People in Australia
About 24 million people live in Australia. Most of
them are descendants of those who at some point
immigrated from Europe, especially Great Britain. In
addition to the British, people from Italy, Germany,
Poland and the Balkans also emigrated to Australia. More
than a million people in Australia have German
ancestors.
In addition, there are immigrants from Asia such as
Indians, Pakistanis or Sinhalese. Even today, many
people immigrate to Australia. Since the beginning of
the last century, the number of immigrants from Asia has
exceeded that of Europeans.
Australia is 21.5 times the size of Germany. So it
has a very low population compared to its size.
Most of the people live in the big cities of
Australia
The birth rate is increasing in Australia and
people's life expectancy is high. Most people live in
cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth or
Adelaide. Over a million people live here, in Sydney and
Melbourne even more than 4 million. By the way,
Australia is the country with the most people living in
cities: 89 out of 100 Australians live in a city.
The parts of the country in the interior of Australia
are almost uninhabited. Living conditions here are harsh
and there is often a lack of water to survive. That is
why most of the people settled in the cities. 92 out of
100 people come from Europe, 7 out of 100 from Asia.
Who lived in Australia first?
Only two out of 100 inhabitants of Australia belong
to the Aborigines, the original population (read:
Aborridschinis ). That's about half a million people.
But the name Aborigine does not come from them, the
Europeans named them that way. Therefore, the original
residents of Australia do not use the term themselves.
For this reason, the term indigenous people is now
used more often. The different tribes also have
different names like Yolngu, who live in the north,
Murri, who live in the east or Wonghi in the west. Then
there are the Koori from the southeast, Nanga from the
south and a few more.
These tribes have lived in Australia for a long time
and have their own culture and language. Before the
Europeans settled the Australian continent, the locals
lived there in harmony with nature. They adapted to the
harsh conditions of the desert country. But the
Europeans destroyed this culture.
Second class people
The Europeans saw "second class" people in the native
population and destroyed their livelihoods. The British
had declared the country to be Terra Nullius, i.e. land
that was supposedly uninhabited. As a result, the
original population had no rights that they could claim.
For a long time the Aborigines had to fight for their
rights, which they were denied. You can find out more
about it in everyday life and in history and politics.
Languages in Australia
The official language is English. In addition,
around 50 native languages have been preserved.
However, Australian English differs a bit from British
or American English.
Religions in Australia
Most Australians are Christians, but there are also
few Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus. Some of the
indigenous population still lives their original belief
in nature.
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