Australians, New Zealanders gather on Anzac Day to remember the war dead from Gallipoli, and other conflicts
1911 - Canberra is founded and designated as the capital.
1914 - Outbreak of World War I. Australia commits hundreds of thousands of troops to the British war effort.
Their participation - alongside New Zealanders - in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey in 1915 leads to heavy casualties. The Gallipoli landings help cement a sense of identity in the young nation.
Economic woes
1929 - The Great Depression following the Wall Street Crash hits Australia hard. Recovery is uneven, and the Labor government is defeated in the election in 1931.
1939 - Australia follows Britain's lead and declares war on Nazi Germany.
1941 - The US declares war on Japan. Australia turns to the US for help in its defence after the Japanese take Singapore. Australia allows the US to base its supreme command for the Pacific war on its territory.
1948 - Australia begins a scheme for immigration from Europe. Over the next 30 years, more than two million people arrive, about one-third of them from Britain, and hundreds of thousands from Italy, Greece and Germany.
1950 - Australia commits troops to the UN forces in the Korean war.