Australia
Subject
Subject Source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
Scope Note: Isolation of the land has allowed for the evolution of unique flora and fauna; Indigenous Australians are believed to have arrived between 70,000 and 40,000 years ago; Australia was sighted by Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch in the 17th century; was claimed by Britain in 1771, used as penal colony; free British settlers arrived in the 19th century; official language is English.