Australia & New Zealand
History
Aborigines - The First Australians
The aboriginal people of Australia have one of the longest continuous cultures in existence. Today there are about 238,600 Aborigines, compared with an estimated 750,000 when Europeans arrived in 1788. From the beginning they were nomads, small bands of people moving across the land.
About 500 Aboriginal groups, each with a distinct language, established themselves in Australia. They survived by hunting and gathering. Many still live in the bush or in the Australian desert, although more than 60% live in urban areas.
Explorers
There were many to set foot on Australian shores before Captain Cook did so in 1770. Though he wasn't the first European to land on the Australian coast, he did chart the eastern coast and claim it for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales.
Until the 1600s, foreign influences had little impact on Aboriginal culture. In the 17th century expanding trade in Asia led European powers to take a great interest in the South Pacific. Many believed in a "great south land." The Dutch navigator Willem Jansz is credited, in 1606, with being the first explorer to reach Australia, although he thought it to be an unknown area of New Guinea.
Convicts
Until America won its independence, convicts from Britain were sent to North America. After Captain Cook's report on his exploration of Australia, Lord Sydney, Home Secretary, decided the new colony of Australia would be an ideal place to transport the convicts because they would be 12,000 miles away.
The first fleet of 750 convicts arrived in what was to be called Sydney in 1788. They were sent to work in Australia instead of going to prison in England. Convicts usually served seven years. When they were freed, or emancipated, many stayed in the colony. There they had a chance to become prosperous. Transportation of convicts ended in 1868. To learn more about what life was like for these early settlers, Click Here (optional)
Settlers
In the early 1800s, European settlers began taking over lands that for thousands of years had been the recognized territory of Aboriginal groups. Some Aborigines resisted the more powerful newcomers, but eventually they were killed or forced onto the least desirable lands in remote areas set aside for them.
New Zealand
Maori history and migration to New Zealand will be covered in the next unit (Pacific World).
The British explorer Captain James Cook visited the islands in 1769 and took possession of them for Great Britain. The establishment of the close links with Great Britain that have shaped New Zealand life and culture dates from Captain Cook's day. Widespread organized European settlement began in 1840, the date of the official declaration of British sovereignty.
You have successfully completed the Human Geography of Australia & New Zealand.