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Following European discovery, names for the Australian landmass were often references to the famed Terra Australis. Legends of Terra Australis Incognita-an "unknown land of the South"-date back to Roman times and were commonplace in medieval geography, although not based on any documented knowledge of the continent. The sporting anthem C'mon Aussie C'mon is an example of local use of Aussie as synonym for Australia. In neighbouring New Zealand, and less commonly in Australia itself, the noun "Aussie" is also used to refer to the nation, as distinct from its residents. Aussie is a common colloquial term for "Australian". The country has been referred to colloquially as Oz since the early 20th century. Pronounced Template:IPA in Australian English, the name Australia is derived from the Latin australis, meaning "southern". Australia is a member of the United Nations, G20, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the Pacific Islands Forum. With the second-highest human development index globally, Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, and the protection of civil liberties and political rights. In 2012 Australia had the world's fifth-highest per capita income, Australia's military expenditure is the world's 13th-largest. Īustralia is a developed country and one of the wealthiest in the world, with the world's 12th-largest economy. The population of 23.6 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated in the eastern states and on the coast. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy comprising six states and several territories. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies were established. After the European discovery of the continent by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. Who spoke languages grouped into roughly 250 language groups. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east and New Zealand to the south-east.įor at least 40,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. It is supposed to return an export table., officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is supposed to return an export table., or colloquially Script error: The module returned a function value. It is supposed to return an export table., Script error: The module returned a function value. Template:Two other uses Template:Use Australian English Template:Pp-semi Template:Pp-move-indef Template:Infobox country Australia Script error: The module returned a function value.