Lyla Lindsey
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. The country has been referred to colloquially as Oz, Straya, and Down Under. The name Australia is derived from the Latin word 'australis', meaning 'southern'. It was first used by the Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernandes in 1606, who believed he had discovered the fabled southern continent. The name was later popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders, who pushed for it to be formally adopted as early as 1804.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Official Name | Commonwealth of Australia |
| Colloquial Names | Oz, Straya, Down Under, Aussie, The Lucky Country |
| Other Historic Names | Terra Australis, New South Wales, New Holland |
| Date of Official Name Adoption | 1824 |
| Date of Federation | 1901 |
| Number of States | Six |
| Number of Territories | Two |
| Area | 7,688,287 km2 (2,968,464 sq mi) |
| Continent | Australia |
| Position | Southern Hemisphere |
| Population | 9th largest immigrant population |
| Economy | 14th largest |
| Human Development Index | 2nd highest |
| Number of Indigenous Languages | 250 |
| Number of National Animals | Five |
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What You'll Learn
- The official name of Australia is the Commonwealth of Australia
- The name Australia was popularised by explorer Matthew Flinders
- The name Australia is derived from the Latin word 'australis', meaning 'southern'
- Australia is colloquially known as 'Oz', 'Straya' and 'Down Under'
- The Indigenous peoples of Australia had their own names for the land
The official name of Australia is the Commonwealth of Australia
In 1824, the British Admiralty agreed that the continent should be officially called Australia, and the name was used in British legislation in 1828. The name 'Commonwealth of Australia' was formalised in the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (UK), which was passed by the UK Parliament. The Commonwealth of Australia is a federation of six former colonies, occupying the continent of Australia. The country comprises the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands.
Australia is the world's driest, flattest, and smallest inhabited continent. It is highly urbanised and has the world's 14th-largest economy and the second-highest human development index globally. The country is also one of 17 megadiverse countries, with about 94% of its amphibians, 93% of its reptiles and flowering plants, 69% of its mammals, and 46% of its birds being endemic.
Australia has many colloquial names, including 'Oz', 'Straya', and 'Down Under'. The name 'Oz' is a playful phonetic abbreviation of the word Australia, which first appeared in 1906 as 'Oss' and sometimes as ''Aus'. This is likely influenced by L. Frank Baum's fictional Land of Oz in his book 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', which gained worldwide popularity with the 1939 musical movie adaptation, 'The Wizard of Oz'.
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The name Australia was popularised by explorer Matthew Flinders
The country of Australia, officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia, has been referred to colloquially as "Oz" by people outside the country since the middle of the 20th century. The name "Australia" was popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders, who pushed for it to be formally adopted as early as 1804.
Flinders was the first person to circumnavigate Australia, and his maps were the first to accurately depict the country as we now know it. He charted much previously unknown coastline, proving that Australia was a single continent. By using the name "Australia" in his maps and writings, he helped the word enter common usage.
In 1814, Flinders published "A Voyage to Terra Australis". He had wanted to use "Australia" in the title, but was persuaded by his patron, Joseph Banks, to use "Terra Australis" as this was the name most familiar to the public. However, Flinders added a footnote in which he indicated his preferred term:
> There is no probability, that any other detached body of land, of nearly equal extent, will ever be found in a more southern latitude; the name Terra Australis will, therefore, remain descriptive of the geographical importance of this country, and of its situation on the globe: it has antiquity to recommend it; and, having no reference to either of the two claiming nations, appears to be less objectionable than any other which could have been selected... Had I permitted myself any innovation on the original term, it would have been to convert it to AUSTRALIA; as being more agreeable to the ear, a.
The first time the name Australia appears to have been officially used was in a dispatch to Lord Bathurst of 4 April 1817, in which Governor Lachlan Macquarie acknowledges the receipt of Flinders' charts of Australia. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted. Britain formally named the continent Australia in 1824, and by the end of that decade, it was in common usage.
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The name Australia is derived from the Latin word 'australis', meaning 'southern'
The name Australia is derived from the Latin word australis, meaning "southern". The name was popularised by explorer Matthew Flinders, who pushed for its formal adoption as early as 1804. In his 1814 book A Voyage to Terra Australis, Flinders suggested that the name Australia be used, stating:
> Had I permitted myself any innovation on the original term, it would have been to convert it to AUSTRALIA; as being more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth.
The name Australia was first used by Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernandes in 1606, who thought he had discovered the fabled southern continent. Prior to Flinders' suggestion, the name Australia had appeared in print, but only broadly applied to the legendary southern land mass.
The British Admiralty adopted the name in 1824, and the British Parliament used it in legislation in 1828. The official name for the country of Australia is the Commonwealth of Australia, which was formalised in the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900. Colloquial names for Australia include "Oz", "Straya", and "Down Under".
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Australia is colloquially known as 'Oz', 'Straya' and 'Down Under'
Colloquial names for Australia include "Oz", "Straya", and "Down Under". The country has been referred to colloquially as "Oz" by people outside the country since the middle of the 20th century, and by Australians in more recent times. The Australian National University reports that the "word Oz reproduces in writing the pronunciation of an abbreviation for Aussie, Australia, or Australian". The first evidence of this appears as "Oss" in 1908, and this form is likely to rhyme with "boss". The later evidence (after 1944) is for the "Oz" spelling, with the final sound pronounced as "z". "Oz" is often taken as an oblique reference to "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", a children's book by L. Frank Baum, which gained worldwide popularity with the 1939 release of the musical movie, "The Wizard of Oz". The spelling "Oz" is likely to have been influenced by the 1939 movie, though the pronunciation was probably always with a /z/, as it is also for "Aussie", sometimes spelt "Ozzie".
"Oz" is also speculated to be inspired by Australia itself. In "Ozma of Oz", Dorothy gets back to Oz as a result of a storm at sea while she and Uncle Henry are travelling by ship to Australia. Like Australia, Oz is somewhere to the west of California, an island continent with inhabited regions bordering a great desert.
Australia is also colloquially known as "Down Under", which is derived from the country's position in the Southern Hemisphere. The term "Straya" is a shortened colloquial version of the word "Australia".
The name "Australia" is derived from the Latin "australis", meaning "southern", and specifically from the hypothetical "Terra Australis" postulated in pre-modern geography. The name was popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders from 1804, and it has been in official use since 1817, replacing "New Holland", an English translation of the Dutch name first given by Abel Tasman in 1643. The name "Australia" has been applied to two continents. Originally, it was applied to the south polar continent, now known as Antarctica. The name is a shortened form of "Terra Australis", which was one of the names given to the imagined (but undiscovered) land mass that was thought to surround the South Pole. The earliest known use of the name "Australia" in Latin was in 1545. The British Admiralty adopted the name in 1824, and the British Parliament used it in legislation in 1828. The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office used the new name in "The Australia Directory" of 1830. The name "Commonwealth of Australia" for the new federation of the six former colonies was formalised in the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900.
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The Indigenous peoples of Australia had their own names for the land
Australia, officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia, is a diverse country with a rich history and culture. The name "Australia" was popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders, who pushed for its formal adoption as early as 1804. The country is also colloquially referred to as "Oz" or "Down Under", with the former possibly influenced by L. Frank Baum's book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and the subsequent 1939 musical movie, "The Wizard of Oz".
Prior to British colonisation, the Indigenous peoples of Australia had their own names for the land. Australia is home to the longest-living culture and population of Indigenous peoples, with various nations, groups, clans, and tribes created by Indigenous people. There were so many different tribes and languages that there was likely not one single name for the entire continent. In Dreamtime stories, individual islands are named, but Australia as a whole is often referred to simply as "the land".
The Aboriginal Australians, who are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland and many islands, including Tasmania, had around 250 distinct languages before British settlement. They consist of many ethnic groups, and in the 2021 Australian Census, 812,728 people self-identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin, representing 3.2% of Australia's total population.
The Torres Strait Islanders are a distinct Melanesian people from the Torres Strait Islands, the seas between Queensland and Papua New Guinea. They are the second major group of Indigenous Australians, and their unique culture and heritage are an integral part of Australia's diverse society.
The preservation and recognition of Indigenous languages and culture are important aspects of modern Australian society. "Welcome to Country" ceremonies, which acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land, are performed at major events, and there are ongoing discussions about changing place names that reveal past discrimination against Indigenous peoples.
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Frequently asked questions
The official name of Australia is the Commonwealth of Australia.
The name Australia is derived from the Latin word 'australis', which means 'southern'. It was first used by the Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernandes in 1606, who thought he had discovered the fabled southern continent.
Yes, Australia has several colloquial names, including Oz, Straya, Down Under, Aussie, and The Lucky Country.
