Before the first British settlers in the 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians. Spoken language can be divided into groups of about 250 languages. After the discovery of the Americas by Dutch explorers in 1606, half of the east coast of Australia was cited as the United Kingdom in 1770 and settled in. Initially, the transportation of convicts to the colony of New South Welsh from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in the last decade, the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.