Lesson four: Who are Australians and where do they live?

The first settlers in Australia time/essays/50000-years-before-present/attachment/human-migration- map/ The first humans settled in Australia over 40,000 years ago. Australia The numbers on the map show the estimated number of years ago that each country was first inhabited by humans.

Indigenous Australians The first settlers in Australia are called the indigenous or Aboriginal Australians. The Aboriginal Australians make up only a small part of the current population (3%). They have a rich culture of traditional dance, story telling, songs and art.

The people of Australia The indigenous population of Australia are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Like the UK, Australia is home to people originally from different locations all over the world such as: Vietnam, England, China, India, and Africa. Cathy Freeman won the 400m final race the 2000 Sydney Games. She was the first ever aboriginal Australian to be a Commonwealth Games gold medalist at age 16 in 1990 © Dr. Andrew Lee Cathy Freeman ©The paperboy, Flickr

Aboriginal Australian Art and Culture Aboriginal Colours ©Michael Loke, Flickr Australia: Aboriginal Culture 009 © Steve Evans, Flickr Click the text below to watch an Aboriginal dance performance: The Crane Dance Aboriginal Art The didgeridoo is a traditional Aboriginal instrument

European explorers landed on the shores of Australia in the 1600’s. The British settled in Australia after Captain James Cook was sent to learn about the Pacific in European Explorers in Australia Captain Cook’s Arrival in Australia Source: Wikipedia

A map drawn by the European settlers Sydney Cove, 1789 Source: Wikipedia Commons

Migration to Australia Since the 1700’s, people from other parts of the world have continued to move to Australia and settle there. Migration is the movement of people from one place to another. Source:

There are six states in Australia The state boundaries are created by man, unlike landform region boundaries. Label the six states on your base map. Australia is one large land mass with a small separate island to the south called Tasmania.

Where have people living in Australia migrated from? The UK Italy China India South Africa

Vietnamese community in Australia Shopping Area © Dr. Andrew Lee

People in Australia come from many different places

How many people live in Australia? Australia is a large country, with a relatively small population. Today there are around 23 million people living in Australia with around 600,000 being indigenous peoples of Australia.

People and culture Australia’s flag Australia’s Prime Minister Our Queen Elizabeth is also the Queen of Australia. Australian dollars The symbol of Australia Canberra is the capital city of Australia

How does Australia’s population compare to other countries? Australia: 23 million UK: 63 million USA: 317 million China: 1.4 billion

Where do people live? Most of the population live around the edge of the country in coastal cities. The weather is most pleasant in this regions. The parts of the map shaded in orange have the highest population. Darwin Perth Sydney Canberra (capital city) Melbourne Adelaide Brisbane

Where do people live? 2% of the Australian population live in the area of the map shaded in yellow. 98% of the population live in the area shaded in white. Coastal areas are densely populated. Inland areas are sparsely populated. Source: Amazing Maps, Twitter

Travelling across the country is time consuming and sometimes difficult. When people live in isolated inland areas, access to food, water and services can be expensive and difficult. This is one reason why most of the population lives within or near the big coastal cities. Why?

Population distribution: Australians live mainly in coastal cities Key: 1 dot = 500 people This map shows where both indigenous and non- indigenous populations live.

Population distribution: Indigenous population 1 dot = 50 people When you look at where indigenous Australians live, it is clear they chose to live in inland areas as well as coastal areas.

Famous Australians

Life in Australia Australia is a wealthy and safe country. Though there are differences across the population in terms of people’s incomes. There are good job opportunities and a high-standard of living, homes, and services. These are some of the reasons why many people choose to move to Australia.

Like many countries, including the UK, fewer women are having children and this means that the average age of the population is increasing. This will put a strain on health care and pensions as they get older. The geographical term for this is an ageing population. Ageing population in Australia

Main activity Label the location of these cities: Darwin, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Canberra. Shade in the areas of the country with the highest population on the map (using slide 16). Include a key to show the capital city and the colour you used to shade the most populated places. Extension: Compare the maps of where the indigenous and non-indigenous Australians live and write a few sentences about the differences between where they live and why people have chosen to live in coastal areas.

Plenary Why do most of the non-indigenous population live in coastal areas? Where would they choose to live in Australia and why? By the coast or inland? Can they remember a traditional Aboriginal instrument and a name of an Aboriginal dance? What is an ‘ageing population’?

Australian National Anthem Listen to the National Anthem and sing along using National Anthem Words (see downloadable resources). Click here to listen to the Australian National Anthem: