The native inhabitants of Australia, famous like aborigines, have the longest culture history in the world, which started since the last Ice Age. Although scientists have different opinions, it is considered that the first people came to Australia from Indonesia nearly 70 000 years ago. These immigrants were called “robusts” due to their massive-boned bodybuilding, who were substituted by people-elegants, the ancestors of aborigines.

Europeans started to cognize Australia in the sixteenth century, Danish explorers followed after Portuguese sailors, then they were substituted by Englishmen under the leadership of William Dampier, a famous pirate. Captain James Cook accomplished an ocean trip around the whole east coast in 1770, and made his stop in the Botany gulf. After leaving the York cape, he announced that Australia became the part of Great Britain. Cook named it New South Wales.

In 1779 Joseph Banks (naturalist from Cook’s expedition) offered the British government to solve the problem with full prisons by dispatching the prisoners to New South Wales. In 1787 there landed the first fleet, headed by Arthur Philip, who became the first governor of colony. There were 750 immigrants, men and women, four sailor teams and provision for two years on the ships.  Philip arrived to Botany gulf on the 26th of January, but then he changed the location of colony and removed it to Sydney bay, which had better water and ground. For newcomers New South Wales seemed to be an awful place, and the hunger danger was the main problem for the next sixteen years.

In the next decades many foreigners started to settle down in Australia, and in 1850 gold deposits were found there. Huge number of immigrants and sharp changes in economy irretrievably changed the colonial social structure. The aborigines were forced out of the places, which newcomers used for agriculture and mining. The industrial evolution in England required a huge amount of raw materials, so the Australian resources were used without control, just to solve this problem.

Australia became a state, when on the 1st of January, 1901 separated colonies united into a federation. The Australian troops militated on the side of Great Britain in Burr war, First World War and Second World War. But the role of USA in protecting Australian territories from Japanese encroachment during the Second World War put durability of this union under a question. Furthermore, Australia helped USA in Korean and Vietnamese wars.

After the war a huge amount of immigrants headed to Australia, most of them weren’t British people at all. They greatly influenced on Australian culture. During the after-war years there was an economical boom in the country, because it was rich in raw materials and minerals. In 1980 Australia accepted the Asian refugees, especially from Vietnam. Australia wants to correspond its place in Asia. The problems of republicanism, the universal acceptance of the Native Name Act (accepted in 1993),  and official apology from the government for sufferings of aborigines. Unfortunately, many aborigines continue to live in terrible terms until now.