Tomorrow, January 26th is a day off from work… for the purpose of celebrating Australia Day… I figured our International Readers (love you all) may be interested to know why it is quiet in the neighbourhood… the cockatoos are all out slinging shrimp on barbies and drinking VB or Tooheys…
Or they could be going to Harry Connick Jr concerts. *insert – happy deeleea dance*
- Australia's national day, Australia Day, on 26 January, marks the date in 1788 when Captain Arthur Phillip, of the British Royal Navy, commanding a fleet of 11 ships, sailed into Port Jackson (Sydney Cove). Phillip formally took possession of the eastern part of the continent for England and established a settlement, now Australia's largest city, Sydney.
- Australia is the only nation to occupy an entire continent. Its land mass of nearly 7.7 million km2 is the flattest and (after Antarctica) driest of continents.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people totalled 265 378 at the last census, nearly 1.5 per cent of the population.
- Australia is an independent Western democracy with a population of more than 17.6 million.
- Four out of 10 Australians are migrants or the first-generation children of migrants, half of them from non-English speaking backgrounds. In 1991-92, East Asia contributed 41 per cent of settler arrivals.
- Australia's national anthem, Advance Australia Fair, is a revised version of a late 19th-century patriotic song. It was declared the national anthem in April 1984, replacing God Save the Queen, which was designated the royal anthem. In the same year, Australia officially adopted green and gold as its national colours.
- The flag of Australia is the only one to fly over a whole continent. The small Union Jack represents the historical link with Britain, the large seven-pointed star represents the six States and the Territories, and the small stars form the Southern Cross – a prominent feature of the southern hemisphere night sky.
Shamelessly filched from here!
To solve the problem for all … NZ and Oz share the same CONTINENTAL PLATE …. ie we float around the world on the same bit of dirt …. but that’s about it … oh, except for the fact that we adopt any and all NZ’s who do well ie Russell Crowe … but they refuse to let us have Edmund Hilary …. by the way, over 20million population now … mind you, considering that we are such a dry place that’s getting towards the upper sensible limits (I can hear an ecological debate commencing!) … multicultural mix is awesome, I myself, going back only two generations, am German, Irish, Croatian, and there’s a little guy from the Isle of Man in there too … one side arrived well over 100 years ago (not convicts :)), the others emigrated in the 1920’s …
Somehow Oceania sounds better than Australasia.
But what would that make us? Oceanics?
The plot thickens: I’ve just checked my wiblog stats (as I have the occasional Aussie reader ;) ) and Oz appears under "Oceania" as well. Curioser and curioser.
I believe the official continental affiliation of NZ is Oceania…
Jack — embarassing though it is, I have no idea where NZ fits in.
Enjoy Australia Day. And Harry. I found out too late to go — all the tickets were sold. :(
i never heard of the made up conglomerate called "australasia" until i moved to britain. all of my years growing up in the U.S. i was taught that australia was a continant in and of itself, and that islands like britain and NZ only have a political continental connection (i.e. europe and australia) not a geographical one.
but nevermind, that was an annoying geography teacher anyway. when i was 11 he made us look up and list in alphabetical order all the countries of africa, their capitals and the logitude and latitude of each capital. . . as a one night assignment!
btw, love harry connick jr. didn’t know he was australian.