History of the Development of Settlements

Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia more than 40 000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. They were a hunting-gathering people known today as Aboriginals and Torres Straight Islanders. They depended on wood, bone and stone weapons to hunt.  Many of the Aborigines spoke several languages, and confederacies sometimes linked widely scattered tribal groups. The population density of these people ranged from one person per square mile along the coasts to one person to thirty five square miles in the arid interior. In 1770, Captain James Cook took possession of Australia in the name of Great Britain. At that time, the native population might have numbered 300 000 in 500 tribes speaking many different languages. Six colonies were created in the late 18th and 19th centuries (CIA). They federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 (CIA).
(All from U.S. Department of State unless otherwise indicated).

Australian Aborigines outside their home

Current Major Cities

Today, 82% of people live in urban areas (PRB). Many of these urban areas are along the eastern and southeastern coast, as the map shows, because the areas of central Australia are very arid. Less than 2.5% live in remote or very remote areas (U.S. Department of State). There is an average population of density of three people per kilometre square (PRB). The major cities are Canberra,Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobart (U.S. Department of State).