AUSTRALIA As in the Americas, human habitation in Australia has a long history. The ‘aborigines’ (a general name given to a number of different societies) began to arrive on the continent over , years ago (it is possible it was even earlier). They came from New Guinea, which was connected to Australia by a land-bridge. In the natives’ traditions, they did not come to Australia, but had always been there.
The past centuries were called the ‘Dreamtime’ – something difficult for Europeans to understand, since the distinction between past and present is blurred. In the late eighteenth century, there were between and native communities in Australia each with its own language (even today of these languages are spoken). There is another large group of indigenous people living in the north, called the Torres Strait Islanders. The term ‘Aborigine’ is not used for these as they are believed to have migrated from elsewhere and belong to a different race.
Together, they make up . per cent of Australia’s population in . Australia is sparsely populated, and even now most of the towns are along the coast (where the British first arrived in ) because the central region is arid desert.