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Australia, officially theCommonwealth of Australia, is a country comprisingthe mainland of theAustralian continent, the island ofTasmania andnumerous smaller islands. It has a total area of 7,688,287 km2 (2,968,464 sq mi), making it thesixth-largest country in the world and the largest inOceania. Australia is the world's flattest and driest inhabited continent. It is amegadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes andclimates includingdeserts in theinterior andtropical rainforests along thecoast.
The ancestors ofAboriginal Australians began arriving fromSoutheast Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during theLast Glacial Period. By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke more than 250 distinct languages and had one of the oldest living cultures in the world.Australia's written history commenced withDutch exploration of most of the coastline in the 17th century. British colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of the penalcolony of New South Wales. By the mid-19th century, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and five additional self-governingBritish colonies were established, each gainingresponsible government by 1890. Thecolonies federated in 1901, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. This continued a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by theStatute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942, and culminating in theAustralia Acts of 1986.
Australia is aconstitutional monarchy with aparliamentary democracy, and afederation comprisingsix 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, whileits most populous cities areSydney andMelbourne, each with a population of more than five million.Australia's culture is diverse, and the country has one of thehighest foreign-born populations in the world. It has a highlydeveloped economy and one of thehighest per capita incomes globally. Its abundant natural resources and well-developedinternational trade relations are crucial tothe country's economy. Itranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights.
Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.
TheSydney Riot of 1879 was an instance ofcivil disorder that occurred at an early internationalcricket match. It took place on 8 February 1879 at what is now theSydney Cricket Ground (at the time known as the Association Ground), during a match betweenNew South Wales, captained byDave Gregory, and a touringEnglish team, captained byLord Harris. (Full article...)
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 1916 – 21 October 2014) was the 21stprime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of theAustralian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being the head of areformist andsocially progressive government that ended with his controversial dismissal by the then-governor-general of Australia,Sir John Kerr, at the climax of the1975 constitutional crisis. Whitlam remains the only Australian prime minister to have been removed from office by a governor-general. (Full article...)
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Consider joiningWikiProject 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'snotice board. To participate, simply add your name to theproject members page.
As of24 November 2025, there are211,089 articles within the scope of WikiProject Australia, of which598 arefeatured and926 aregood articles. This makes up 2.98% of the articles on Wikipedia, 5.18% of all featured articles and lists, and 2.15% of all good articles (seeWP:AUSFG). Including non-article pages, such as talk pages, redirects, categories, etc., there are548,746 pages in the project.
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