Australia is an island. It is the largest island in the world . It is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. In the past, the aboriginal people were the only people who lived in Australia. They had their own culture and languages.
Most people think that the English were the first foreigners to arrive in Australia. That is not true. Many centuries ago, Indonesian fishermen and traders, called Macassans, started visiting the north of Australia to trade. There is also some evidence that a Chinese admiral called Zheng He may also have visited Australia in 1405 with many ships. Long before the first British arrived, in the early 17th Century, Dutch sailors had also reached the north of Australia. However, only the British, after Captain Cook ‘discovered’ Australia in 1776, came to stay. In 1788, they built a small colony on the shores of Sydney Harbour.
Today, Australia is a sovereign state with its own government, laws and flag. Still, many cities, like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, bear the names of famous English people. Welcome to Australia, the largest island under the sun.