minogue, one of Australia's most successful pop musicians (from Culture of Australia) -
Noongar traditional dancers in Perth (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Countries of birth of Australian estimated resident population, 2006 (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) -
Statue in Fremantle of an Australian rules footballer taking a spectacular mark (from Culture of Australia) -
House in Killara, New South Wales (from Culture of Australia) -
A billycan used for heating water (from Culture of Australia) -
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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As of 9 February 2025, there are 206,964 articles within the scope of WikiProject Australia, of which 599 are featured and 892 are good articles. This makes up 2.98% of the articles on Wikipedia, 5.32% of all featured articles and lists, and 2.17% of all good articles (see WP:AUSFG). Including non-article pages, such as talk pages, redirects, categories, etc., there are 413,928 pages in the project.
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