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This article is written in Australian English, which has its own spelling conventions (centre, colour, realise, program, travelled) and some terms may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

Australia is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.

This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on August 16, 2005.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
May 28, 2005	Peer review	Reviewed
June 22, 2005	Featured article candidate	Promoted
June 29, 2010	Featured article review	Kept

Current status: Featured article

Australia Top‑importance

	Australia portal Australia is within the scope of WikiProject Australia, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of Australia and Australia-related topics. If you would like to participate, visit the project page.AustraliaWikipedia:WikiProject AustraliaTemplate:WikiProject AustraliaAustralia
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.
	Need help improving this article? Ask a Librarian^{What's this?} at the National Library of Australia.
	The Wikimedia Australia chapter can be contacted via email to helpwikimedia.org.au for non-editorial assistance.

Countries

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Countries, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of countries on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CountriesWikipedia:WikiProject CountriesTemplate:WikiProject Countriescountry

WikiProject Countries to-do list:

Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Article requests : Check out the article alerts; see if anything catches your fancy.
Cleanup : clean-up listing for Countries
Stubs : de-stub articles in Category:Stubs by region.
Other : add {{WPCountries}} to talk pages of related articles, and assess.

Oceania Top‑importance

	Oceania portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Oceania, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Oceania on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.OceaniaWikipedia:WikiProject OceaniaTemplate:WikiProject OceaniaOceania
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

Commonwealth

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Commonwealth, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the Commonwealth of Nations on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CommonwealthWikipedia:WikiProject CommonwealthTemplate:WikiProject CommonwealthCommonwealth

This article has been mentioned by a media organization:

"The 50 most-viewed Wikipedia articles in 2009 and 2008". The Daily Telegraph. 17 August 2009.

Guideline for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples terminology

Be conscious of the unique, diverse and distinct identities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and understand the use of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is as a collective name.

Collective names used to describe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples:
When writing about both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, use terms such as:

First Nations Australians
First Australians
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples
First Peoples

Although "Indigenous Australians" is in common use, and is used to encompass both Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people, many First Nations Australians feel the term diminishes their identity and should be avoided; however, where the word "Indigenous" forms part of an acronym to describe entities, organisations, or government departments the use is acceptable.

When used, the words Indigenous, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, First Nations, First Peoples, and First Australians are capitalised.

Note: Never use the collective name "Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander" peoples as it misrepresents the identity of Torres Strait Islander peoples as not being the original inhabitants of islands in the Torres Strait.

Self-identifying terms:
Be specific where possible by using the name of the group or community with whom the people you are referring to identify.

Murri is usually used by Aboriginal people in and from Queensland and north-west New South Wales
Goori is usually used by Aboriginal people in and from northern New South Wales coastal regions
Koori is usually used by Aboriginal people in and from parts of New South Wales and Victoria

This is not an exhaustive list

Language that can be discriminatory or offensive and should be avoided:

shorthand terms like "Aborigines", "Islanders"
abbreviations like "ATSI", "A&TSI", "1st Nations"
using terms like "myth", "legend" or "folklore" when referring to the beliefs of First Nations peoples
terms like "part-aborigine", "full-blood", "half-caste", "quarter-caste", "octoroon", "mulatto", "hybrid"
terms like "tribe", "horde", "band", "clan", "moiety"

This is not an exhaustive list

Note: It is acceptable to use abbreviations in your communications when they form part of an acronym, a web address or an organisation (e.g. AIATSIS, NAIDOC, www.atsi.org.au). Using an acronym or abbreviation to describe a race of people can be offensive and discriminatory.

For further information, please refer to:

Australian Government Style Manual
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
University of New South Wales
Griffith University

Terminology can change over time and, where possible, it is best practice to find out what the preferred term is from the respective Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander group or individual you are referring to. For further guidance, please see the Australian Government Style Guide

Section sizes

Section size for Australia (40 sections)
Section name	Byte count		Prose size (words)
Section name	Header	Total	Header	Total
(Top)	17,802	17,802	408	408
Etymology	2,997	2,997	180	180
History	92	42,126	0	1,938
Indigenous prehistory	15,352	15,352	287	287
European exploration and colonisation	5,318	5,318	363	363
Colonial expansion	6,810	6,810	440	440
Federation to the World Wars	6,682	6,682	432	432
Post-war and contemporary eras	7,872	7,872	416	416
Geography	120	24,457	0	1,647
General characteristics	7,689	7,689	406	406
Geology	3,189	3,189	289	289
Climate	3,673	3,673	292	292
Biodiversity	9,786	9,786	660	660
Government and politics	9,758	46,837	435	1,887
Elections	6,210	6,210	274	274
States and territories	7,358	7,358	285	285
Foreign relations	14,320	14,320	503	503
Military	5,268	5,268	265	265
Human rights	3,923	3,923	125	125
Economy	12,533	24,797	346	702
Energy	4,819	4,819	154	154
Science and technology	7,445	7,445	202	202
Demographics	2,691	39,130	167	1,566
Cities	698	698	23	23
Ancestry and immigration	10,464	10,464	334	334
Language	5,094	5,094	215	215
Religion	3,295	3,295	194	194
Health	5,356	5,356	191	191
Education	11,532	11,532	442	442
Culture	5,499	34,046	193	1,357
Arts	10,161	10,161	447	447
Media	6,198	6,198	279	279
Cuisine	5,679	5,679	192	192
Sport and recreation	6,509	6,509	246	246
See also	91	91	0	0
Notes	33	33	0	0
References	416	416	0	0
Bibliography	9,472	9,472	0	0
Further reading	1,764	1,764	0	0
External links	2,141	2,141	0	0
Total	246,109	246,109	9,685	9,685

Hi!! If people can see this, I hope you have a good day!!

Latest comment: 5 months ago2 comments2 people in discussion

I don't have time to write an article right now, but this is my first post on Wikipedia!! I'm so excited & I read a bunch of the rules, not that this is the most rule-abiding start; it feels impolite not to introduce myself somewhere. Bye for now :) Hymn to Proserpine (talk) 10:57, 14 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hello. I hope you enjoy editing wikipedia. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 12:06, 14 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

Semi-protected edit request on 25 April 2026

Latest comment: 4 months ago4 comments2 people in discussion

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

The first European landing/exploration of Australia is limited to: "The Dutch East India Company ship, Duyfken, captained by Willem Janszoon, made the first documented European landing in Australia in 1606".^[1]

This warrants further information. Also, there is no mention of the first European contact with the Indigenous inhabitants.

Thus, something along the lines of the following could follow the above-quoted sentence to provide more information in this regard: 'A Duyfken chart (found in 1933) that shows the whole course of the vessel from Banda on the outward and the homeward voyages indicates the actual landfall on the coast of Australia, and it locates the position of Cape Keerweer where the Duyfken turned back to Banda (after mapping 360 km of the west side of the Cape York peninsula and making contact with indigenous inhabitants)'.^[2] GranZebru (talk) 06:39, 25 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

This is a high level article on Australia. The article is already very long and there is no room for such detail on every early explorer and every historical incident. Detail on early European exploration of the continent can be found in the article European maritime exploration of Australia. Please see wikipedia policy on WP:summary style. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 06:50, 25 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

First landfall and contact is significant (more so than other sentences in the European exploration and colonisation subheading, such as "Luís Vaz de Torres sailed to the north of Australia through Torres Strait, along New Guinea's southern coast" and "On his second voyage of 1644, he mapped the north coast of Australia south of New Guinea"). It is not merely 'detail on every early explorer and every historical incident'.

As I said, this is a high-level article on Australia as a whole and the detail of the Duyfken voyage can be found in the linked articles. If you want, I can expand the sentence to: "In 1606, the Dutch East India Company ship, Duyfken, captained by Willem Janszoon, made the first documented European landing in Australia and encounter with Aboriginal Australians." Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 09:31, 26 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

Your suggested expanded sentence adequately and clearly conveys the information regarding first landfall and contact. Please alter the source text accordingly. Thank you. GranZebru (talk) 01:11, 30 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

References

↑ Konishi & Nugent 2013, p. 47
↑ "The First European Ship Known to Explore the Australian Coast". Maritime Archeology Department, Western Australian Maritime Museum. 1995. Retrieved 25 April 2026.

Freycinet map

Latest comment: 4 months ago2 comments2 people in discussion

Hello all

An editor has twice tried to add content on this map to the lead and body of the article. It has been reverted by two editors. I reverted it because I don't think it is important enough to go in the lead, nor in a high level article about Australia. While the Freycinet map is certainly important for history of mapping of Australia, as far as an article on Australia is concerned it is only a footnote at best. Flinders was the first to circumnavigate and map the entire outline of Australia. The Freycinet map was only published first because the French imprisoned Finders for seven years.

Happy to discuss Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 22:21, 21 May 2026 (UTC)Reply

To put it into context, the Freycinet map is already in European maritime exploration of Australia, about 2/3 of the way down in the article, so I agree with the comment above. Bahudhara (talk) 06:31, 22 May 2026 (UTC)Reply

"Australija" listed at Redirects for discussion

Latest comment: 22 days ago1 comment1 person in discussion

The redirect Australija has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2026 August 31 § Australija until a consensus is reached. Warm Regards, Miminity (Talk?) (me contribs) 13:16, 31 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

[1] Konishi & Nugent 2013, p. 47

[2] "The First European Ship Known to Explore the Australian Coast". Maritime Archeology Department, Western Australian Maritime Museum. 1995. Retrieved 25 April 2026.

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