Who discovered Australia and in what. History of Australia, briefly: discovery, exploration of the mainland and settlement by the British. The official history of the discovery of Australia

Australia is the smallest and most distant continent from Eurasia. During the Middle Ages, it was called Terra Australis Incognita, which means "unknown southern land". Who discovered mainland Australia, and in what year did it happen?

Official version

Mankind has become aware of new territory thanks to the traveler - navigator James Cook. His goal was to study the passage of Venus through the solar disk. It is assumed that the true reason for Cook's trip was the search for uncharted lands in the southern latitudes of Terra Australis Incognita. He traveled around the world and discovered distant lands, reaching the coast of the mainland in 1770. This date is considered historically accurate. But it was known about the existence of a piece of land "on the edge of the earth" much earlier. In addition, there were human settlements. It is difficult to determine the date of their foundation, approximately it happened 40 - 60 thousand years ago. Artifacts found in the western part of Australia on the Swan River belong to that period.

Who discovered mainland Australia in prehistoric times?

Scientists suggest that the first travelers who went to land across the ocean were the ancient Egyptians. They brought eucalyptus oil from these parts.

This version is confirmed cave drawings with insects similar to the Egyptian sacred scarabs. In addition, mummies were found in tombs in Egypt, which were embalmed with oil from eucalyptus trees grown in Australia.

However, all these theories are not officially accepted, since the existence of a continent lost in the sea element in Europe became known much later.

Who first discovered Australia?

Attempts to reach the continent were made several times. In the 16th century in sea ​​route the Portuguese went. In 1509 they reached Moluccas, and in 1522 ended up on the northwest coast. These dates are considered the first time the mainland was founded by Europeans.

There is also a hypothesis that Admiral Willem Jansson, who arrived on the continent on behalf of the Dutch authorities, discovered Australia. He undertook a campaign in 1605. For this purpose, the Dyfken ship was equipped. He followed in the direction of New Guinea and after three months of travel reached the Cape York Peninsula. Navigator made up detailed map coastline with a length of 320 km. He had no idea that he had discovered new continent, considering the lands to be the territories of New Guinea. Therefore, they were given the name New Holland».

Behind him sailed to the mainland Abel Tasman. He explored the islands on the west coast and plotted their outlines on a world map. One of the islands, Tasmania, is named after the discoverer.

Yes, to XVII century, thanks to the efforts of Dutch travelers, the position on the world map of mainland Australia and its islands became known.

Some researchers suggest that the Portuguese were the first Europeans to reach the shores of Australia back in the 20s of the 16th century.

As the main evidence, supporters of this theory cite the following points:

• maps of Dieppe published in France in the middle of the 16th century. They depict a large stretch of land between Indonesia and Antarctica, called Java la Grande, with symbols and explanations in French and Portuguese;
• presence of Portuguese colonies in South-East Asia at the beginning of the 16th century. In particular, the island of Timor is located only 650 km from the Australian coast;
• various finds found in coastline Australia are attributed to early Portuguese travelers.

In addition, the French navigator Binot Polmier de Gonneville claimed to have landed on some lands east of Cape Good Hope in 1504, after the ship was blown off course. For some time he was credited with the discovery of Australia, but later it turned out that the lands he visited were part of the coast of Brazil.

Discovery of Australia by the Dutch

The first undeniable discovery of Australia is documented at the end of February 1606. The expedition of the Dutch East India Company, led by Willem Jansson, landed from the ship "Duifken" ("Dove") on the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Jansson and his comrades explored the coast of New Guinea. Sailing from the island of Java to the southern coast of New Guinea and moving along it, after some time the Dutch reached the shores of the Cape York Peninsula in northern Australia, believing that they were still watching the coast of New Guinea.

Apparently, for some reason, the expedition did not notice the Torres Strait, which separates the coasts of New Guinea and Australia. On February 26, the team landed near the place where the city of Waipa is located today and was immediately attacked by the natives.

Subsequently, Jansson and his people sailed along the coast of Australia for about 350 km, from time to time making landfalls, but everywhere they ran into hostile natives, as a result of which several sailors died. The captain decided to return back, without realizing that he had discovered a new continent.

Since Jansson described the coast he explored as deserted and swampy, the new discovery did not arouse any interest. The East India Company equipped its ships in search of new lands rich in spices and jewels, and not for the sake of geographical discoveries as such.

In the same year, Luis Vaes de Torres sailed through the same strait, apparently not noticed by the Jansson expedition and later named Torres. Perhaps Torres and his comrades visited north coast continent, but written evidence of this has not been preserved.

In 1616, another ship of the Dutch East India Company under the control of Dirk Hartog reached the shores Western Australia, in the area of ​​​​Shark Bay (Shark Bay) at about 25 degrees S.l. The navigators explored the coast and nearby islands for three days. Finding nothing of interest, Hartog continued north along the previously unexplored coastline to 22 degrees S, after which he headed for Batavia.

In 1619, Frederick de Houtman and Jacob d'Erdel explored the Australian coast at 32 degrees S in two ships. sh. moving gradually to the north, where at 28 degrees S. discovered a strip of reefs called Houtman's Rocks.

In subsequent years, Dutch sailors continued to sail along the coast of Australia, calling this land New Holland, without bothering to explore the coast properly, because they did not see any commercial benefit in it. The vast coastline may have piqued their curiosity, but it did not encourage them to explore the country's resources. Exploring the western and northern coasts, they formed the impression of the newly discovered lands as swampy and barren. During that period, the Dutch never saw the southern and eastern shores much more attractive in appearance.

On July 4, 1629, the Batavia, a ship of the Dutch East India Company, was shipwrecked off the Houtman Rocks. After the mutiny that happened soon after, part of the crew built a small fort for their protection - this was the first European structure in Australia.

According to some estimates, between 1606 and 1770 more than 50 European ships visited the shores of Australia. Most of them belonged to the Dutch East India Company, including the ships of Abel Tasman. In 1642, Tasman, trying to go around the so-called New Holland from the south, discovered an island, which he called Van Diemen's Land (later this island was renamed Tasmania). Moving further east, after some time the ships reached New Zealand. However, Tasman never got close to Australia on his first voyage. Only in 1644 did he manage to explore in detail its northwestern coast and prove that all the territories previously discovered during the Dutch expeditions, with the exception of Van Diemen's Land, are parts of a single mainland.

English studies

Almost until the end of the 80s of the 17th century, practically nothing was known in England about the lands discovered by the Dutch. In 1688, a pirate ship carrying the Englishman William Dampier anchored on the northwest coast, near Lake Melville. There was not much to plunder there, and after several weeks of repairs, the ship left the inhospitable shores. However, this voyage had some consequences: returning to England, Dampier published a story about his journey, which interested the English Admiralty.

In 1699, he set off on a second voyage to the shores of Australia, on the Roebuck ship provided to him. As in the previous case, he visited the barren northwest coast and after 4 months of research was forced to return without finding anything. noteworthy. Since Dampier was unable to provide any facts that could interest the Admiralty, interest in new lands waned for almost three-quarters of a century.

In 1770, an expedition led by Lieutenant James Cook went to southern part Pacific Ocean on the sailboat "Endeavour" ("Attempt"). The navigators were supposed to make astronomical observations, but Cook had secret orders from the British Admiralty to search for the southern continent Terra Australis Incognita, which, according to geographers of the time, extended around the pole. Cooke reasoned that since so-called New Holland had a west coast, there must also be an east coast.

The expedition landed on the east coast of Australia at the end of April 1770. The landing site, originally named Stingray Bay, was later renamed Botany Bay due to the strange and unusual plants found there.

Cook named open lands New Wales and later New South Wales. He had no idea about the scale of his discovery, as well as the fact that this island is a whole continent, 32 times larger than Britain itself. Among other things, Cook was the first European to visit the Great Barrier Reef. The ship that stumbled across it spent the next seven weeks under repair.

The British returned in 1778 to colonize new lands.

British colonies

It was decided to start colonization discovered by James Cook lands using convicts as the first colonists. The first fleet, led by Captain Arthur Philip, consisting of 11 ships carrying a total of about 1350 people, arrived in Botany Bay on the 20th of January 1788. However, the area was considered unsuitable for settlement and they moved north to Port Jackson.

Governor Philip issued an order establishing the first British colony in Australia. The soil around Sydney Harbor was poor. The young colony relied both on developing farms along the Parramatta River, 25 kilometers upstream to the west, and on buying food from the natives.

The Second Fleet in 1790 brought badly needed supplies and various supplies; however, among the newly arrived prisoners there were a large number of sick, many of them were close to death and useless for the colony. The second fleet became known as the "Death Fleet" - 278 convicts and crew members died during this voyage, while the first time there were only 48 people who died.

The colony experienced many other difficulties, including a significant male preponderance of about four per woman, which had been a problem in the settlement for many years.

Several other British colonies were also created.

Van Diemen's Land

The first British settlement on the island was at Risdon in 1803, when Lieutenant John Bowen landed with about 50 settlers, crew, soldiers and convicts. In February 1804, Lieutenant David Collins established a settlement at Hobart. The colony of Van Diemen's Land was established in 1825, and from 1856 officially became known as Tasmania.

Western Australia

In 1827, Major Edmund Lockyer built a small British settlement at King Georges Sound (Albany). Captain James Stirling became its first governor. The colony was created specifically for convicts, and the first prisoners arrived in 1850.

South Australia

The British province of South Australia was founded in 1836 and became a Crown colony in 1842. Although South Australia was not created for convicts, a number of former prisoners subsequently moved there from other colonies. About 38,000 immigrants arrived and settled in the area by 1850.

Victoria

In 1834, the Henty brothers arrived in Portland Bay, and John Batman settled on the site of the future Melbourne. The first immigrant ships arrived in Port Phillip in 1839. In 1851, Victoria (Port Phillip) seceded from New South Wales.

queensland

In 1824, a colony known as Moreton Bay Settlement was established at Radcliffe by Lieutenant John Oxley, later known as Brisbane. About 19 hundred people were sent to the settlement between 1824 and 1839. The first free European settlers moved into the area in 1838. In 1859, Queensland seceded from New South Wales.

northern territory

In 1825, the land occupied by today's Northern Territory was part of New South Wales. In 1863 control of the area was given to South Australia. The capital Darwin was founded in 1869 and was originally known as Palmerston. On January 1, 1911, the Northern Territory seceded from South Australia and became part of the Commonwealth of Australia.

After the colonization of the coast, a period of active exploration began. However, until 1813, none of the expeditions were able to overcome the high mountain chain located along the east coast. After the passage was discovered, in 1815 Governor Macquarie crossed the Blue Mountains and founded the city of Bathurst on the other side. Many researchers rushed deep into the mainland.

John Oxley was the first serious explorer who surveyed the channels of the rivers Lochlan, Macquarie and several others. Charles Sturt in search of the mythical inland sea, discovers the Darling River, explores the Lochlan and Marambigee river systems. John McDual Stuart explores the territories north of Adelaide, Friedrich Leichhardt crosses Cleveland and northern territories, simultaneously discovering many small rivers and lands suitable for agriculture, and in 1858-60, Robert Burke crossed the mainland from north to south for the first time. Nathaniel Buchanan finds vast pastures on the Barkley Plateau, which later became the center of Northern Australia's sheep farming.

In addition to those listed, many other researchers continued to study the mainland, discovering new lands and contributing to the further development of Australia.

James Cook was born in 1728 on October 27 in the town of Morton, located in Yorkshire. At the age of 18, while working in a grocery store, he suddenly became interested in sea ​​voyages. Cook entered as a cabin boy on a dry cargo ship that transports coal. And 20 years later, he was entrusted with the management of a scientific expedition in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1770, the clumsy and heavy ship Endeavor stopped in the waters of one bay. Among the members of the Cook team who went in search of the unknown southern mainland, in other words, Australia, was the scientist - botanist of the Royal Society Joseph Banks. Who was so struck by the picture that seemed to him of plants, until then unknown to science, that he was able to persuade Cook to rename the already named bay. Since then, it has become known as Botanical.

It must be said that an expedition with such a number of scientists on board in Pacific Ocean sent for the first time. In addition to Banks, there were also naturalists from Sweden Spering and Solander, 2 artists, with assistants - a total of 11 people on board the ship. In addition, Cook himself was an excellent astronomer and cartographer. The main reason for the expedition was just the observation from Tahiti of how Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun.

The Endeavor sailed from Plymouth in 1768. The following year, in June, he reaches Tahiti, where the observation of the planets took place. It seems that the task is completed, but Cook had a secret package instructing him to sail further south. There, the expedition team was supposed to search for the previously unknown southern land.

In search of the mainland, James Cook brought the Endeavor to the coast of New Zealand, which was discovered by Abel Tasman back in 1642. As in the case of the Dutch researcher, the reaction of the local Maori population was extremely unfriendly. However, the British were ready for this hostile reception, among the expedition there were no losses, but several islanders were still killed during the skirmish. Cook decided to carefully explore the coast of New Zealand. As a result of a four-month study near north island and seven weeks near the South appeared an accurate map of this continent.

On April 1, 1770, Endeavor left New Zealand and headed for New Holland. A month later, the ship reached the bay, which soon became known as Botany Bay. In the ship's log, Cook defined this land as pleasant to the eye, rather calm and varied. The Endeavor lay in the harbor for eight days. Joseph Banks during this time made many descriptions of new plant species, as well as the nature local residents, which he could not attribute to either Negroes or Polynesians. The natives were at first hostile to the travelers, but a few shots fired into the air calmed them down. Then there were no disagreements with the indigenous people.

A couple of kilometers from Botany Bay, Cook found a large natural passage to the huge harbor - Port Jackson. In the report, he described it as a good place for the parking of many ships. The report was not forgotten, and many years later the first city, Sydney, was founded here.

Then it took Cook four months to sail up to the top of the Gulf of Carpenter, to a place called New Holland. traveler make up accurate map coast of future Australia. A dozen new names appear - bays, harbors, capes, bays, receiving new English names. The kings and ministers, lords, provinces and cities of Britain all acquire Australian counterparts.

Having not very successfully passed a large barrier reef, the ship, in the end, reaches northern edge Australia. More than once, Endeavor was on the verge of death, but the experience of the team and the captain helped to prevent serious problems. Only once luck turned away from the discoverers. On June 17, the ship hit a reef and almost drowned. This event took place near the city of Cooktown. Repair of the ship took seven weeks. And today this place, in memory of past events, is called Cape Tribulation, which translates as Cape of Misfortune. It is famous all over the world for its forest. This is the only place on earth where the "Rhine Forest" goes into the ocean. A tropical forest grows its roots from the reef.

In "" 1770 on August 22, James Cook, on behalf of George 3, proclaims the land he solemnly explored as the property of Britain and calls it New South Wales. This name probably came from the fact that the area here reminded the traveler of the coast of Glamorgan in South Wales. With a proud sense of duty, Cook sent the Endeavor to Batavia, and then to Great Britain, where he was expected by universal recognition, an audience with the king and promotion. On July 13, 1771, the ship reaches Plymouth.

Surprisingly, Cook was unable to find fresh water in New South Wales. Most likely, because the researcher did not go deep into the mainland. However, this was an occasion to write in the report that he made when he returned to Great Britain that this territory was uninhabitable. It was a rare case when the traveler made a mistake. Fresh water was, but it fell to another person to find it. This was done by Arthur Philip, the captain of the first fleet, who came here with the prisoners after 18 years.

Discovery history. Man appeared in Australia 40 thousand years ago. They were newcomers from South and Southeast Asia, the forerunners of modern aborigines. Having populated the eastern part of Australia, people also penetrated into Tasmania. The fact that the Tasmanians are descendants of ancient Australians is confirmed by recent archaeological finds on Hunter Island in Bass Strait.

Assumptions about the existence of the mysterious Terra incognita Australis - the "Unknown Southern Land" south of the equator were expressed by ancient geographers. A vast area of ​​land in the southern hemisphere was depicted on maps in the 15th century, although its outlines in no way resembled Australia. Some information concerning the northern coasts of Australia was available from the Portuguese as far back as the 16th century; they came from the inhabitants of the Malay Islands, who visited the coastal waters of the mainland to catch trepangs. However, until the 17th century, none of the Europeans managed to see Australia with their own eyes.

The discovery of Australia has long been associated with the name of the English navigator James Cook. In fact, the first Europeans to visit the coast of this continent and meet here with scattered tribes of aborigines were the Dutch: Willem Janszon in 1605 and Abel Tasman in 1642. Janszon crossed the Torres Strait and sailed along the coast of the Cape York Peninsula, while Tasman discovered the southwestern part of Tasmania, which he considered part of the mainland. And the Spaniard Torres in 1606 sailed through the strait that separates the island of New Guinea from the mainland.

However, the Spaniards and the Dutch kept their discoveries secret. James Cook sailed to the east coast of Australia only one hundred and fifty years later, in 1770, and immediately declared it an English possession. A royal “penal colony” was created here for criminals, and later for exiled members of the Chartist movement in England. Representatives of the British authorities, who arrived in 1788 with the "first fleet" to the shores of Australia, founded the city of Sydney, which was subsequently proclaimed the administrative center of the British colony of New South Wales, created in 1824. With the arrival of the "second fleet" the first free settlers appear. Development begins, or rather, the capture of the mainland, accompanied by the most severe extermination of the indigenous population. Aborigines were hunted, and bonuses were given for the dead. Often, the colonists staged real raids on the indigenous inhabitants of Australia, killing them without distinction of sex and age, scattering poisoned food, after which people died in terrible agony. It is not surprising that in a hundred years most of the indigenous population was exterminated. The remaining natives were driven from the land of their ancestors and pushed into the interior desert regions. In 1827, England announces the establishment of its sovereignty over the entire continent.

The end of the 18th and the entire 19th century for Australia is the time of geographical discoveries. In 1797, the exploration of the shores of the continent began by the talented English hydrographer M. Flinders, whose work Australian geographers rate as highly as Cook's discoveries. He confirmed the existence of the Bass Strait, explored the shores of Tasmania and South Australia, the entire eastern and northern coasts of the mainland, mapped the Great Barrier Reef. Flinders, on the other hand, proposed giving the continent the name "Australia", replacing it with the previously accepted designation on the maps "New Holland", which was finally supplanted since 1824.

By the 19th century, the contours of the mainland were mostly mapped, but the interior remained a “blank spot”. The first attempt to penetrate deep into Australia was made in 1813 by an expedition of English colonists who discovered a passage through the Blue Mountains and discovered magnificent pasture lands west of the Great Dividing Range. A “land fever” began: a stream of free settlers poured into Australia, capturing huge plots of land, where they organized thousands of sheep farms. This land grab was called “squatting”.

The parties of prospectors moved further and further west, south and north, crossed the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers. In 1840, P. Strzelecki discovered the most high peak mainland, which he named Mount Kosciuszko in honor of the national hero of Poland.

More than a dozen large expeditions were equipped to explore the Australian Interior, attempts were made to cross the continent. Significant discoveries in the depths of the mainland belong to C. Sturt, who first discovered the Darling River and the Simpson Desert. Significant discoveries in the southeast were made by D. Mitchell, in the west by D. Gray; V. Leichgard traveled from the Darling Range to the northern coast, but three years later, while trying to cross the continent from east to west, his expedition went missing in the endless deserts of Central Australia.

For the first time, R. Burke managed to cross the continent from south to north, who led a well-equipped expedition in 1860-1861. Burke went from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria, but on the way back he died along with his companion W. Wils. D. Stuart managed to cross the continent twice, passing through the most sultry places of the central deserts.

By the end of the 19th century, exploration of inland Australia was completed.

At the very beginning of the 19th century, a hard labor colony was founded in Tasmania, free settlers appeared on the island later, only in the 20s of the 19th century, and at the same time extermination campaigns against the Tasmanian aborigines began. In just a decade, most of the Tasmanians were exterminated. In 1876, the last Tasmanian woman died.

The period of discovery in Tasmania lasted until 1843. By this time, not only the coasts, but also the central regions had been surveyed, work began on a continuous large-scale survey of the territory, and in the 70s large deposits of tin, gold and rare metals were discovered on the island.

The first settlers who arrived in Australia did not find anything similar to the landscapes of England. They did not perceive either the beauty of malga (acacia bushes) or the magnificence of eucalyptus forests. The colonists did everything to make the landscapes in which they got as close as possible to the parks and pastures of England.

Until the middle of the 19th century, the development of Australian territories was slow. The exiles who arrived with the first ships brought with them seeds and seedlings of plants, which they began to grow on the poor sandy soils around the first settlement on the site of modern Sydney. Agriculture was slash-and-burn, organic fertilizers were not used, as there were no livestock. During the year, two crops were harvested - wheat and corn, when the crops fell, the site was abandoned.

Gradually, farmers began to move from the areas of initial development on the southeast coast, following the pastoralists, inland, north, to the tropical coast, changing old and breeding new crops. From 1850 to 1914, Australian farmers mastered the best lands on the continent. The most fertile soils were almost completely occupied by wheat, and sugar cane was grown further north, on the alluvial plains near the Tropic of Capricorn.

At the same time, cattle breeding began to move into the interior of Australia, at first to the relatively watered areas of the light forests of the southeast, and then to the arid regions of Central Australia.

An important milestone in the development of the country was the middle of the last century, when gold was found in several places at once - first in the states of Victoria and New Wales, and then in Western Australia. At this time, a stream of immigrants, mainly English and Irish, rushes to Australian soil.

The "Gold Rush", as well as the spread of extensive sheep breeding over large areas of land, led to the rapid development of the economy, population growth and the administrative formation of the colonies. In the 70s, there were already six separate colonies in Australia: New South Wales, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland, which fought for self-government. In the period from 1873 to 1883, negotiations were held between the colonies on the creation of a federation, which ended by 1889 with the development of a draft constitution.

Abel Tasman- Dutch navigator, explorer and merchant. He received worldwide recognition for the sea campaigns he led in 1642-1644. He was the first known European explorer to reach the shores of New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji. The data collected during his expeditions helped to prove the fact that Australia is a separate continent.

Abel Janszoon Tasman was born in 1603 in the village of Lütjegast near Groningen (now the municipality of Grotegast in the province of Groningen) in the Netherlands. The exact date of his birth is unknown. The first documentary mention of him refers to 1631, when he, already widowed by that time, remarried. As follows from the surviving church record, his wife was illiterate and came from a poor family, which indirectly confirmed the validity of the assumptions of the researchers of his biography about his low social status during that period.

Presumably at the same time, Abel Tasman entered the service of the Dutch East India Company as a simple sailor, but already in the records of 1634 he appears as the skipper (captain) of one of the company's ships. The main occupation of the company's sailors at that time was the service of transportation of spices and spices, which were an expensive and valuable commodity for the European market.

In 1638, Tasman, commanding a ship, sailed to India.

In 1639, Tasman led one of two ships (together with M. Quast) equipped by the East India Company to explore the navigation areas in the region of Japan and trade opportunities with local population. In general, this expedition was not successful and after 6 months spent at sea, the Tasman ship, having lost almost 40 out of 90 crew members, returned to the Dutch fort Zeelandia on the island of Formosa (Taiwan). During this voyage, Bonin Island was discovered by him.

In 1640, Tasman again led one of the 11 Dutch ships headed for the shores of Japan. This time he spent about three months in the Japanese port of Hirado.

In 1642, Tasman was appointed commander of a detachment of two ships of the East India Company sent to explore the southern and eastern waters of the Pacific Ocean. According to the hypotheses of geographers and navigators of that era, it was these waters that should have washed the shores of the mythical Unknown Southern Land, about the possible wealth of which several generations told. During this voyage, on November 24, 1642, Tasman discovered a large island (Tasmania) off the coast of Australia and named it Van Diemen's land in honor of the governor of the Netherlands East Indies. After following several tens of miles along the coast of the island, Tasman turned east and on December 13 he saw the outlines of another unfamiliar land. It was the South Island of New Zealand. During the stop at this island, Europeans first met with the Maori, the original inhabitants of New Zealand. The meeting ended tragically: the Maori attacked the landing Dutch, killed several sailors and disappeared. Frustrated by this incident, Tasman named this place Killer Bay (now Golden Bay).

Continuing along west coast North Tasman Island reached its tip and turned to the northeast. On January 21, 1643, the expedition reached the Tonga archipelago, discovering here several previously unknown islands. Having replenished supplies of water and food on Tonga, on February 6, Tasman's ships approached the islands of the Fiji archipelago. Further, leaving the Fiji Islands to the south, Tasman walked along north coast New Guinea and on June 15, after almost a ten-month journey, arrived in Batavia.

In 1643, Tasman led a detachment of three East India Company ships along the western coast of New Guinea and the northern coast of Australia. As a result, a significant part of the coast of northern Australia was mapped for the first time.

From the point of view of the leadership of the East India Company, the sailing of detachments of ships under the command of Tasman in 1642-1644 ended in complete failure - new areas of trade were never discovered and new sea passages were not found for navigation. Until almost 100 years later, the British navigator James Cook traveled, Europeans never began to explore New Zealand, and visits to Australia were isolated and most often caused by shipwrecks. After the expedition returned to Batavia, Tasman was promoted to the rank of commander and raised his salary, and he himself was appointed a member of the Legal Council of Batavia. In 1647 he was sent as a representative to the king of Siam, and in 1648 he led a detachment of 8 ships that opposed the ships of the Spanish fleet.

Around 1651, Abel Tasman retired and moved on to trade in Batavia.

Relief. Australia is the flattest continent. Most of it is a plain, the edges of which are raised, especially in the east. Mountains occupy only 5% of the mainland. The average height of the mainland is 340-350 m above sea level. In the structure of its surface, three areas are clearly expressed: the Zahidno-Australian Plateau 400-500 m high, the Central Lowland, where the most low point mainland (-12 m below sea level), and the medium-altitude Great Dividing Range in the east with highest point mainland (Mount Kosciuszko, 2228 m).

The geological structure of Australia in comparison with other continents is the simplest. The mainland consists of ancient Precambrian and young

Epihercynian platforms occupying the western and central territory, and a much smaller folded belt of the Liznoproterozoic and Paleozoic age in the east.

The Australian platform is one of the largest on Earth. A distinctive feature of its structure is the alternation of protrusions of the ancient foundation and depressions. The outcrops of metamorphosed and volcanic rocks of the folded basement form three shields - Zakhidno-Australian, Pivnichno-Australian and Shvdenno-Australian. Within the framework of the first of them, the oldest rocks were found, which were formed more than 3 billion years ago.

"The eastern part of the mainland from the Cape York Peninsula in the north to the island of Tasmania in the south" has the Shidno-Australian folded region.

Geological structures determined the differences in the forms of the surface of the western and eastern parts of the mainland.

The Central Lowland is located in the zone of the meridional trough of the Australian Platform. Here, the relief is dominated by lowlands, confined to the areas of the greatest subsidence of the platform foundation - the basin of Lake Eyre, the Murray basin and the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Mountain types of relief in Australia are almost not common. In the southeast, to the Zahidno-Australian Plateau, low (700 - 900 m) blocky mountains Flinders and Mount Lofty adjoin. Flat-topped uplifts are broken by a graben, which go under water and form Spencer and St. Vincent bays. There are mountains in the center of Australia - McDonnelly and Musgrave,

The mountain belt of Eastern Australia is formed by the Great Dividing Range and the mountains of Tasmania. These low folded-blocky mountain structures were formed as a result of Neogene tectonic movements. The eastern slopes of the mountains are steep, the western slopes are gentle. A feature of the Great Dividing Range is the displacement of the main watershed from the higher eastern

ranges to flat-topped low-mountain plateaus in the west.

Australia is rich in minerals. The crystalline rocks of the platform foundation contain iron, copper, lead-zinc, uranium ores, and gold. Minerals of sedimentary origin include deposits of phosphorites, rock salt, hard and brown coal, oil, natural gas. Many deposits lie at shallow depths, so they are mined by open-cast mining. In terms of reserves of iron ore, non-ferrous metal ores (bauxite, lead, zinc, nickel) and uranium, Australia occupies one of the first places in the world.

Climate. Australia is the driest continent on Earth, three-quarters of its surface has insufficient moisture. Climatic conditions on the continent are determined by its position near the equator, on both sides of the tropic. It was the hot tropical sun that caused the formation of extended deserts on the continent.

Compared with South Africa and South America, south of the equator Australia is more "stretched" from west to east. With a weak dissection of the coastline, this causes constantly high temperatures in the interior and gives the right to consider it the hottest part of the land of the southern hemisphere.

The Australian mainland is located in three climatic zones- from subequatorial in the north, in the main part of the tropical, in the subtropical in the south, and climatologists refer the island of Tasmania to the temperate zone.

From December to February (in the summer of the southern hemisphere), the mainland warms up strongly, especially its central parts; This is the hot season of the year. In the area of ​​Alice Springs (the center of Australia) and in the adjacent deserts, the average air temperatures during the day are about 35-36 degrees, and on some days even above +40. In winter, daytime temperatures here are almost two times lower - about +20 degrees, in the Great Victoria Desert - up to +10 degrees, in some years night frosts are not ruled out.

In inland areas, the influx of moist air from the north leads to occasional rains in summer, which, on the whole, are of little effect. South of 19-20o S sh. rainfall is no more than 300 mm, and semi-deserts and deserts dominate.

On the West Coast - in Perth the climate is somewhat milder due to the influence of the ocean - in the summer it is usually 30-degree heat, in winter the air cools down to +18 ... + 20 degrees during the day and + 6 ... + 8 at night.

In the most inhabited region of Australia - the southeast coast, the Mediterranean type of climate reigns - with hot, dry summers and rainy mild winters. So, in Melbourne in summer, on typical January days, the thermometer usually stays around +25..+27 degrees, and in winter it drops to +10…+12, at night to +5.

In the coolest part of the country - on the island of Tasmania, a typical British climate reigns - in summer the daytime temperature is +20 ... +22, in winter it is ten degrees cooler. In winter, night frosts occur, but there is no stable snow cover here - in the entire region, snow steadily falls only on the tops of the mountains.

50 thousand years before its discovery by European navigators. In waterless deserts, tropical jungle and on the coastal plains of this continent for more than one century people lived with their rich in tradition culture, religion and lifestyle. By the time James Cook discovered Australia, indigenous people The continent had over 300 thousand people who spoke 500 languages. And now Australia, the discovery of the mainland of which took place twice before the world realized all its significance for the world economy and culture, continues to open the mysteries of its thousand-year history.

Discovery history

The discovery of Australia is the result of centuries of searching by the Portuguese, Dutch and British southern country (terra australis incognita). In 2006, archaeologists discovered ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs in Australia, which gave rise to the hypothesis among some scientists that the Egyptians were the first to discover this continent 5,000 years ago.

If you take recent history, then scientists agree that the year of discovery of Australia is 1606. It was in this year that the Dutchman V. Janszon studied the northeastern part of Australia - the Cape York Peninsula.

But the history of the discovery of Australia is a multitude of mysteries that scientists have yet to unravel. So, the cannons found by archaeologists give reason to some researchers to believe that back in the 16th century. the Portuguese visited Australia, but there is no evidence of this in documentary sources yet.

Exploring New Holland

The entire 17th century is the history of the discovery and exploration of Australia by sea travelers from the Netherlands, who first called it New Holland.

After the mentioned Janszon, in 1616 D. Hartog described part of the western coast of the continent, in 1623 J. Carstensz mapped the western coast of the York Peninsula, and in 1627 the southern coast of the still unknown mainland was explored by F. Theisen and P. Neyts.

The chief ruler of the Netherlands Indies, Anton Van Diemen, sent on an expedition in 1642 famous navigator A. Tasman, who discovered the land named after Van Diemen ( modern island Tasman). January 29, 1644 set sail new expedition led by Tasman. The expedition proved that New Holland is a separate continent.

For Holland, the discovery of Australia did not seem worthy of much attention, since it already had convenient naval bases in southern Africa and Java, and expensive oriental spices, valued on European markets, did not grow on the island itself. Nothing also indicated the presence of mineral deposits here; no other animal species were discovered that could arouse interest among the then Europeans.

Exploration of the Australian mainland by the British

More than half a century passed before the work of exploring the mainland after the Dutch was continued by English explorers and travelers. Thus, the expedition of V. Dampier managed to study the northwestern part of Australia in more detail and discover previously unknown islands in this area.

And in 1770, the "next" discovery of Australia took place - this time by James Cook.

After Cook, the discovery and exploration of Australia by the British continued: in 1798 D. Bass discovered the strait between the mainland and the island of Tasmania, in 1797 - 1803 M. Flinders passed the continent and made a map with more accurate outlines of it south coast. It was Flinders who proposed in 1814 to change the name "New Holland" to "Australia", and by the 1840s F. King and D. Wicken had completed the study and mapping of the coastline of Australia.

The nineteenth century brought new geographical discoveries Australia by travelers and explorers from different countries, but already within the continent. As a result, the Great Dividing Range appeared on the map of Australia with the highest point of the continent - Mount Kosciuszko; deserts, endless plains, as well as Darling and Murray - the most full-flowing.

Full map British colony, which was Australia, was compiled by British scientists already at the beginning of the twentieth century.

James Cook and his contribution to the study of Australia

James Cook was born in 1728 to a North Yorkshire farmer. But not justifying the hopes of his father, he became a cabin boy on the coal miner "Frilav" in 1745. James was fascinated by maritime affairs, and he began to study astronomy, algebra, geometry and navigation on his own, and his natural abilities contributed to career growth: already in 1755 he received an offer to take the place of captain on the ship Friendship. But James decided to enlist in the Royal Navy, where he again began his service as an ordinary sailor. Cook quickly rose to the rank of assistant captain, and already in 1757 he passed the exams for the right to manage the ship on his own.

James Cook

In 1768, Cook went on an expedition that was supposed to observe the passage of Venus through the solar disk, as well as discover new lands for the British crown. It is believed that in 1770 during this world travel on the ship Endeavor and James Cook discovered Australia. Then he was forced to make a stop on a hitherto unknown mainland due to the resulting hole. Having repaired the ship, Cook directed it along the Bolshoi barrier reef, opening a hitherto unknown strait between Australia and New Guinea.

But the discovery of Australia did not stop Cook in search of hitherto unexplored lands. Returning to England in 1771, a few years later he set sail again in search of southern mainland- the mythical Terra Australis (Antarctica). The conditions of this trip did not allow Cook to reach Antarctica, and upon his return to England, he convinced everyone that the southern mainland simply did not exist.