What Year Was Australia Discovered?

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Dominic Ladden Profile
Dominic Ladden answered
Australia is the largest island in the world and also one of the oldest. It is estimated that there has been human habitation in Australia for approximately 46,000 years. However, this is only estimation and this is a substantial amount of time before the country was actually discovered by Europeans. The first ever recorded sighting of the Australian mainland is deemed to have been by the fisherman from the Malay Archipelago. They are thought to have made a number of visits in the late 1500s before the very first European sightings and first European landfall took place in the early 1600s. The first European sighting and landfall of the Australian mainland are attributed to the famous Dutch explorer and navigator William Janszoon. He is recorded to have sighted the coast along the Cape York Peninsula on a date in the early part of 1606, although the exact date of the first sighting was never actually recorded. The first landfall however, was recorded as taking place at the Pennefather River on the west shore of the Cape York Peninsula on 26th February 1606. This is extremely close to the small town of Weipa. The Dutch continued to chart a number of trips up the entire western coastline but made no attempts to settle. William Dampier an English explorer made a trip to the north-west coast in 1688 and 1699 before the world famous James Cook travelled along the east coast in 1770 and named it New South Wales and claimed the country for Great Britain. To this day Australia still has the same Queen as the Great Britain. Australia was visited by many more explorers over the years but only Great Britain claimed the territory.
Katie Harry Profile
Katie Harry answered
The Dutch were the first ones to explore Australia and see it for the first time. This happened in the 17th century. It happened in 1616 when Dirk Hartog who was a Dutch explorer sailed to Western Australia for the first time. However, it was Marco Polo who first pointed out in 1300 that there was a land in the south that was unexplored. In 1688, English explorers reached Australia’s west coast and it was later in 1770 that Captain James Cook sailed to Australia and claimed the East cost for Britain.
Lily James Profile
Lily James answered

Australia is the world's smallest continent. It comprises mostly of the Commonwealth of Australia. Its neighboring countries are Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, New Zealand etc.

Australia was inhabited by humans around 42,000 to 48,000 years ago. The Dutch Navigator Willem Janszoon was the first European who sighted part of Australia- Coast of Cape York Peninsula in the year 1606. James cook claimed the land for Great Britain in the year 1770.

Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
1850
Kawaii Helper Profile
Kawaii Helper answered
Australia's official year of discovery is 1770, when Captain James Cook mapped the eastern coast (of Australia) and claimed New South Wales for Great Britain.

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