Origin of Australia

Origin of Australia

The first Australians were the ancestors of the current Indigenous Australians; they arrived via land bridges and short sea-crossings from present-day Southeast Asia. The Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon, who sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in 1606 made the first undisputed recorded European sighting of Australian mainland. During the 17th century, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines called New Holland, but made no attempt at settlement. In 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast of Australia, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Britain.

On 26 January 1788, The British Crown Colony of New South Wales started with the establishment of a settlement at Port Jackson by Captain Arthur Phillip. This date was later to become Australia's national day, Australia Day. Van Diemen's Land, now known as Tasmania The United Kingdom formally claimed the western part of Australia in 1829. Separate colonies were created from parts of New South Wales. In 1911 The Northern Territory was founded. South Australia was founded as a "free province" with Victoria and Western Australia but later accepted transported convicts.