1st January is the Independence day of Australia whereas January 26th is celebrated as Australia Day unlike the USA, Australia Day is celebrated on the day the first fleet from Britain landed filled to the brim with convicts . Australia’s independence is ultimately derived from imperial intrigue into the region. However, we mustn’t assume that the people of Australia play the central role in independence. The question arises, independence from whom? It would be 40,000 years ago that the real inhabitants of Australia began to colonise the land. These indigenous people are largely forgotten about, but we cannot forget that they are the real Australians.
However, history necessitates that we take the alternative view – that the imperial inhabitants are the owners of the territory. It would be relatively recently when Australia gained official independence on New Year’s Day, 1901. Since then, the country has undergone massive change, changing capital cities, celebrating a national identity and developing their own culture and linguistic way of speaking that defines them today.
Australia has played a very large role in world affairs since its independence. It is the sixth largest country in the world sporting a population of 23 million people. It has since developed its own realm in sport as evidenced in Australian Rules. Australia has also played a key military role in its history, participating in both World Wars on the Allied side. These events would play a key role in how Australia recognises itself nationally, especially as they celebrate their independence.
This quiz aims to take all of these factors into account – looking at the formation of independence, its method of celebration and how independence developed in terms of a national spirit. Australia has showed time and time again how it can take an independent and culturally different path from its original settler colonies. This shows the uniqueness of the Australian culture as it developed over the course of the past two centuries.
Test your knowledge on Australia Independence Day
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