Indiginous Australians
| Total population | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 669,881 (2011) 3% of Australia's population (2011) |
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| Population distribution by state/territory | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
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| Languages | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Several hundred Indigenous Australian languages (many extinct or nearly so), Australian English, Australian Aboriginal English, Torres Strait Creole, Kriol | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Christianity 73% Non-religious 24% Traditional Aboriginal religion 1% |
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| Related ethnic groups | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| see List of Indigenous Australian group names | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 New South Wales
|
208,476 | (2.89%) |
|---|---|---|
 Queensland
|
188,954 | (4.22%) |
 Western Australia
|
88,270 | (3.75%) |
 Northern Territory
|
68,850 | (29.77%) |
 Victoria
|
47,333 | (0.85%) |
 South Australia
|
37,408 | (2.28%) |
 Tasmania
|
24,165 | (4.72%) |
 Australian Capital Territory
|
6,160 | (1.67%) |
Indigenous Australians are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia, descended from groups that existed in Australia and surrounding islands prior to European colonisation. The earliest definitely human remains found in Australia are those of Mungo Man LM3 and Mungo Lady, which have been dated at about 50,000 years old, although the time of arrival of the first Indigenous Australians is a matter of debate among researchers, with estimates including thermoluminescence dating to between 61,000 and 52,000 years ago, as well as a suggestion of up to 125,000 years ago and a recent study by Hugo Reyes-Centeno, in 2014, suggesting 100,000 years ago.
Although there are a number of commonalities between indigenous Aboriginal Australians, there is also a great diversity among different Indigenous communities and societies in Australia, each with its own mixture of cultures, customs and languages. In present-day Australia these groups are further divided into local communities. At the time of initial European settlement, over 250 languages were spoken; it is currently estimated that 120 to 145 of these remain in use, but only 13 of these are not considered endangered. Aboriginal people today mostly speak English, with Aboriginal phrases and words being added to create Australian Aboriginal English (which also has a tangible influence of Indigenous languages in the phonology and grammatical structure). The population of Indigenous Australians at the time of permanent European settlement is contentious and has been estimated at between 318,000 and 1,000,000 with the distribution being similar to that of the current Australian population, with the majority living in the south-east, centred along the Murray River. A population collapse following European settlement, and a smallpox epidemic spreading three years after the arrival of Europeans may have caused a massive and early depopulation.
Since 1995, the Australian Aboriginal Flag and the Torres Strait Islander Flag have been among the official flags of Australia.
Though Indigenous Australians are seen as being broadly related as part of what has been called the Australoid race, there are significant differences in social, cultural and linguistic customs between the various Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups.
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Wikipedia