Portal:Australia

The AUSTRALIAN Portal Topics Culture Geography Health History Mathematics Nature People Philosophy Religion Society Technology Main   Indices   Projects The Commonwealth of Australia is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the world's smallest continent and a number of islands in the Southern, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Australia's neighbouring countries are Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. The continent of Australia has been inhabited for more than 42,000 years by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. After sporadic visits by European explorers and merchants from the 17th century onwards, the eastern half of the continent was claimed by the British in 1770, and officially settled as the penal colony of New South Wales on 26 January 1788. As the population grew and new areas were explored, another five largely self-governing Crown colonies were successively established over the course of the 19th century. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a Commonwealth realm. The current population of around 24 million is concentrated mainly in the coastal cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Selected article - The Central Basin and Captain Cook water jet looking towards the National Library and Parliament House Lake Burley Griffin is a large lake in the centre of Canberra, Australia's federal capital city. It was created in 1963 after the Molonglo River, which runs through the city centre, was dammed. It is named after Walter Burley Griffin, the architect who won the design competition for the city of Canberra. It should be noted that 'Burley' was Griffin's middle name, not part of his surname. The lake is located in the approximate geographic centre of the city, according to Griffin's original designs. Numerous important institutions, such as the National Library of Australia lie on its shores, and Parliament House is a short distance away. Its surrounds are also quite popular with recreational users, particularly in the warmer months. Though swimming in the lake is uncommon, it is used for a wide variety of other activities, such as rowing, fishing, and sailing. The lake's flow is regulated by the 33 metre tall Scrivener Dam, which is designed to handle a once in 5000 year flood event. In times of drought, water levels can fall below desired limits; so to compensate, water is released from the Googong Dam, located on a tributary of the Molonglo River. Selected picture - Happy Valley Reservoir is one of the oldest reservoirs in South Australia, being built between 1892 and 1897. Initially 15 kilometres from Adelaide, the reservoir is now largely enveloped by the city's southern suburbs. It is relatively small in capacity, holding only 11,500 megalitres, but it is the site of the biggest water treatment plant in Adelaide and is responsible for providing more than 40% of the city's water. Photo credit: Ctbolt Subportals   New South Wales Queensland Western Australia Northern Territory South Australia Victoria Tasmania Australian Capital Territory Other Australia portals Related portals   Oceania New Zealand Antarctica Commonwealth realms British Empire In the news   8 May 2016 – Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull advises the Governor-General to issue the writs for a double dissolution election on 2 July 2016. 7 January 2016 – Australia defeats West Indies 2-0 in a home Test Cricket series. 7 January – The 2016 Southbound Festival is cancelled due to the Waroona Fire road closures. 6–7 January 2016 – Waroona and Harvey residents are evacuated due to bush fire. 28 December – Comanche takes line honours to win the 2015 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. On this day... - 23 April: 1788 – A settlement is established at Parramatta, west of Sydney, New South Wales. 1873 – English-born explorer William Gosse departs Alice Springs on an expedition to Central Australia, during which he names Ayers Rock. 1874 – Explorer Alfred Gibson disappears on Ernest Giles' second expedition to the deserts of Western Australia, resulting in the naming of the Gibson Desert. 1966 – Jim Stynes, an Australian rules footballer and later charity worker, is born in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland. 2005 – Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen (pictured), the longest serving Premier of Queensland, dies at the age of 94 in Kingaroy, Queensland. More Australian anniversaries Did you know... - ... that Troughman is mythically famous in Sydney, Australia for lying down in urinals? ... that Jordan Rankin, at 16 years and 238 days, is the youngest player to make his first-grade debut in Australian rugby league in over 70 years? ... that Reg Lindsay was an Australian Country and Western singer who won three Golden Guitars Awards and wrote more than five hundred songs in his fifty year music career? ... that the murder of Celia Douty was the first murder in Australia to be solved using DNA profiling, after remaining unsolved for 18 years? ...that the town of Bismarck in Tasmania was renamed Collinsvale due to anti-German sentiment during World War I? ...that Indigenous Australian activist Michael Mansell convinced Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi to officially recognise a separate Aboriginal Australian passport in order to draw international attention to the issue of native land rights? ...that Wally Koochew was the first VFL player of Chinese background? ...that Wing Commander Stanley Goble and Flying Officer Ivor McIntyre, piloting a single-engined seaplane (pictured), became the first men to circumnavigate Australia by air in 1924? ...that a series of storms in south-east Queensland spawned two of the most powerful supercells and tornadoes in recorded Australian history? ...that the lamington cake is believed to have been named after Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, the Governor of Queensland at the time of its invention? ...that during the first seven years of the Australian edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? nobody won the top prize of one million dollars? For a topic outline on this subject, see Outline of Australia.

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