THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA



Australia is a country in the Southen Hemisphere. The capital city is Camberra and the current population is approximately 20.6 million people. Since the Commonwealth was formed in 1901, it has a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II and with parliamentary system of goverment. Religion in Australia is diverse: Christian (Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran...), Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist... The official language is English. Australian English began to diverge from British English soon after the foundation of the colony of New South Wales in 1788. The British Convicts sent to Australia were mostly from large English cities like London.


One of the most important celebrations is the Australia Day. It´s the official national day in the 26th of January. It commemorates the landing of the First British Fleet, under Captain Arthur Phillip, in Sydney Cove and set up the Colony of New South Wales on that day in 1788. This day is marked by civic celebrations: air Force aerial displays, fireworks celebrations, family meetings, citizenship ceremonies...In Sydney, for example, the ferry race and tall ships race has become a tradition, and in Perth, a lot of people go there to see the Lotterywest Skyworks display. There are also some music concerts in several cities.


Finally, a curious fact is that, for some years until 1994, it was held on the closest Monday to have a long weekend. But Nowadays, it´s celebrated on the actual anniversary.

Nuria Yagüe