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The first English explorers were Willem Dampier on the west coast of the continent in 1688, and Lieutenant James Cook who, in 1770, claimed the eastern two-thirds of the continent for Britain, despite orders from King George III to first conclude a treaty with the indigenous population. His report to London that Australia was uninhabited (see Terra nullius) provided impetus for the establishment of a penal colony there following the loss of the American colonies.

Australia is about 31.5 times bigger than the United Kingdom.

With a population of approx. 170,000 people in the city proper (known as the "city of Sydney") and a metropolitan area population exceeding 4 million, the Sydney metropolis is the larger of the two main financial, transport, trade and cultural centres of Australia (the other being Melbourne, Sydney's long term rival to the title of pre-eminent Australian city).

Brisbane is the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The city's name is pronounced "BRIZ-buhn". The City of Brisbane has around 940,000 inhabitants, while the surrounding metropolitan area population is around 1.73 million. It has a subtropical climate with warm, mild winters and hot, moist summers. Brisbane is subject to high humidity, mainly from November through to April.

Melbourne's own vibrant music scene has fostered many internationally renowned artists and musicians, with links to Nick Cave, Crowded House, AC/DC, John Farnham, Graeme Bell and Kylie Minogue.

Probably the most well known Australian food is Vegemite. Similar to the British Marmite it is a strong tasting, yeast extract spread, common in sandwiches or on toast. Some Australian sweets, such as the Violet Crumble chocolate bar, are manufactured in Australia and are sold within the country, as well as a few international places such as Hawaii. Tim Tams are a chocolate biscuit, generally only common in Australia.

On 1 January 1901, federation of the Colonies was completed after a 10 year gestation period, and the Commonwealth of Australia was born, as a dominion of the British Empire. The Australian Capital Territory was separated from New South Wales in 1911, to provide a neutral place for the proposed new federal capital of Canberra (the initial capital having been Melbourne). Although Australia had become independent, the British government retained some powers over Australia until the Statute of Westminster in 1931, and the theoretical authority of the British Parliament over individual states was not completely severed until the passing of the Australia Act in 1986. The original constitution gave the federal government power to make laws relating to any race of people except Aborigines. In 1967, a referendum supported by more than ninety per cent of voters gave the federal government the right to enact laws to protect Aboriginal people and to count them in the census.