Australians

"Aussie" redirects here. For other uses, see Aussie (disambiguation).
This article is about the peoples of Australia. For Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, see Indigenous Australians. For other uses, see Australian (disambiguation).

Australians
Total population
26,518,400 in Australia (2023)[1]
Map of the Australian diaspora
Map of the Australian diaspora

Common ancestries: English, Aboriginal Australian, Irish, New Zealander, German, Italian, Chinese, and Indian.
Regions with significant populations
Australian diaspora: 577,255 (2019)[2]
 United Kingdom165,000 (2021)[3]
 United States98,969 (2019)[4]
 New Zealand75,696 (2018)[5]
 Vietnam22,000 (2013)[6]
 Canada21,115 (2016)[7]
 South Korea15,222 (2019)[8]
 Hong Kong14,669 (2016)[9]
 Germany13,600 (2020)[10]
 Mainland China13,286 (2010)[11]
 Japan12,024 (2019)[12]
 Turkey13,286 (2010)[13]
 Portugal1,400 (2020)[14]
Languages
English;[15]
Religion
Christianity (Catholicism, Anglicanism and other denominations), various non-Christian religions and irreligion[A][18]

Australians, colloquially known as Aussies,[19] are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural.[20] For most Australians, these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Australian. Australian law does not provide for a racial or ethnic component of nationality, instead relying on citizenship as a legal status, though the Constitutional framers considered the Commonwealth to be "a home for Australians and the British race alone",[21] as well as a "Christian Commonwealth".[22] Since the postwar period, Australia has pursued an official policy of multiculturalism and has the world's eighth-largest immigrant population, with immigrants accounting for 30 percent of the population in 2019.[23][24]

Between European colonisation in 1788 and the Second World War, the vast majority of settlers and immigrants came from the British Isles (principally England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland), although there was significant immigration from China and Germany during the 19th century. Many early settlements were initially penal colonies to house transported convicts. Immigration increased steadily, with an explosion of population in the 1850s following a series of gold rushes.

In the decades immediately following the Second World War, Australia received a large wave of immigration from across Europe, with many more immigrants arriving from Southern and Eastern Europe than in previous decades. Since the late 1970s, following the end of the White Australia policy in 1973, a large and continuing wave of immigration to Australia from around the world has continued into the 21st century, with Asia now being the largest source of immigrants.[25] A smaller proportion of Australians are descended from indigenous people, comprising Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders.

The development of a distinctive Australian identity and national character began in the 19th century. The primary language is Australian English. Australia is home to a diversity of cultures, a result of its history of immigration.[26] Since 1788, Australian culture has primarily been a Western culture strongly influenced by early Anglo-Celtic settlers.[27][28] The cultural divergence and evolution that has occurred over the centuries since European settlement has resulted in a distinctive Australian culture.[29][30]

As the Asian Australian population continues to expand and flourish as a result of changes in the demographic makeup of immigrants and as there has been increased economic and cultural intercourse with Asian nations, Australia has observed the gradual emergence of a "Eurasian society" within its major urban hubs, blending both European and Asian material and popular culture within a distinctly Australian context. Other influences include Australian Aboriginal culture, the traditions brought to the country by waves of immigration from around the world,[31] and the culture of the United States.[32]

  1. ^ "Australian Demographic Statistics, Sep 2019". Australian Bureau of Statistics. June 2023. Catalogue number - 3101.0 -. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  2. ^ United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019), International Migrant Stock 2019, UN database, POP/DB/MIG/Stock/Rev.2019; spreadsheet file: XLSX, archived from the original on 9 March 2021, retrieved 22 January 2022
  3. ^ "Population of the UK by country of birth and nationality - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 26 December 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  5. ^ "2018 Census totals by topic – national highlights (updated) | Stats NZ". www.stats.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  6. ^ "AsiaLIFE HCMC February 2013: Australians in Vietnam". Issuu.com. 1 February 2013. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  7. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (25 October 2017). "Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity Highlight Tables - Immigrant population by place of birth, period of immigration, 2016 counts, both sexes, age (total), Canada, 2016 Census – 25% Sample data". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  8. ^ "문서뷰어". viewer.moj.go.kr. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Main Tables | 2016 Population By-census". www.bycensus2016.gov.hk. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  10. ^ Statistisches Bundesamt. "Ausländische Bevölkerung Ergebnisse des Ausländerzentralregisters" (PDF). Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit [Population and employment] [Foreign Population: Results of the Central Register of Foreigners] (Report) (in German). Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  11. ^ National Bureau of Statistics of China (29 April 2011). "Major Figures on Residents from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and Foreigners Covered by 2010 Population Census". www.stats.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  12. ^ "在留外国人統計（旧登録外国人統計） 在留外国人統計 月次 2019年12月 | ファイル | 統計データを探す". 政府統計の総合窓口 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Numbers of Australians Overseas in 2001 by Region - Southern Cross Group" (PDF). www.southern-cross-group.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
  14. ^ "Australia - Emigrantes totales 2020 | Datosmacro.com". datosmacro.expansion.com.
  15. ^ "2011 Census QuickStats". Censusdata.abs.gov.au. Archived from the original on 6 November 2015.
  16. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2017). "2071.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Reflecting Australia - Stories from the Census, 2016". www.abs.gov.au. No. Cultural Diversity in Australia, 2016. Canberra: Australian Government. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Religion in Australia, 2016: Feature article". Census of Population and Housing: Reflecting Australia - Stories from the Census, 2016. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Religion in Australia: 2016 CENSUS DATA SUMMARY". Census of Population and Housing: Reflecting Australia - Stories from the Census, 2016. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  19. ^ Princeton University WordNet. "Aussie". Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  20. ^ "Australian Standard Classification of Cultural and Ethnic Groups (ASCCEG)". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  21. ^ "ParlInfo - 1898 Australasian Federation Conference : Third Session : Debates - January 28". parlinfo.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  22. ^ "Christian%20Commonwealth"%20%20Dataset%3Aconventions;rec=0;resCount=Default; "ParlInfo - 1898 Australasian Federation Conference : Third Session : Debates - January 28". parlinfo.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  23. ^ "Table 5.1 Estimated resident population, by country of birth(a), Australia, as at 30 June, 1996 to 2019(b)(c)". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original on 2 July 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  24. ^ "The Evolution of Australia's Multicultural Policy". Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs. 2005. Archived from the original on 19 February 2006. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
  25. ^ "2018-19 Migration Program Report" (PDF). Department of Home Affairs (Australia). p. 19. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 May 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  26. ^ "Face the Facts: Cultural Diversity". Australian Human Rights Commission. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  27. ^ Jupp1, pp. 796–802
  28. ^ Teo & White 2003, pp. 118–20
  29. ^ Davison, Hirst & Macintyre 1998, pp. 98–99
  30. ^ Teo & White 2003, pp. 125–27
  31. ^ Jupp1, pp. 808–812, 74–77
  32. ^ White, Richard (1 January 1983). "A Backwater Awash: The Australian Experience of Americanisation". Theory, Culture and Society. 1 (3): 108–122. doi:10.1177/026327648300100309. S2CID 144339300.


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