Cultural Diversity in Australia

The population of Australia is one of the world’s most ethnically and culturally diverse populations.Australia’s 19 million people come from over 200 different places around the world, and they speak over 200 different languages.Two main Groups

There are two groups that other people are most likely to think of when considering the Australian population. They are the people of English origin, and people of Aboriginal origin. The Aboriginals, or the indigenous population, as they’re also called, were in Australia for thousands of years before the arrival of any other people.The English didn’t find their way to Australia until the 1700s. At this time, they started sending convicts – convicted criminals – to Australia for punishment. This group of people was soon followed by free settlers from England and Ireland. The settlers wanted to explore the chances of a new life in this “new” part of the world. The English soon came to dominate both business and government. As a result, English is the official language of Australia today, rather than one of the 50 indigenous languages.Waves of Immigration

Since the days of early settlement, Australia has seen many waves of immigration from other countries. There has been immigration from other European countries, most of all Greece and Italy. Over the past 50 years, Australia has received 600,000 refugees from places like Vietnam, Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries, Sri Lanka and Central America. The largest groups of people who were born elsewhere are from the United Kingdom and New Zealand, followed by Italy, Vietnam, China and Greece. Out of the entire Australian population, 2.2% now say they are of “indigenous origin”.