History Of Aboriginals In Australia
The first people to settle in the lands of Australia are known to have arrived more than fifty thousand years ago. At that time the sea levels were low and also the lands were more humid. The animals during this time were huge. Most of Australia had several people living except the central area which was settled only twenty five thousand years ago. The climate of Australia also improved over the period of time. |
The British were the first to colonize Australia and at that time there were only aboriginal people in this continent. There were more than three hundred thousand people living here and they spoke more than two hundred and fifty different languages among the tribes. However, when the Europeans took over the prime land they started driving out the aborigines, and many were even killed. Also, Europeans brought along several diseases with them which killed the indigenous people. They introduced various animals that did not belong to the continent. The aborigines completely ceased to exist in parts of Tasmania as they were pushed out or killed by then.
After World War II, attempts to convert the aborigines into Europeans increased, and in the 1960 the Legislations was changed and the federal government of Australia gave all Aborigines citizenship status. However, these people had very limited rights to own land or cultivate on their own. Only after 1972 they attained some amount of freedom. In the 20th century, government started making attempts to protect and preserve the culture of the aborigines.
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