the british founded the first European settlement in 1788 A.D. and named it Sydney. Many of the first settlers were convicts,but free settlers started to arrive increasing numbers, particularly after the discovery of gold in the mid-19th century.
Modern Australia was founded with the influx of European settlers just over hundred years agoล but the Aborigines inhabited the continent for tens of thousands of years before that. Today, just over 90 percent of the population are European descent, with less than percent descended from the indigenous Aboriginal population.
Australia's policians at first looked to europe and the US in foreign policy, but in the past 20 years or so they have made their near neighbours a priority