Factbook
Histoire de Australie — Chronologie
Dates clés de l'histoire de Australie, d'après le Factbook Magna et l'Encyclopédie universelle.
1606Dutch navigators led by Abel TASMAN were the first Europeans to land in Australia in 1606, and they mapped the western and northern coasts.
1770In 1770, Englishman James COOK sailed to the east coast of Australia, named it New South Wales, and claimed it for Great Britain.
1788In 1788 and 1825 respectively, Great Britain established New South Wales and then Tasmania as penal colonies.
1829Four additional colonies were established in Australia in the mid-1800s: Western Australia (1829), South Australia (1836), Victoria (1851), and Queensland (1859).
1868Great Britain and Ireland sent more than 150,000 convicts to Australia before ending the practice in 1868.
1901In the second half of the 1800s, the colonies were all gradually granted self-government, and in 1901, they federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia.
1901Independence: 1 January 1901 (from the federation of UK colonies).
1933These issues, along with disease and a policy in the 1900s that forcefully removed Aboriginal children from their parents, reduced the Aboriginal Australian population from more than 700,000 pre-European contact to a low of 74,000 in 1933.
1942Australia severed most constitutional links with the UK in 1942 but remained part of the British Commonwealth.
2010In the early 2000s, Australian politics became unstable with frequent attempts to oust party leaders, including five changes of prime minister between 2010 and 2018.
2021Languages: English 72%, Mandarin 2.7%, Arabic 1.4%, Vietnamese 1.3%, Cantonese 1.2%, other 15.7%, unspecified 5.7% (2021 est.) Religions: Roman Catholic 20%, Protestant 18.1% (Anglican 9.8%, Uniting Church 2.6%, Presbyterian and Reformed 1.6%, Baptist 1.4%, Pentecostal 1%, other Protestant 1.7%), other Christian 3.5%, Muslim 3.2%, Hindu 2.7%, Buddhist 2.4%, Orthodox 2.3% (Eastern Orthodox 2.1%, Oriental Orthodox 0.
2023Generation mix — fossil fuels: 64.9% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); solar: 17.1% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); wind: 11.5% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); hydroelectricity: 5.4% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) Energy use: 223.158 million Btu/person (2023 est.).
2023Industries: mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing, chemicals, steel Agriculture: wheat, sugarcane, barley, rapeseed, milk, cotton, sorghum, beef, lentils, grapes (2023) Electricity access: 100% (2022 est.).
2023Major urban areas: 5.235 million Melbourne, 5.121 million Sydney, 2.505 million Brisbane, 2.118 million Perth, 1.367 million Adelaide, 472,000 CANBERRA (capital) (2023) high-income and globally integrated economy; strong mining, manufacturing, and service sectors driving slow but steady growth; net exporter, driven by commodities to East Asian trade partners; weak productivity and aging population straining labor force participation Inflation: 3.2% (2024 est.).
2023Urban population: 86.6% of total population (2023).
2024Military spending: 2% of GDP (2024 est.).
2025Population: 27.5 million (2025 estimate).
