Geologically, Australia is the oldest continent, inhabited for over 30,000 years by Aboriginal people who migrated from India. The Aboriginal people lived in small isolated tribes across the continent in diverse environments, developing many languages and cultures. Australia is about the size of the United States but has a small population of around 21 million, as much of the very dry interior receives little rainfall and has few natural resources. The isolation of the continent has contributed to Australia having a unique environment and population.

1. The Unique Continent
People of Indian Origin
Geologically, Australia is the oldest of the world’s continents. Its north-west has
probably been above water for 1600 million years. Until 1788, when the first British
colonists arrived, it was inhabited by some 300,000 Stone Age people, considered the
only race which could serve as a common ancestor for all mankind.
They were brown, people of Indian origin, linked to the hill tribes of southern
India. Driven by lack of food or by pressure from stronger races, they moved in stages
via Ceylon, Malaya, and Indonesia till eventually they reached the north coast of
Australia. This migration is believed to have occurred some 30,000 years ago.
Gradually they advanced down the east and west coasts, and into the center, adapting
themselves to the harshest conditions imaginable. The land was almost rainless and
there were no crops to be cultivated and no animals to be domesticated.
In bygone ages, when sea levels were low, Australia’s north was
separated from the Asian main land only by narrow straits which hindered the passage
of animals but not of migrating tribes. Some 15000 years ago, rising sea levels put an
end to migration, and Australia was isolated. The sea guarded the inhabitants from
contacts and they retained their Stone Age culture. On the coast, they became
fishermen; in the forests and mountains, they were bushmen; in the dry interior, they
travelled far and wide as plainsmen to find food.to eat and water to drink. They were
divided into some 500 tribes and, owing to the isolation of their groups, developed a
variety of dialects. They occupied the greater part of the continent and some of the
place names derived from these aborigines, sound like names of streams, hills and
villages of southern India.
Down Under
The continent is about the size of the United States and twice as large as India.
Its total area is almost 7.7 million square kilometers. Its population was about 21 million
in 2008.Its central bulk extends almost 4000 kilometers along the Tropic of Capricorn.
To the British, it was ‘Down Under’ the antipodes, the other side of the globe. Perth the
capital of Western Australia is 5800 kilometers from Colombo and 10,400 kilometers
from Cape Town. Canberra is nearer to the South Pole than to Singapore.
Almost three-quarters of Australia’s land area is a vast plateau about 330 meters
sea level. There is a highland region stretching north to south close to the east coast
known as the Great Dividing Range. It has an average altitude of 984 meters, and in the
south-east corner, known as Australian Alps, it rises to 1640 meters over a considerable
area. Here Mount Kosciusko in New South Wales reaches 2228 meters; but it is only a
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2. rounded swell over next highest plateau whose summit can be approached by motor car
in good summer weather. In Queens-land the highlands achieve their greatest width of
nearly 640 kilometers. The highlands run through Victoria, providing the State with
beautiful valleys and fertile plains. In Tasmania they appear as a rugged mass with a
central plateau where the generous rainfall is held in large lakes. Mount Bartle Frere
(735 meters) in Queens-land, Mount Bagong (238 meters) in Victoria and mount Ossa
(1721 meters) in Tasmania are the highest points.
Water Resources
Australia is the driest continent. Its rainfall is unreliable and its rivers often run
dry. The total average annual run-off of Australian rivers is 346,200 million cubic meters.
India’s Ganges alone discharges 776,900 million cubic meters, while South America’s
Amazon accounts for 3, 663, 5000 million cubic meters. In Australia the water resources
of the mainland south of the Tropic of Capricorn are better exploited than those of the
north or torrid zone which has 150 centimeters of rain during its five hottest months.
People accustomed to working in the tropical heat could have used the soil and water of
this region with greater success. In general terms, about 705 of Australia receive less
than 50 centimeters of rainfall in a year. There is a vast arid area in the center where
rainfall is between 10 and 15 centimeters a year and at times there may not be rain for
three years in succession.
If nature had been kinder and given Australia a Central mountain range high
enough for snow and glaciers a large area that is now barren could have benefitted from
good monsoon winds in the north and the Pacific air masses in the south. Ten times the
population could have made a living if this favor has been granted. But it is doubtful
whether in such a case the country could have restricted itself to a White Australia, a
point of contributing to its uniqueness.
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