Until almost the end of the century. XIX Australia was inhabited only by indigenous peoples (for which see, below, the chapters: Ethnology, Anthropology, Religion and Languages) which now number altogether about 59,000 individuals. In 1788 the first fleet arrived in Sydney with a group of soldiers, settlers and deportees. In that year the white population reached 859 residents; in 1800 it had risen to 5217, in 1850 to 405,356; in 1900 to 4,425,000. The last census was made on April 4, 1921, but we also have the data of an evaluation carried out in 1928:
According to IAMACCEPTED, the discovery of gold in 1851 was perhaps the main factor that promoted the settlement in the country. In the previous ten years, the population increase had been only 215,000 residents; in the period 1851-60 it was 740,000; but when New Zealand revealed an equal source of wealth in 1861, there was a sharp decline in immigration to Australia. A strong population increase, however, occurred in Western Australia again as a result of the continued discovery of marvelous gold deposits from 1886 to 1905. During this period the population increased by 10% per year, but coming to a considerable extent from other regions of the ‘Australia. Pastoralism, on the other hand, although it is perhaps the most important industry in Australia, being necessarily associated with a low population density, it has not been a big factor in fostering the development of dense settlements, except in districts where the dairy industry is developed, such as Lismore (New South Wales) and Gippsland (Victoria). Although agriculture has developed widely, it has retained an extensive character (grain crops), and even the most cultivated districts are far from having a population density comparable to that of European agricultural countries. The average density of the entire continent (0.8 residents per sq. Km. In 1926) is the smallest of all continental areas, also remaining far below those of Africa and South America (about 4). But too many completely uninhabited spaces enter into the calculation of the area. The paper of the density of On the whole, Australia indicates very well which are the most colonized regions, which are completely empty or occupied by extremely sparse settlement. The highest densities are naturally localized in the eastern and south-western corner, where however in a few districts they exceed 4 residents per square kilometer. and reach a maximum of 10-15 residents. However, it has been calculated (Taylor) that, taking as a basis the demographic conditions and the current standard of living of Europe, Australia could keep 62 million men on its soil. A distinct feature of the Australian population is its concentration in cities, so much so that 62% of it is urban. In Victoria, 55% of the state’s population lives in Melbourne; in South Australia 56% in Adelaide; in Sydney, 46% of the population of the entire state is collected. As a result, in 1926 no less than 46.6% of the population of Australia lived in just six cities.
The federation currently has two vast metropolises: Sydney, which has reached, and Melbourne, which tends to reach one million residents; three other cities with over 100,000 residents (Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth), a large industrial center (Newcastle) which is approaching that figure; and, finally, about fifty centers between 20 and 50,000 residents.
There are on average 51 men out of 49 women in the Australian population, but in Victoria and Tasmania these are only slightly in the majority. In Central and Northern Australia there are 2821 men out of 1046 women and in Queensland there are 40,000 men in surplus. In tropical areas there are also proportionately fewer old women and younger mothers than in temperate regions, which could lead to a misinterpretation of the vital statistics and benefits of such regions for settlement, while the phenomenon is simply due to the fact that they are still in little advanced stages of colonization, and with a large population of recent arrivals. Natural population growth is strong, ranging from a high of 15.8 in Tasmania to a low of 12.1 in Victoria.
The 1921 census shows that more than 99% of the population is of British nationality, followed by the Chinese who amount to 14,000 and the Italians in third place with 5,000 individuals. But many foreigners have naturalized. The following list gives the breakdown of the residents according to the country of birth:
In a recent book, Lyng also attempted to divide these different nationalities into the main racial types, finding that 82% of the population belongs to the Northern European type, 13% to the Mediterranean type and 5% to the Alpine type. However, the calculation is done by induction, without direct observations.
English is the language universally spoken throughout Australia, although small communities that publish foreign newspapers are scattered throughout the Federation. Following the war, the use of German has greatly decreased: however, there are German newspapers in Brisbane (Queensland) and Tanunda (South Australia). A Scandinavian newspaper, Norden, is also published and Italo – Australia is published weekly in Sydney, where Le Courrier Australien, the only French newspaper, is also published. There are also two newspapers for the use of the Jewish community. The Presbyterian Church of Melboume maintains a Chinese school, which is the only one in the Federation.
The classification of professed religions (Feder. Yearbook. 1927) is given by the following table:
n any way to settle there and hardly ever brought their women with them, were (in 1911) busy in roughly the following way: gardeners 7315, carpenters 2000, shopkeepers 1700.
