Where is Australia's hometown? Uncovering the secrets of the birth of the southern hemisphere continent and the footprints of the aborigines over thousands of years


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### 1. "Hometown" in Geographical Meaning: The Epic of Continental Drift
From a geological perspective, Australia's "homeland" began 200 million years ago in the supercontinent Gondwana. With the violent movement of the continental plates:
- Began to separate from Antarctica 180 million years ago
- 55 million years ago, it became an independent continent
- Currently moving northwards at a rate of 7 cm per year

This unique geographical isolation has created the world's largest concentration of marsupials, forming a unique biological evolution laboratory.

### 2. "Hometown" with humanistic significance: 60,000-year epic of the indigenous people
Archaeological discoveries have confirmed that the ancestors of the **Australian Aboriginals** arrived in this land as early as 65,000 years ago via the Southeast Asian land bridge:
- The oldest existing rock painting is 40,000 years old
- The oldest continuous culture in the world
- Over 250 indigenous languages spoken


### 3. The "birthplace" of the modern state: from colonies to federations
In 1788, the First Fleet of Britain landed in Sydney Cove, marking the beginning of modern Australian history:
- 1901: Formation of the Commonwealth of Australia
- End of British legislative power in 1986
- 1999 referendum to retain the Commonwealth system

This immigrant country has now become the sixth largest country in the world in terms of land area, covering six states and two territories.

Five questions about your home town in Australia

#### 1. Why is Australia called an independent continent?
From a geographical perspective, Australia meets the four elements of the definition of a continent:
- Clear boundaries of crustal structures
- Unique biomes
- Independent cultural history
- Sufficiently large land area (7.69 million square kilometers)

#### 2. What is the current situation of indigenous peoples?
Currently, the Australian Aboriginal population accounts for about 3.3% of the total population. The government has implemented a number of protection policies:
- Establishment of Aboriginal reserves
- Legal recognition of customary land rights
- Establish an Aboriginal language protection program

#### 3. What is the connection between Australia and Antarctica?
Geological evidence shows that:
- The two areas were once connected by the Transantarctic Mountains
- Share similar ancient fossils
- Australian dust found in Antarctic ice cores

#### 4. Why is it called "island continent"?
Special geographical features include:
- Surrounded by the sea (Indian and Pacific Oceans)
- A single country occupies an entire continent
- Completely isolated from other continents

#### 5. What impacts does geographical isolation bring?
A unique natural and cultural landscape has been formed:
- Museum of Biological Evolution (platypus, kangaroo)
- A self-contained climate model
- A multicultural immigrant society


Through the analysis of this article, we can see that the concept of "homeland" in Australia has multiple dimensions: from the epic of geological evolution, to the thousands of years of inheritance of the aborigines, to the century-long growth of the modern country. This country in the southern hemisphere is both a masterpiece of the movement of the earth's plates and a unique example of the evolution of human civilization.

Thank you for your reading. I hope this article can help you understandWhere is Australia's hometown?If you have more questions about immigration, studying abroad or life in Australia, please continue to pay attention to our special reports.

> Geographical trivia: The GPS coordinates of Australia's General Post Office (-31.953512, 115.857048) are identified as the "center of the continent". This location has both geographical significance and symbolizes the spiritual origin of the modern country.