Portal:Australia

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Introduction

View from Connors Hill in Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia -

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It 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. Australia is the world's flattest and driest inhabited continent. 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 Southeast 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 almost 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 five 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.

Featured article -

Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

Near Kurnell, New South Wales

The Australian raven (Corvus coronoides) is a passerine corvid bird native to Australia. Measuring 46–53 centimetres (18–21 in) in length, it has an all-black plumage, beak and mouth, as well as strong, greyish-black legs and feet. The upperparts of its body are glossy, with a purple-blue, greenish sheen; its black feathers have grey bases. The Australian raven is distinguished from the Australian crow, and other related corvids, by its long chest feathers, or throat hackles, which are prominent in mature birds. Older individuals and subadults have white irises, while the younger birds' eyes display blue inner rims; hatchlings and young birds have brown, dark irises until about fifteen months of age, at which point their irises become hazel-coloured, with an inner blue rim around each pupil, this lasting until they are roughly 2.5 to 3 years of age. Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield described the Australian raven in 1827, its species name coronoides highlighting its similarity with the carrion crow (C. corone). Two subspecies are recognised, which differ slightly in their vocalisations, and are quite divergent, genetically. (Full article...)

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Selected biography -

Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

Pen portrait of Florence Fuller, 1897

Florence Ada Fuller (1867 – 17 July 1946) was a South African-born Australian artist. Originally from Port Elizabeth, Fuller migrated as a child to Melbourne with her family. There she trained with her uncle Robert Hawker Dowling and teacher Jane Sutherland and took classes at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School, becoming a professional artist in the late 1880s. In 1892 she left Australia, travelling first to South Africa, where she met and painted for Cecil Rhodes, and then on to Europe. She lived and studied there for the subsequent decade, except for a return to South Africa in 1899 to paint a portrait of Rhodes. Between 1895 and 1904 her works were exhibited at the Paris Salon and London's Royal Academy. (Full article...)

List of Featured biographies in portal

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Did you know (auto-generated) -

... that Nixon's "Slaughtergate" scandal involved selling kangaroo meat as beef?
... that Australian NFL player Laki Tasi got into American football at the suggestion of a burger shop owner?
... that the Greco-Australian dialect, a variety of Modern Greek, blends words with English roots into the Greek language?
... that Tupou VI was crowned by D'Arcy Wood, an Australian, in order to respect the tradition of native Tongans not touching the king's head?
... that on its maiden voyage from Liverpool to Australia, the George Roper ran aground and was wrecked?
... that Zali Steggall, an independent member of the Parliament of Australia, is an Olympic skiing medallist?
... 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 Aboriginal soldier Tim Hughes was decorated for remarkable bravery, exceptional coolness and initiative during the Battle of Buna–Gona?

More Australian facts

In the news

7 July 2025 – 2023 Leongatha mushroom murders: Erin Patterson is found guilty on all charges regarding deaths from Amanita poisoning from a lunch at her home in Leongatha, Australia. (ABC News Australia)
2 July 2025 – Quadrilateral Security Dialogue: Australia, India, Japan, and the United States announce a joint initiative to work towards securing minerals necessary for new technologies and reduce reliance on Chinese sources. (DW) (The Guardian)
2 July 2025 –: Australian airline Qantas is hit by a cyberattack affecting a third-party platform used by its call centre, compromising the personal data of up to 6 million customers. (ABC News Australia)
1 July 2025 –: An Australian east coast low rapidly intensifies as it makes landfall on the east coast of Australia, affecting millions of people in Sydney and the Central Coast. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
16 June 2025 –: Thai police raid a house in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, and arrest 13 foreigners, mostly Australians and British people, for running a fraudulent electronic trading platform that has stolen over AU$1.9 million (US$1.2 million). (AP)
11 June 2025 –: Australian flag carrier Qantas announces the closure of its Singapore-based, partly owned low-cost airline Jetstar Asia due to rising costs and regional competition. (BBC News)

Selected pictures -

Image 1
Victoria Police
Photo: John O'Neill
An 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.
Image 2
Sydney Opera House
Photo credit: Chmouel
The 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.
Image 3
Tasmanian Native-hen
Photo credit: Noodle snacks
The 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).
Image 4
Flinders Street Station is the central railway station of the suburban rail network of the Victorian capital of Melbourne. It is on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets next to the Yarra River in the central business district, stretching from Swanston Street to Queen Street and covering two city blocks. This 1927 photo shows a mix of motor vehicles and horse drawn carts on the streets, as well as both electric and non-electric trams. The station opened in 1910, replacing an ad hoc collection of weatherboard train sheds.

Photo credit: Victoria State Transport Authority
Image 5
Hobart
Photo credit: Noodle snacks
A 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.
Image 6
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
Image 7
Beautiful Firetail
Photo: JJ Harrison
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.
Image 8
Fleet Air Arm (RAN)
Photo: Fir0002
A Eurocopter AS350 "Squirrel" helicopter flown by 723 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the section of the Royal Australian Navy responsible for the operation of aircraft. The FAA is currently an all-helicopter force, operating four separate models in the anti-submarine warfare and maritime support roles.
Image 9
Common bluetail
Photo credit: Fir0002
The Common bluetail (Ischnura heterosticta) is a small Australian damselfly of the family Coenagrionidae. Most males have blue eyes, blue thorax and a blue ringed tail. The females are green or light brown.
Image 10
The Three Sisters are a famous rock formation in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. Located close to the town of Katoomba in the Jamison Valley, the sandstone monuments are one of the most popular attractions in the Blue Mountains National Park. The name of each mount in order of height is Meehni (922 m), Wimlah (918 m), and Gunnedoo (906 m). The Three Sisters feature in stories of the Indigenous Australian Dreamtime.

Photo credit: Diliff
Image 11
Fuel dumping
Photo credit: John O'Neill
Fuel dumping is a practice used by aircraft that are equipped to jettison fuel in the event of certain types of emergency situations. This RAAF F-111 aircraft is performing a dump-and-burn fuel dump at the Australian International Airshow, a procedure where the fuel is intentionally ignited using the plane's afterburner. This type of fuel dumping is also referred to as "torching" or a "zippo".
Image 12
Lauren Mitchell
Photo: Steven Rasmussen; edit: Keraunoscopia
Australian artistic gymnast Lauren Mitchell (b. 1991) performing a layout step-out on the balance beam during the 41st World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in London, United Kingdom, on 14 October 2009; at the Championships, Mitchell won two silver medals, one for the balance beam and another for floor exercises. Since her first medal in 2007, Mitchell has placed in the World Championships, World Cup, and Commonwealth Games, and competed in two Olympic Games.
Image 13
Jeremy Doyle
Photo: Sport the Library
Jeremy Doyle (1983–2011) was an Australian wheelchair basketball player. Left paraplegic after a car accident, he was classified as a 1 point player. While representing his country Doyle won two gold medals, first at the 2009 Paralympic World Cup and again at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship.
Image 14
Mount Pleasant Radio Observatory
Photo credit: Noodle snacks
The 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.
Image 15

Cradle Mountain forms the northern end of the wild Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, itself a part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
The jagged contours of Cradle Mountain epitomise the feel of a wild landscape, while ancient rainforest and alpine heathlands, buttongrass and stands of colourful deciduous beech provide a wide range of environments.
Cradle Mountain is a feature of the Overland Track.
Image 16
Tasmanian devil
Photo: JJ Harrison
The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is a carnivorous marsupial found in the wild only on the Australian island of Tasmania. It is characterised by its stocky and muscular build, black fur, pungent odour, extremely loud and disturbing screech, keen sense of smell, and ferocity when feeding. Its large head and neck allow it to generate the strongest bite per unit body mass of any living mammal.
Image 17

Skyshow is an annual fireworks event held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide since 1985. The half-hour fireworks display is synchronised to pop music and presented by local commercial radio station SAFM. Originating as an Australia Day celebration, the event was subsequently moved to late summer, usually February. Although beset with serious financial difficulties in the late 1990s until rescued by the South Australian Government, it is estimated some 150,000 people attend the main festivities in Bonython Park, whilst many more watch from vantage points along the Adelaide Hills.

Photo credit: Alex Sims
Image 18
Forked tongue
Photo credit: LiquidGhoul
The 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.
Image 19

The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, sometimes referred to as the Bluewater Classic, is a yacht race held over a distance of 630 nmi (1,170 km) between Sydney and Hobart. It commences on Boxing Day each year, and is hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania. The race was initially planned to be a cruise, but has grown since the inaugural race in 1945 to become one of the pre-eminent offshore yacht races in the world, now attracting maxi yachts from North America and Europe. The 2004 race marked the 60th running of the event.

Photo credit: Brian Voon Yee Yap
Image 20
Australian Synchrotron
Photo credit: John O'Neill
A 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.
Image 21
Tawny Frogmouth
Photo: Benjamint444
The 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.
Image 22
Heard Island and McDonald Islands is an Australian territory comprising uninhabited, barren islands in the Southern Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The islands have been a territory of Australia since 1947 and became a World Heritage Site in 1997. It contains the only two active volcanoes in Australian territory, one of which, Mawson Peak, is the highest Australian mountain.

Photo credit: NASA World Wind

On this day

9 July:

1941 – Australian forces in Lebanon capture Damour, opening the way to Beirut and leading the Vichy French to seek an armistice.
1946 – Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC is born.

More Australian anniversaries...

General images

The following are images from various Australia-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney (from Culture of Australia)
Image 2PCA of Orang Asli (Semang) and Andamanese, with worldwide populations in HGDP (from Aboriginal Australians)
Image 3Historical image of Aboriginal Australian women and children, Maloga, New South Wales around 1900 (in European dress) (from Aboriginal Australians)
Image 4Cover of Old Bush Songs, Banjo Paterson's 1905 collection of bush ballads (from Culture of Australia)
Image 5Parliament House, Canberra (from Culture of Australia)
Image 6The Wiggles performing in the United States in 2007 (from Culture of Australia)
Image 7Portrait of Madame Melba by Rupert Bunny (from Culture of Australia)
Image 8William Wentworth (1790–1872) was among the first to articulate a vision of Australian nationhood. (from Culture of Australia)
Image 9Donald Bradman is often cited as statistically the greatest sportsman of any major sport. (from Culture of Australia)
Image 10Statue in Fremantle of an Australian rules footballer taking a spectacular mark (from Culture of Australia)
Image 11The University of Sydney (from Culture of Australia)
Image 12Convict architecture at Port Arthur, Tasmania (from Culture of Australia)
Image 13Birdsville Hotel, an Australian pub in outback Queensland (from Culture of Australia)
Image 14Nan Tien Temple, a Buddhist temple in Wollongong. Multicultural immigration has increased Australia's religious diversity. (from Culture of Australia)
Image 15A Luritja man demonstrating method of attack with boomerang under cover of shield (1920) (from Culture of Australia)
Image 16A billycan used for heating water (from Culture of Australia)
Image 17Corroboree at Newcastle by convict artist Joseph Lycett, c. 1818. Aboriginal Australian religious practices associated with the Dreamtime have been practised for tens of thousands of years. (from Culture of Australia)
Image 18Governor Arthur Phillip hoists the British flag over the new colony at Sydney Cove in 1788. (from Culture of Australia)
Image 19Sydney Opera House (foreground) and Sydney Harbor Bridge (from Culture of Australia)
Image 20A group of Australian men wearing speedos (from Culture of Australia)
Image 21The Matildas, Australia's national women's football team (from Culture of Australia)
Image 22Men from Bathurst Island, 1939 (from Aboriginal Australians)
Image 23Cricket match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, 1860s (from Culture of Australia)
Image 24The verandah is the dominant feature of this Federation Filigree-style pub in Ravenswood. (from Culture of Australia)
Image 25C. J. Dennis, poetic humourist of Australian English (from Culture of Australia)
Image 26Phar Lap winning the Melbourne Cup, "the race that stops a nation" (from Culture of Australia)
Image 27A typical Queenslander house in Brisbane (from Culture of Australia)
Image 28Didgeridoo performers (from Culture of Australia)
Image 29Skiing in Australia began in Kiandra, a goldmining town in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, in the 1860s. (from Culture of Australia)
Image 30Founded in 1993, Sydney's Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. (from Culture of Australia)
Image 31Interior of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney (from Culture of Australia)
Image 32House in Killara, New South Wales (from Culture of Australia)
Image 33The Princess Theatre in Melbourne (from Culture of Australia)
Image 34Dwellings accommodating Aboriginal families at Hermannsburg Mission, Northern Territory, 1923 (from Aboriginal Australians)
Image 35The 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)
Image 36The first State of Origin shield (from Culture of Australia)
Image 37An Eastern Arrernte man of the Arltunga district, Northern Territory, in 1923. His hut is decked with porcupine grass. (from Aboriginal Australians)
Image 38Federation Bungalow in Killara, Sydney (from Culture of Australia)
Image 39A swagman in bushman's apparel, wearing a brimmed hat and carrying swag and billy can (from Culture of Australia)
Image 40Noongar traditional dancers in Perth (from Aboriginal Australians)
Image 41Dame Edna Everage, a comic creation of Barry Humphries (from Culture of Australia)
Image 42The Bulletin, founded by J. F. Archibald (left), nurtured bush poets such as Henry Lawson (right). (from Culture of Australia)
Image 43Bush tucker harvested in Alice Springs (from Culture of Australia)
Image 44The SBS building in Melbourne's Federation Square. SBS is Australia's multicultural broadcaster. (from Culture of Australia)
Image 45Actor playing the bushranger Ned Kelly in The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), the world's first feature film (from Culture of Australia)
Image 46A high-set Victorian-era Queenslander with a large veranda in Brisbane (from Culture of Australia)
Image 47Kylie Minogue, one of Australia's most successful pop musicians (from Culture of Australia)
Image 48A commemorative statue of John Simpson Kirkpatrick, a famous stretcher bearer who was killed in the Gallipoli Campaign. (from Culture of Australia)
Image 49Sheep 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)
Image 50Golden Wattle, Australia's floral emblem and the source of Australia's national colours, green and gold (from Culture of Australia)
Image 51St Mary Mackillop established an extensive network of schools and is Australia's first canonised saint of the Catholic Church. (from Culture of Australia)
Image 52South 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.
Image 53The surf lifesaving movement originated in Australia. Pictured: surf lifesavers, Bondi Beach, 1930s. (from Culture of Australia)
Image 54Anzac Day dawn services are held throughout Australia every April. (from Culture of Australia)
Image 55Countries of birth of Australian estimated resident population, 2006 (from Culture of Australia)
Image 56The Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne (from Culture of Australia)
Image 57Singer-songwriter Paul Kelly (from Culture of Australia)
Image 58An Aboriginal encampment near the Adelaide foothills in an 1854 painting by Alexander Schramm (from Aboriginal Australians)

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Consider joining WikiProject 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's notice board. To participate, simply add your name to the project members page.

As of 9 July 2025, there are 208,780 articles within the scope of WikiProject Australia, of which 599 are featured and 909 are good articles. This makes up 2.97% of the articles on Wikipedia, 5.24% of all featured articles and lists, and 2.16% of all good articles (see WP:AUSFG). Including non-article pages, such as talk pages, redirects, categories, etc., there are 537,232 pages in the project.

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