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AUSTRALIA |
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| Cities of Australia |
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ABOUT AUSTRALIA | |
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Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the world's smallest continent and a number of islands in the Southern, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.
The mainland of Australia has been inhabited for more than 42,000 years by Indigenous Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the north and by European explorers and merchants starting in the seventeenth century, the eastern half of the mainland was claimed by the British in 1770 and officially settled through penal transportation as the colony of New South Wales on 26 January 1788.
On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a Federation, and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed.The capital city is Canberra, located in the Australian Capital Territory. |
Capital: - CanberraArea: - Total: 7,741,220 km² (6th) 2,988,888 sq mi
- Water (%): 1Independence: from the UK
- Constitution: 1 January 1901
- Statute of Westminster: 11 December 1931
- Australia Act: 3 March 1986 | Official languages: - English (de facto )Population: - 2006 estimate: 20,555,3002 (53rd)
- 2001 census: 18,972,350
- Density: 2.6/km² (224th) 6.7/sq mi | |
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