Australia

===Colonial expansion===
{{Main|History of Australia (1788–1850)|History of Australia (1851–1900)}}
[[File:PortArthurPenitentiary.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|alt=A calm body of water is in the foreground. The shoreline is about 200 metres away. To the left, close to the shore, are three tall [[Eucalyptus|gum trees]]; behind them on an incline are ruins, including walls and watchtowers of light-coloured stone and brick, what appear to be the foundations of walls, and grassed areas. To the right lie the outer walls of a large rectangular four-storey building dotted with regularly spaced windows. Forested land rises gently to a peak several kilometres back from the shore.|Tasmania's [[Port Arthur, Tasmania|Port Arthur]] penal settlement is one of eleven UNESCO World Heritage-listed [[Australian Convict Sites]].]]

In 1803, a settlement was established in [[Van Diemen's Land]] (present-day [[Tasmania]]),<ref name="Davison pp464-5">{{Harvnb|Davison|Hirst|Macintyre|1998|pages=464–465, 628–629}}</ref> and in 1813, [[Gregory Blaxland]], [[William Lawson (explorer)|William Lawson]] and [[William Wentworth]] [[1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains|crossed]] the [[Blue Mountains (New South Wales)|Blue Mountains]] west of Sydney, opening the interior to European settlement.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Conway |first=Jill |title=Biography – Gregory Blaxland – Australian Dictionary of Biography |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |chapter=Blaxland, Gregory (1778–1853) |access-date=14 July 2011 |chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010109b.htm?hilite=blaxland |archive-date=8 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408201858/http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010109b.htm?hilite=blaxland |url-status=live }}</ref> The British claim extended to the whole Australian continent in 1827 when Major [[Edmund Lockyer]] established a settlement on [[King George Sound]] (modern-day [[Albany, Western Australia|Albany]]).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Grey|first=Jeffrey |title=A Military History of Australia|url=https://archive.org/details/militaryhistorya00grey_277|url-access=limited |publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Port Melbourne|year=2008|edition=Third|isbn=978-0-5216-9791-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/militaryhistorya00grey_277/page/n43 28]–40}}</ref> The [[Swan River Colony]] (present-day [[Perth]]) was established in 1829, evolving into the largest Australian colony by area, [[Western Australia]].<ref name="Davison p678">{{Harvnb|Davison|Hirst|Macintyre|1998|p=678}}</ref> In accordance with population growth, separate colonies were carved from New South Wales: Tasmania in 1825, [[South Australia]] in 1836, [[New Zealand]] in 1841, [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] in 1851, and [[Queensland]] in 1859.<ref name="Davison p464">{{Harvnb|Davison|Hirst|Macintyre|1998|p=464}}</ref> South Australia was founded as a free colony—it never accepted transported convicts.<ref name="Davison p598">{{Harvnb|Davison|Hirst|Macintyre|1998|p=598}}</ref> Growing [[Australasian Anti-Transportation League|opposition to the convict system]] culminated in its abolition in the eastern colonies by the 1850s. Initially a free colony, Western Australia practised penal transportation from 1850 to 1868.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 December 2005 |title=Public Record Office Victoria online catalogue |url=http://www.access.prov.vic.gov.au/public/PROVguides/PROVguide057/PROVguide057.jsp |access-date=15 January 2022 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051225154618/http://www.access.prov.vic.gov.au/public/PROVguides/PROVguide057/PROVguide057.jsp |archive-date=25 December 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The six colonies individually gained [[responsible government]] between 1855 and 1890, thus becoming elective democracies managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the [[British Empire]].<ref name="Davison p556">{{Harvnb|Davison|Hirst|Macintyre|1998|p=556}}</ref> The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, notably foreign affairs.<ref name="Davison p138-9679">{{Harvnb|Davison|Hirst|Macintyre|1998|pages=138–39}}</ref>

In the mid-19th century, explorers such as [[Burke and Wills expedition|Burke and Wills]] charted Australia's interior.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/explorers |title=Early explorers|publisher=Australia's Culture Portal |access-date=6 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408183209/http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/explorers/ |archive-date=8 April 2011}}</ref> A [[Australian gold rushes|series of gold rushes]] beginning in the early 1850s led to an influx of new migrants from [[Chinese Australians|China]], North America and continental Europe,<ref name="JuppJupp2001">{{Harvnb|Jupp2|pp=35–36}}</ref> as well as outbreaks of [[bushranger|bushranging]] and civil unrest; the latter peaked in 1854 when [[Ballarat]] miners launched the [[Eureka Rebellion]] against gold license fees.<ref name="Davison pp227-9">{{Harvnb|Davison|Hirst|Macintyre|1998 |pages=227–29}}</ref> The 1860s saw a surge in [[blackbirding]], where [[Pacific Islander]]s were forced into indentured labour, mainly in Queensland.<ref>[https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/discover/exhibitions/australian-south-sea-islanders "Australian South Sea Islanders"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231210065156/https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/discover/exhibitions/australian-south-sea-islanders |date=10 December 2023 }}, State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 21 February 2024.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Higginbotham |first=Will |date=17 September 2017 |title=Blackbirding: Australia's history of luring, tricking and kidnapping Pacific Islanders |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-17/blackbirding-australias-history-of-kidnapping-pacific-islanders/8860754 |access-date=22 February 2024 |website=ABC News |archive-date=26 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240126044712/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-17/blackbirding-australias-history-of-kidnapping-pacific-islanders/8860754 |url-status=live }}</ref>

From 1886, Australian colonial governments began introducing policies resulting in the [[Stolen Generations|removal of many Aboriginal children]] from their families and communities.<ref>Banivanua Mar, Tracey; Edmonds, Penelope (2013). "Indigenous and settler relations". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. p.&nbsp;355–58, 363–64</ref> The [[Second Boer War]] (1899–1902) marked the largest overseas deployment of [[colonial forces of Australia|Australia's colonial forces]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 June 2021 |title=Australia and the Boer War, 1899–1902 |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/atwar/boer |access-date= |website=Australian War Memorial |archive-date=24 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324185402/https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/atwar/boer |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Wilcox, Craig (2002). ''Australia's Boer War: The War in South Africa, 1899-1902''. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195516371.</ref>