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When was Australia officially named Australia?
On 12 December 1817, Governor Lachlan Macquarie recommended to the British Colonial Office that the “Australia” be adopted as the name of the continent still being referred to as New Holland. Finally, in 1824, the British Admiralty agreed that the continent should be officially called Australia.
How did Australia get the name Australia?
The name Australia (pronounced /əˈstreɪliə/ in Australian English) is derived from the Latin australis, meaning “southern”, and specifically from the hypothetical Terra Australis postulated in pre-modern geography.
What was Australia originally going to be called?
Australia, once known as New South Wales, was originally planned as a penal colony. In October 1786, the British government appointed Arthur Phillip captain of the HMS Sirius, and commissioned him to establish an agricultural work camp there for British convicts.
Why Australia was called New Holland?
After Dutch navigators charted the northern, western and southern coasts of Australia during the 17th Century this newly found continent became known as ‘New Holland’. He was the first to circumnavigate the continent in 1803, and used the name ‘Australia’ to describe the continent on a hand drawn map in 1804.
Why is Australia referred to as Oz?
When Aus or Aussie, the short form for an Australian, is pronounced for fun with a hissing sound at the end, it sounds as though the word being pronounced has the spelling Oz. Hence Australia in informal language is referred to as Oz.
Why was Australia named New Holland?
Why is Australia called Oceania?
Most of Australia and Oceania is under the Pacific, a vast body of water that is larger than all the Earth’s continental landmasses and islands combined. The name “Oceania” justly establishes the Pacific Ocean as the defining characteristic of the continent.
What was Australia formerly known as?
The name Australia has been applied to two continents. Originally, it was applied to the south polar continent, or sixth continent, now known as Antarctica. The name is a shortened form of Terra Australis which was one of the names given to the imagined (but undiscovered) land mass that was thought to surround the south pole.
What are the names Australia was known by?
When Europeans first began visiting and mapping Australia in the 17th century, the name Terra Australis was naturally applied to the new territories. Until the early 19th century, Australia was best known as ” New Holland “, a name first applied by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 (as Nieuw-Holland) and subsequently anglicised.
What is the national religion of Australia?
Australia’s major religion is Christianity with the major denominations including Catholic, Anglican, Uniting Church, Presbyterian and Reformed, Eastern Orthodox , Baptist and Lutheran. The two major denominations, Anglican and Catholic, account for 36\% of the Australian population.
How was Australia given its name?
It was the English explorer Matthew Flinders who made the suggestion of the name we use today. He was the first to circumnavigate the continent in 1803, and used the name ‘Australia’ to describe the continent on a hand drawn map in 1804.