European Australian
Encyclopedia
A European Australian (also known as a Euro-Australian) is a citizen or resident of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
who has origins in any of the original peoples of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. There is no official definition of what a European Australian is, although for the purposes of aggregating data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...
in its Australian Standard Classification of Cultural and Ethnic Groups (ASCCEG) has grouped certain ethnic groups into categories of "North West European" and "Southern and Eastern European"
Since the beginning of British settlement in 1788, people of European descent have formed the majority of the population in Australia. European Australians currently comprise approximately 93 percent of the Australian population.
The majority of European Australians are of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
- English
English Australian
English Australians, also known as Anglo-Australians are Australians of English descent, are the single largest ethnic group in Australia and the largest 'ancestry' identity in the Australia Census after "Australian"...
, Scottish
Scottish Australian
Scottish Australians are residents of Australia who are of Scottish ancestry.According to the 2006 Australian census 130,204 Australian residents were born in Scotland, while 1,501,204 claimed Scottish ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry.- History :The links between...
, Welsh, Cornish
Cornish Australian
Cornish Australians are citizens of Australia whose ancestry originates in Cornwall, United Kingdom, one of the six Celtic Nations. They form part of the worldwide Cornish diaspora which also includes large numbers of people in the US, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico and many Latin...
or Irish
Irish Australian
Irish Australians have played a long and enduring part in Australia's history. Many came to Australia in the eighteenth century as settlers or as convicts, and contributed to Australia's development in many different areas....
(Anglo-Celtic
Anglo-Celtic Australian
Anglo-Celtic Australian are citizens of Australia with British and/or Irish ancestral origins.-Demography:From the beginning of the colonial era until the mid-20th century, the vast majority of settlers were British or Irish...
) - ancestral origin. Other significant ancestries include Italian, German
German Australian
German religious refugees represented the first major wave of German settlement in Australia, arriving in South Australia in 1838. Some were active as missionaries and explorers in Australia from early in the 19th century, and German prospectors were well-represented in the 1850s gold rushes...
, Spanish
Spanish Australian
Spanish Australians are Australians with ancestry from the European country of Spain. There are approximately 78,271 Australians of Spanish full or partial descent, most of which reside within the major cities of Sydney and Melbourne, with lesser numbers in Brisbane and Perth...
, Greek
Greek Australian
Greeks are the seventh-largest ethnic group in Australia, after those declaring their ancestry simply as "Australian". In the 2006 census, 365,147 persons declared having Greek ancestry, either alone or in conjunction with another ethnicity....
, Dutch
Dutch Australian
A Dutch Australian is an inhabitant of Australia with full or partial Dutch ancestry, the majority of these people are part of the Dutch diaspora.-History:...
, Portuguese
Portuguese Australian
Portuguese Australians are either Portuguese emigrated to or living in Australia, or native Australians with Portuguese ancestry.Despite their rather modest number compared to the Greek and Italian communities, Portuguese Australians form a very organized, self-conscious and active community in...
, Maltese
Maltese Australian
Maltese Australians are residents or citizens of Australia who are of Maltese ancestry or Maltese citizens. While most of them emigrated to Australia from Malta, a number emigrated from the United Kingdom where they had settled after having been expelled from Egypt, as holders of British passports,...
, Bosnian
Bosnian Australian
Bosnian Australians or Australian Bosnians are people of Australia who are of Bosnian ancestry or come from Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2006 Australian census 26,630 Australians were born in Bosnia and Herzegovina.-Immigration:...
, Croatian
Croatian Australian
Croatia has been a source of migrants to Australia, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2006, 128,051 persons resident in Australia identified themselves as having Croatian ancestry.- History :...
, Serbian
Serbian Australian
Serbian Australians are citizens of Australia who are of Serbian ancestry. According to the 2006 census, there are 95,364 people in Australia who are of Serbian ancestry. Serbs have migrated to Australia in various waves during the 20th century...
, Macedonian
Macedonian Australian
Macedonian Australians are Australians of ethnic Macedonian descent. Many have their origins in the 1920s and 1930s although larger numbers came to Australia after World War II and the Greek Civil War...
, Hungarian
Hungarian Australian
Most Hungarian immigrants to Australia came after World War II and after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The Hungarian descent in Australia, mostly live in State capital cities. Responses to the last 2006 ABS conducted national census questionnaires could reflect the true numbers of Hungarian...
, Polish
Polish Australian
Poland has been a source country of immigrants to Australia, in particular in the post-war period. Immigration from Poland has long tapered off, with Polish Australian population now part of the mainstream Australian community.-Demography:...
, Russian and Turkish .
Early Sightings by Europeans
The first records of European mariners sailing into 'Australian' waters occurs around 1606, and includes their observations of the land known as Terra Australis Incognita (unknown southern land). The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutchman, Willem JanszoonWillem Janszoon
Willem Janszoon , Dutch navigator and colonial governor, is probably the first European known to have seen the coast of Australia. His name is sometimes abbreviated to Willem Jansz....
.
Between 1606 and 1770, an estimated 54 European ships from a range of nations made contact. Many of these were merchant ships from the Dutch East Indies Company and included the ships of Abel Tasman
Abel Tasman
Abel Janszoon Tasman was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the VOC . His was the first known European expedition to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand and to sight the Fiji islands...
. Tasman charted parts of the north, west and south coasts of Australia which was then known as New Holland.
In 1770, Englishman Lieutenant James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
charted the Australian east coast in his ship HM Barque Endeavour
HM Bark Endeavour
HMS Endeavour, also known as HM Bark Endeavour, was a British Royal Navy research vessel commanded by Lieutenant James Cook on his first voyage of discovery, to Australia and New Zealand from 1769 to 1771....
. Cook claimed the east coast under instruction from King George III on 22 August 1770 at Possession Island, naming eastern Australia 'New South Wales'. The coast of Australia, featuring Tasmania as a separate island, was mapped in detail by the English mariners and navigators Bass and Flinders, and the French mariner, Baudin. A nearly completed map of the coastline was published by Flinders in 1814.
This period of European exploration is reflected in the names of landmarks such as the Torres Strait, Arnhem Land, Dampier Sound, Tasmania, the Furneaux Islands, Cape Frecinyet and La Perouse. French expeditions between 1790 and the 1830s, led by D'Entrecasteaux, Baudin, and Furneaux, were recorded by the naturalists Labillardière and Péron.
First Settlement by Europeans
Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove is a small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson , on the coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia....
by Captain Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip
Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...
on 26 January 1788. This date later became Australia's national day, Australia Day
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia...
. These land masses included the current islands of New Zealand, which was administered as part of New South Wales. Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...
, now known as Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, was settled in 1803.
Other British settlements followed, at various points around the continent, most of them unsuccessful. In 1824, a penal colony was established near the mouth of the Brisbane River
Brisbane River
The Brisbane River is the longest river in south east Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay. John Oxley was the first European to explore the river who named it after the Governor of New South Wales, Thomas Brisbane in 1823...
(the basis of the later colony of Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
). In 1826, a British military camp was established in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
at King George Sound
King George Sound
King George Sound is the name of a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Located at , it is the site of the city of Albany.The sound covers an area of and varies in depth from to ....
, to discourage French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
colonisation. (The camp formed the basis of the later town of Albany
Albany, Western Australia
Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....
.) In 1829, the Swan River Colony
Swan River Colony
The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...
and its capital of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
were founded on the west coast proper and also assumed control of King George Sound. Initially a free colony, Western Australia later accepted British convicts, because of an acute labour shortage.
The British Colonial Office
Colonial Office
Colonial Office is the government agency which serves to oversee and supervise their colony* Colonial Office - The British Government department* Office of Insular Affairs - the American government agency* Reichskolonialamt - the German Colonial Office...
in 1835 issued the Proclamation of Governor Bourke, implementing the legal doctrine of terra nullius
Terra nullius
Terra nullius is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one" , which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished...
upon which British settlement was based, reinforcing the notion that the land belonged to no one prior to the British Crown taking possession of it and quashing earlier treaties with Aboriginal peoples, such as that signed by John Batman
John Batman
John Batman was an Australian grazier, businessman and explorer who is best known for his role in the founding of a settlement which became Melbourne and the colony of Victoria.-Life:...
. Its publication meant that from then, all people found occupying land without the authority of the government would be considered illegal trespassers.
Separate colonies were created from parts of New South Wales: South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
in 1836, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 1840, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
in 1851, and Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
in 1859. The Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
was founded in 1863 as part of South Australia. The transportation of convicts to Australia was phased out between 1840 and 1868.
Massive areas of land were cleared for agriculture and various other purposes, in addition to the obvious impacts this early clearing of land had on the ecology of particular regions, it severely affected indigenous Australians, by reducing the resources they relied on for food, shelter and other essentials. This progressively forced them into smaller areas and reduced their numbers as the majority died of newly-introduced diseases and lack of resources. Indigenous resistance
Australian frontier wars
The Australian frontier wars were a series of conflicts fought between Indigenous Australians and European settlers. The first fighting took place in May 1788 and the last clashes occurred in the early 1930s. Indigenous fatalities from the fighting have been estimated as at least 20,000 and...
against the settlers was widespread, and prolonged fighting between 1788 and the 1930s led to the deaths of at least 20,000 Indigenous people and between 2,000 and 2,500 Europeans. During the mid-late 19th century, many indigenous Australians in south eastern Australia were relocated, often forcibly, to reserves and missions. The nature of many of these institutions enabled disease to spread quickly and many were closed as their populations fell.
After World War II
Following World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Australian government instigated a massive program of European immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
. After narrowly preventing a Japanese invasion and suffering attacks on Australian soil for the first time, it was seen that the country must "populate or perish". Prior to WWII, Australia had viewed itself as largely of British and Irish ancestry but after WWII the success of the United States and the reason for its success, that is largely the creation of a European diaspora, could not be ignored by Australia. Immigration brought traditional migrants from the United Kingdom along with, for the first time, large numbers of southern and central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
ans. A booming Australian economy stood in sharp contrast to war-ravaged Europe, and newly-arrived migrants found employment in government-assisted programs such as the Snowy Mountains Scheme
Snowy Mountains Scheme
The Snowy Mountains scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. It consists of sixteen major dams; seven power stations; a pumping station; and 225 kilometres of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts and was constructed between 1949 and 1974. The Chief engineer was Sir...
. Two million immigrants arrived between 1948 and 1975, many from Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
' newly-founded Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
dominated much of the immediate post war era, defeating the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
government of Ben Chifley
Ben Chifley
Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
in 1949. Menzies oversaw the post-war expansion and became the country's longest-serving leader. Manufacturing industry, previously playing a minor part in an economy dominated by primary production, greatly expanded. Since the 1970s and the abolition of the White Australia policy
White Australia policy
The White Australia policy comprises various historical policies that intentionally restricted "non-white" immigration to Australia. From origins at Federation in 1901, the polices were progressively dismantled between 1949-1973....
from Asia and other parts of the world, Australia's demography, culture and image of itself has been radically transformed.
In this post-war era, European Australians have played a role in Australia's economic diversification, helping to develop a stronger services-based economy
Service economy
Service economy can refer to one or both of two recent economic developments. One is the increased importance of the service sector in industrialized economies. Services account for a higher percentage of US GDP than 20 years ago...
.
Culture
The predominance of the English languageEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, the existence of a democratic Westminster system
Westminster System
The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
of government, Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
as the dominant religion and the popularity of sports such as cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
evidence a significant Anglo-Celtic
Anglo-Celtic
Anglo-Celtic is a term used to describe people of British and Irish descent. The term today is mainly used outside of Britain and Ireland, particularly in Australia but also in Canada, New Zealand and the United States, where a significant diaspora is located....
heritage.
European Australian cultural lineage can be traced back to Europe and is institutionalised in the form of its government, traditions, and civic education. The dominant culture of European-Australians was British until the mid-1950s when the second rush of immigrants came from other parts of Europe.
European ancestries table
| Number | Ancestry | 1986 | % of AUS 1986 |
2001 | % of AUS 2001 |
2006 | % of AUS 2006 |
Change, 2001 to 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  AlbanianAlbanian Australian Albanian Australians are residents of Australia who are of Albanian ancestry.According to the 2006 Australian census 2,014 Australians were born in Albania while 11,315 claimed Albanian ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry.... |
10,459 | 11,313 | 0.1% | ||||
| 2 |  Azeri |
294 | ||||||
| 3 |  ArmenianArmenian Australian Armenian Australian are Australians who have ancestry from the country of Armenia. They have become one of the key Armenian diasporas around the world and amongst the largests in the English-speaking world... |
|||||||
| 3 |  AustrianAustrian Australian An Austrian Australian is an Australian citizen who has Austrian ancestry or ethnicity, or a permanent resident of Australia who has migrated from Austria. There are thousands of Austrian Australians, with many tracing their history to ancestors who arrived in the gold rush during the 1850s... |
38,112 | 41,490 | 0.2% | ||||
| 4 |  AustralianAustralian people Australian people, or simply Australians, are the citizens of Australia. Australia is a multi-ethnic nation, and therefore the term "Australian" is not a racial identifier. Aside from the Indigenous Australian population, nearly all Australians or their ancestors immigrated within the past 230 years... |
6,739,594 | 7,371,823 | 37.1% | ||||
| 5 |  Basque |
454 | 541 | 0.0% | ||||
| 6 |  Belarusian |
1,378 | 1,560 | 0.0% | ||||
| 7 |  Belgian |
8,896 | 0.0% | |||||
| 8 | Bosnian Bosnian Australian Bosnian Australians or Australian Bosnians are people of Australia who are of Bosnian ancestry or come from Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2006 Australian census 26,630 Australians were born in Bosnia and Herzegovina.-Immigration:... |
17,993 | 18,463 | 0.1% | ||||
| 9 | British | 11,760 | 5,681 | 0.0% | ||||
| 10 |  BulgarianBulgarian Australian Bulgarians in Australia are Australians of Bulgarian descent. According to the 2006 Australian census, 2,680 residents of Australia were born in Bulgaria. Of these, 850 lived in New South Wales, 840 in Victoria, 340 in Queensland and 340 in South Australia. Some 4,870 people claimed full or... |
4,179 | 4,898 | 0.0% | ||||
| 11 |  CroatianCroatian Australian Croatia has been a source of migrants to Australia, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2006, 128,051 persons resident in Australia identified themselves as having Croatian ancestry.- History :... |
105,747 | 118,049 | 0.6% | ||||
| 12 |  Czech |
17,126 | 21,194 | 0.1% | ||||
| 13 |  DanishDanish Australian A Danish-Australian is an inhabitant of Australia with full or partial Danish ancestry, the majority of these people were part of the Danish diaspora. At the 2006 Census 8,963 Australian residents declared they were born in Denmark... |
38,637 | 50,414 | 0.3% | ||||
| 14 |  DutchDutch Australian A Dutch Australian is an inhabitant of Australia with full or partial Dutch ancestry, the majority of these people are part of the Dutch diaspora.-History:... |
268,754 | 310,082 | 1.6% | ||||
| 15 |  EnglishEnglish Australian English Australians, also known as Anglo-Australians are Australians of English descent, are the single largest ethnic group in Australia and the largest 'ancestry' identity in the Australia Census after "Australian"... |
6,358,880 | 36% | 6,283,647 | 31.6% | |||
| 16 |  Estonian |
7,543 | 8,234 | 0.0% | ||||
| 17 |  Finnish |
18,106 | 20,987 | 0.1% | ||||
| 18 |  FrenchFrench Australian French Australians are residents of Australia who are of French ancestry.According to the 2006 Australian census 19,186 Australian residents were born in France while 98,332 claimed French ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry.-Demography:... |
79,079 | 98,333 | 0.5% | ||||
| 19 |  Georgian |
332 | 383 | 0.0% | ||||
| 20 |  GermanGerman Australian German religious refugees represented the first major wave of German settlement in Australia, arriving in South Australia in 1838. Some were active as missionaries and explorers in Australia from early in the 19th century, and German prospectors were well-represented in the 1850s gold rushes... |
742,212 | 811,543 | 4.1% | ||||
| 21 |  GreekGreek Australian Greeks are the seventh-largest ethnic group in Australia, after those declaring their ancestry simply as "Australian". In the 2006 census, 365,147 persons declared having Greek ancestry, either alone or in conjunction with another ethnicity.... |
375,703 | 365,150 | 1.8% | ||||
| 22 |  HungarianHungarian Australian Most Hungarian immigrants to Australia came after World War II and after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The Hungarian descent in Australia, mostly live in State capital cities. Responses to the last 2006 ABS conducted national census questionnaires could reflect the true numbers of Hungarian... |
62,859 | 67,623 | 0.3% | ||||
| 23 |  Icelandic |
625 | 0.0% | 759 | 0.0% | |||
| 24 |  IrishIrish Australian Irish Australians have played a long and enduring part in Australia's history. Many came to Australia in the eighteenth century as settlers or as convicts, and contributed to Australia's development in many different areas.... |
1,919,727 | 1,803,736 | 9.1% | ||||
| 25 |  Italian |
800,256 | 852,421 | 4.3% | ||||
| 26 |  Latvian |
18,938 | 20,061 | 0.1% | ||||
| 27 |  Lithuanian |
12,317 | 13,275 | 0.1% | ||||
| 28 |  Luxembourg |
167 | 0.0% | |||||
| 29 |  MalteseMaltese Australian Maltese Australians are residents or citizens of Australia who are of Maltese ancestry or Maltese citizens. While most of them emigrated to Australia from Malta, a number emigrated from the United Kingdom where they had settled after having been expelled from Egypt, as holders of British passports,... |
136,754 | 153,802 | 0.8% | ||||
| 30 |  MontenegrinMontenegrin Australian Montenegrin Australians are a national minority in Australia.According to the 2006 Australian census 848 Australians were born in Montenegro while 1,171 claimed Montenegrin ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry.Most Montenegrins living in Australia are concentrated in New South Wales and... |
771 | 1,168 | 0.0% | ||||
| 31 |  NorwegianNorwegian Australian Norwegian Australian are Australians of Norwegian ancestry, the majority of these people were part of the Norwegian diaspora.-History:An organized European immigration to Australia was initiated in 1788. Most of the early emigrants were deported from Britain to the "Penal Colony". Also some... |
17,293 | 20,442 | 0.1% | ||||
| 32 |  PolishPolish Australian Poland has been a source country of immigrants to Australia, in particular in the post-war period. Immigration from Poland has long tapered off, with Polish Australian population now part of the mainstream Australian community.-Demography:... |
150,900 | 163,802 | 0.8% | ||||
| 33 |  PortuguesePortuguese Australian Portuguese Australians are either Portuguese emigrated to or living in Australia, or native Australians with Portuguese ancestry.Despite their rather modest number compared to the Greek and Italian communities, Portuguese Australians form a very organized, self-conscious and active community in... |
35,687 | 41,226 | 0.2% | ||||
| 34 |  Romanian |
16,121 | 18,325 | 0.1% | ||||
| 35 |  Russian |
60,213 | 67,056 | 0.3% | ||||
| 36 |  Scots-Irish |
|||||||
| 37 |  ScottishScottish Australian Scottish Australians are residents of Australia who are of Scottish ancestry.According to the 2006 Australian census 130,204 Australian residents were born in Scotland, while 1,501,204 claimed Scottish ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry.- History :The links between... |
540,046 | 1,501,200 | 7.6% | ||||
| 38 |  SerbianSerbian Australian Serbian Australians are citizens of Australia who are of Serbian ancestry. According to the 2006 census, there are 95,364 people in Australia who are of Serbian ancestry. Serbs have migrated to Australia in various waves during the 20th century... |
97,315 | 95,362 | 0.5% | ||||
| 39 |  Slovak |
7,054 | 0.0% | 8,504 | 0.0% | |||
| 40 |  Slovene |
14,189 | 16,085 | 0.1% | ||||
| 41 |  SpanishSpanish Australian Spanish Australians are Australians with ancestry from the European country of Spain. There are approximately 78,271 Australians of Spanish full or partial descent, most of which reside within the major cities of Sydney and Melbourne, with lesser numbers in Brisbane and Perth... |
75,237 | 84,327 | 0.4% | ||||
| 42 |  SwedishSwedish Australian Swedish Australians are Australians with Swedish heritage, most often related to the large groups of immigrants from Sweden in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The 2006 census showed 30,375 who claimed Swedish ancestry... |
24,424 | 30,378 | 0.2% | ||||
| 43 |  SwissSwiss Australian Swiss Australian is a person living in Australia but born in Switzerland or is descended from parents born in Switzerland. In 2001, 22,151 residents in Australia reported Swiss ancestry.... |
22,151 | 26,512 | 0.1% | ||||
| 44 |  UkrainianUkrainian Australian The Ukrainians are an ethnic minority in Australia, numbering about 20,000 people, hence making up 0.16% of the total population. Currently, the main concentrations of Ukrainians are located in Melbourne and Sydney.- History :... |
33,960 | 37,584 | 0.2% | ||||
| 45 |  Welsh |
84,246 | 113,242 | 0.6% | ||||
| 46 |  Yugoslav |
|||||||
| Total | ? | ? | % | ? | % | 20,298,870 | 88.2% |
Languages
EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
is the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
national language of Australia and is spoken by the vast majority of the population.
The most commonly spoken European languages other than English in Australia are Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, Serbian/Bosnian/Croatian
Serbo-Croatian language
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Macedonian
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
, Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
.
| Language | Speakers |
|---|---|
| Only English | 15,581,333 |
| Italian | 316,895 |
| Greek | 252,226 |
| Spanish | 98,001 |
| German | 75,634 |
| Macedonian | 67,835 |
| Croatian | 63,612 |
| Polish | 53,389 |
| Serbian | 52,534 |
| French | 43,216 |
| Maltese | 36,514 |
| Russian | 36,502 |
| Dutch | 36,183 |
| Portuguese | 25,779 |
| Hungarian | 21,565 |
| Afrikaans | 16,806 |
| Bosnian | 15,743 |
Demographics
| Metropolitan Area | European population(Est) | European people as % of total population |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney, NSW | 3,606,062 | 81.96% |
| Melbourne, VIC | 3,495,918 | 87.30% |
| Perth, WA | 1,524,990 | 81.51% |
| Brisbane, QLD | 1,957,655 | 83.56% |
| Adelaide, SA | 1,240,078 | 87.49% |
| Canberra, ACT | 366,719 | 84.70% |
| Darwin, NT | 106,996 | 72.27% |
| Hobart, TAS | 230,154 | 89.77% |
Prime Ministers of European descent
All of the heritage that all twenty-seven Prime Ministers of AustralianPrime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
were and are of Europe
Demographics of Europe
Figures for the population of Europe vary according to which definition of European boundaries is used. The population within the standard physical geographical boundaries was 731 million in 2005 according to the United Nations. In 2010 the population is 857 million, using a definition which...
an descent, with most being Anglo-Celtic
Anglo-Celtic Australian
Anglo-Celtic Australian are citizens of Australia with British and/or Irish ancestral origins.-Demography:From the beginning of the colonial era until the mid-20th century, the vast majority of settlers were British or Irish...
, English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
, Ulster Irish, Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
or Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
ancestry.
- 1st Edmund BartonEdmund BartonSir Edmund Barton, GCMG, KC , Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia....
1901-03 - 2nd Alfred DeakinAlfred DeakinAlfred Deakin , Australian politician, was a leader of the movement for Australian federation and later the second Prime Minister of Australia. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Deakin was a major contributor to the establishment of liberal reforms in the colony of Victoria, including the...
1903-04 - 3rd John WatsonChris WatsonJohn Christian Watson , commonly known as Chris Watson, Australian politician, was the third Prime Minister of Australia...
1904 - 4th George ReidGeorge Reid (Australian politician)Sir George Houstoun Reid, GCB, GCMG, KC was an Australian politician, Premier of New South Wales and the fourth Prime Minister of Australia....
1904-05 - 5th Alfred DeakinAlfred DeakinAlfred Deakin , Australian politician, was a leader of the movement for Australian federation and later the second Prime Minister of Australia. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Deakin was a major contributor to the establishment of liberal reforms in the colony of Victoria, including the...
1905-08 - 6th Andrew FisherAndrew FisherAndrew Fisher was an Australian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister on three separate occasions. Fisher's 1910-13 Labor ministry completed a vast legislative programme which made him, along with Protectionist Alfred Deakin, the founder of the statutory structure of the new nation...
1908-09 - 7th Alfred DeakinAlfred DeakinAlfred Deakin , Australian politician, was a leader of the movement for Australian federation and later the second Prime Minister of Australia. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Deakin was a major contributor to the establishment of liberal reforms in the colony of Victoria, including the...
1909-10 - 8th Andrew FisherAndrew FisherAndrew Fisher was an Australian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister on three separate occasions. Fisher's 1910-13 Labor ministry completed a vast legislative programme which made him, along with Protectionist Alfred Deakin, the founder of the statutory structure of the new nation...
1910-13 - 9th Joseph CookJoseph CookSir Joseph Cook, GCMG was an Australian politician and the sixth Prime Minister of Australia. Born as Joseph Cooke and working in the coal mines of Silverdale, Staffordshire during his early life, he emigrated to Lithgow, New South Wales during the late 1880s, and became General-Secretary of the...
1913-14 - 10th Andrew FisherAndrew FisherAndrew Fisher was an Australian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister on three separate occasions. Fisher's 1910-13 Labor ministry completed a vast legislative programme which made him, along with Protectionist Alfred Deakin, the founder of the statutory structure of the new nation...
1914-15 - 11th William HughesWilliam HughesWilliam Hughes may refer to:*Willie Hughes , possible dedicatee of Shakespeare's Sonnets*William Hughes, 1st Baron Dinorben , British industrialist, politician and benefactor...
1915-23 - 12th Stanley BruceStanley BruceStanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, CH, MC, FRS, PC , was an Australian politician and diplomat, and the eighth Prime Minister of Australia. He was the second Australian granted an hereditary peerage of the United Kingdom, but the first whose peerage was formally created...
1923-29 - 13th James ScullinJames ScullinJames Henry Scullin , Australian Labor politician and the ninth Prime Minister of Australia. Two days after he was sworn in as Prime Minister, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 occurred, marking the beginning of the Great Depression and subsequent Great Depression in Australia.-Early life:Scullin was...
1929-32 - 14th Joseph LyonsJoseph LyonsJoseph Aloysius Lyons, CH was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928 and a Minister in the James Scullin government from 1929 until his resignation from the Labor Party in March 1931...
1932-39 - 15th Earle PageEarle PageSir Earle Christmas Grafton Page, GCMG, CH was the 11th Prime Minister of Australia, and is to date the second-longest serving federal parliamentarian in Australian history, with 41 years, 361 days in Parliament.-Early life:...
1939 - 16th Robert MenziesRobert MenziesSir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
1939-41 - 17th Arthur FaddenArthur FaddenSir Arthur William Fadden, GCMG was an Australian politician and, briefly, the 13th Prime Minister of Australia.-Introduction:...
1941 - 18th John CurtinJohn CurtinJohn Joseph Curtin , Australian politician, served as the 14th Prime Minister of Australia. Labor under Curtin formed a minority government in 1941 after the crossbench consisting of two independent MPs crossed the floor in the House of Representatives, bringing down the Coalition minority...
1941-45 - 19th Francis FordeFrank FordeFrancis Michael Forde PC was an Australian politician and the 15th Prime Minister of Australia. He was the shortest serving Prime Minister in Australia's history, being in office for only eight days.-Early life:...
1945 - 20th Ben ChifleyBen ChifleyJoseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
1945-49 - 21st Robert MenziesRobert MenziesSir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
1949-66 - 22nd Harold HoltHarold HoltHarold Edward Holt, CH was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia.His term as Prime Minister was brought to an early and dramatic end in December 1967 when he disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, and was presumed drowned.Holt spent 32 years...
1966-67 - 23rd John McEwenJohn McEwenSir John "Black Jack" McEwen, GCMG, CH , was an Australian politician and the 18th Prime Minister of Australia...
1967-68 - 24th John GortonJohn GortonSir John Grey Gorton, GCMG, AC, CH , Australian politician, was the 19th Prime Minister of Australia.-Early life:...
1968-71 - 25th William McMahonWilliam McMahonSir William "Billy" McMahon, GCMG, CH , was an Australian Liberal politician and the 20th Prime Minister of Australia...
1971-72 - 26th Gough WhitlamGough WhitlamEdward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
1972-75 - 27th Malcolm FraserMalcolm FraserJohn Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
1975-83 - 28th Robert Hawke 1983-91
- 29th Paul KeatingPaul KeatingPaul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...
1991-96 - 30th John HowardJohn HowardJohn Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
1996-2007 - 31st Kevin Michael Rudd 2007-10
- 32nd Julia Eileen Gillard 2010-present
See also
- Demographics of AustraliaDemographics of AustraliaThis article is about the demographic features of the population of Australia, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religions, and other aspects of the population....
- Europeans in OceaniaEuropeans in OceaniaEuropean exploration and settlement of Oceania began in the 16th century, starting with Spanish landings and shipwrecks in the Marianas Islands, east of the Philippines. Subsequent rivalry between European colonial powers, trade opportunities and Christian missions drove further European...
- Asian AustralianAsian AustralianAn Asian Australian can be generally defined as a person of Asian ancestry who was born in or is an immigrant to Australia.There is no agreed definition of who an Asian Australian is, although for the purposes of aggregating data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics in its Australian Standard...
- African AustralianAfrican AustralianAfrican immigrants to Australia include Australian citizens and residents born in, or with ancestors from Africa. Immigration from Africa to Australia is only a recent phenomenon, with Europe and Asia traditionally being the largest sources of migration to Australia...
- Australian AboriginesAustralian AboriginesAustralian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
- New Zealand EuropeanNew Zealand EuropeanThe term New Zealand European refers to New Zealanders of European descent who identify as New Zealand Europeans rather than some other ethnic group...