Australia is the smallest continent on our planet. During the Middle Ages, there were legends about it, and Europeans called it “the unknown southern land” (Terra Australis Incognita).
Any schoolchild knows that humanity owes the discovery of the continent to the English sailor James Cook, who visited the east coast of Australia in 1770. But in fact, the mainland was known in Europe long before Cook appeared. Who discovered it? And when did this event happen?
When did the first people appear in Australia?
The ancestors of the current indigenous population appeared in Australia approximately 40–60 thousand years ago. It is from this period that the most ancient archaeological finds discovered by researchers in the upper reaches of the Swan River in the western part of the mainland date back.
It is believed that humans arrived on the continent by sea, making them the earliest sea travelers. To this day, it is unknown where the Australian Aborigines came from, but it is believed that at least three different populations settled in Australia at that time.
Who visited Australia before the Europeans?
There is an opinion that the discoverers of Australia were the ancient Egyptians, who brought eucalyptus oil from the continent. 
During research on Australian territory, drawings of insects that looked like scarabs were discovered, and during archaeological excavations in Egypt, scientists found mummies embalmed with oil from Australian eucalyptus trees.
Despite such clear evidence, many historians doubt this version, since the continent became famous in Europe much later.
Who was the first European to visit Australia?
Attempts to discover Australia were made by navigators back in the 16th century. Many scientists believe that the first Europeans to visit the continent were the Portuguese. It is believed that in 1509 they visited the Moluccas, from where in 1522 they moved to the northwestern coast of the mainland.
At the beginning of the 20th century, cannons made in the 16th century were found in this area, which presumably belonged to Portuguese sailors.
This version has not been conclusively proven, so today it is indisputable that the discoverer of Australia was the Dutch admiral Willem Janszoon.
In November 1605, he set out on his ship "Dyfken" from the Indonesian city of Bantam and headed towards New Guinea, and three months later landed on the northwestern coast of Australia, on the Cape York Peninsula. As part of his expedition, Janszon explored about 320 km of coastline and compiled a detailed map of it. 
Interestingly, the admiral never realized that he had discovered Australia. He considered the found lands to be part of New Guinea and gave them the name “New Holland”. After Janszoon, another Dutch navigator visited Australia, Abel Tasman, who discovered the islands of New Zealand and mapped the Australian western coast.
Thus, thanks to the Dutch sailors, by the middle of the 17th century the outlines of Australia were clearly marked on all geographical maps.
Who discovered Australia according to the official version?
And yet, most scientists continue to consider James Cook as the discoverer, since it was after his visit that Europeans began to actively explore the continent. The brave young lieutenant set out in search of the “unknown southern land” as part of a trip around the world in 1768.
According to the official version, the purpose of his journey was to study the passage of Venus through, but in fact he had secret instructions to head to southern latitudes and find Terra Australis Incognita.
Departing from Plymouth on the ship Endeavor, in April 1769 Cook reached the coast of Tahiti, and a year later, in April 1770, he approached the eastern shores of Australia. After that, he visited the continent twice more. During his third expedition in 1778, Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands, which became the place of his death. 
Unable to get along with the Hawaiians, the lieutenant tried to capture one of the local chiefs, but was killed in the fight, presumably by a spear blow to the back of the head.
Lesson
Geographical location, history of discovery, relief and mineral resources of Australia
Goals and objectives of the lesson:introduce the physical and geographical position of Australia; introduce the history of the discovery and exploration of the continent; form an idea of the relief and minerals. Continue to develop the ability to work with cards.
Equipment: k art of the hemispheres and physical map of Australia, plan for describing the FGP of the continent and its relief, table “Information about Australia”, table “Discovery of Australia”, portraits of researchers
During the classes
I. Organizational moment
II. Acquaintance with the physical and geographical position of the continent
It is located below us.
They're obviously walking upside down there,
It's a year turned inside out.
The gardens there bloom in October,
It's summer there in January, not in July,
Rivers flow there without water
(They disappear somewhere in the desert).
There are traces of wingless birds in the thickets,
There cats get snakes for food,
Animals are born from eggs,
And there dogs don’t know how to bark.
The trees themselves climb out of the bark,
There rabbits are worse than a flood,
Saves the south from the northern heat,
The capital has no population.
Australia is the opposite country.
Its source is on the London pier:
The road was cleared for predators
Exiles and convict people.
Australia is the opposite country.
(Galina Usova)
“...I swear to you that this region is the most curious on the entire globe! Its appearance, nature, plants, animals, climate... - all this surprised, surprises and will surprise all scientists in the world. Imagine, my friends, a continent that, when formed, rose from the sea waves not with its central part, but with its edges, like some kind of giant hoof; a continent where, perhaps, in the middle there is a half-evaporated inland sea; where the rivers are drying up more and more every day; where there is no moisture either in the air or in the soil; where trees annually lose not their leaves, but their bark; where the leaves face the sun not with their surface, but with their edges and do not provide shade; where the forest is often unable to burn; where stone slabs melt from rain; where the forests are short and the grasses are gigantic in height; where the animals are unusual; where quadrupeds have beaks; where the jumping kangaroo has paws of different lengths; where the sheep have pig heads,where foxes flutter from tree to tree; where the swans are black; where rats build their nests; where the birds amaze with the variety of their singing and their abilities: one imitates the striking of a clock, another imitates the clicking of the whip of a mail coach, the third imitates a grinder, the fourth strikes the seconds like a clock pendulum; There is one who laughs in the morning when the sun rises, and one who cries in the evening when it sets. The most bizarre, most illogical country that has ever existed! The earth is paradoxical, refuting the laws of nature! The botanist Grimard had every reason to express himself about it this way: “Here it is, this Australia, some kind of parody of world laws, or, rather, a challenge thrown in the face of the rest of the world!”...” (Jules Verne. “Children” Captain Grant")
The teacher begins the lesson by telling interesting facts:
The word “australis” translated into Russian means “southern”.
Australia is the smallest continent on Earth. Its area is 6 times smaller than the largest continent of Eurasia.
There are no active volcanoes here.
Australia is a continent of relics. There are many plants and animals here that are not found anywhere else.
Australia was the last to be settled and developed by Europeans. For a long time, the continent was cut off from the historical processes taking place in other parts of the world. Over many thousands of years, powerful centers of civilization were born in Africa, Asia, Europe, America, and the Stone Age still reigned in Australia. This is the most sparsely populated continent.
The entire continent is occupied by one state - the Commonwealth of Australia.
Students independently make a description of the physical and geographical position of the continent according to this plan.
Plan for describing the physical and geographical position of the continent
1. The name of the continent and its dimensions. Determine the maximum length of the continent in kilometers from north to south and from west to east.
From north to south: 39 -10 = 29; 29 x 111 km (1 meridian arc – 111 km) = 3219 km
From west to east: 153-113 = 40; 40 x 107 km (1 parallel - 107 km) = 4280 km
2. The position of the continent relative to the equator and the prime meridian.In relation to the equator, the continent is entirely located in the southern hemisphere; in relation to the prime meridian, it is entirely in the eastern hemisphere.
3. Extreme points and their geographical coordinates.The extreme points of the mainland: in the north - Cape York, in the south - Cape South East Point, the westernmost point - Cape Steep Point, in the east - Cape Byron.
4. Neighborhood with other continents.It is separated from Eurasia in the north by the islands of Southeast Asia, from Africa in the west by the Indian Ocean, from Antarctica in the south by the Southern Ocean, and from South America in the east by the Pacific Ocean.
5. What and where the continent is washed.The coastline of Australia is generally poorly indented. It has the most complex outlines on the northern coast. If we travel along the seas around Australia according to the map, then, moving along the northern shores, from the Indian Ocean we will end up in the Arafura Sea, and then in the Gulf of Carpentaria, deeply cut into the land. Next, the travel route runs along the Cape York Peninsula, with its outline resembling a triangle, past the northernmost point of the mainland, Cape York, into the Torres Strait, separating Australia from the island of New Guinea. Now your course lies southeast into the waters of the Coral Sea, which belongs to the Pacific Ocean. Accumulations of corals formed the Great Barrier Reef off the eastern shores of the mainland - a uniquely beautiful creation of nature. It stretches along the coast for 2000 km from the Torres Strait to the South Tropic.
Leaving behind the Great Barrier Reef and the shallow Coral Sea, you move south along the waters of the warm East Australian Current. Left behind is the easternmost point of the mainland - Cape Byron. The route continues into the waters of the Tasman Sea. The shores drop steeply to the water, and the depths increase faster than in the Coral Sea. Turning west, you will enter the Bass Strait, which separates the only large island of Tasmania from Australia. Once past South East Point, the southernmost point of the mainland, you enter the waters of the Great Australian Bight. The water in the bay is colder than on the eastern shores, since branches of the cold current of the Western Winds enter there. The central part of the bay is the deepest point off the coast of Australia. Its depth is 5853 m. Coming out of the waters of the largest bay, which does not protrude deeply into the mainland, you find yourself in the open Indian Ocean. Here is the westernmost point of the mainland - Cape Steep Point.
6. Conclusion about the geographical position of the continent.Conclusion: The continent's FGP influences many natural factors. This is one of the hottest continents, the driest. It receives 5 times less precipitation than Africa, 8 times less than South America. About half of the area is occupied by deserts and semi-deserts.
Filling out the previously drawn table “Information about the continents.”
PHYSICAL MINUTE
III. History of the discovery of Australia
As the story progresses, the “Discovery of Australia” table is filled in. Even ancient geographers suggested the existence of an unknown southern land south of the equator. In the 16th century cartographers depicted a huge “Terra australis incognita” - “Unknown Southern Land” on maps and globes in the southern hemisphere. Tierra del Fuego, discovered by Magellan, was considered one of the protrusions of this unknown land,
In 1606 the Spaniard Luis Torres discovered the northernmost tip of the Australian Cape York Peninsula, and named the Torres Strait separating New Guinea from Cape York. When Torres informed the Spanish authorities about his discovery, it was decided to keep this discovery a secret, and for over 150 years no one knew about it. Almost at the same time as Torres, the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon also saw the northern coast of Australia, entering the Gulf of Carpentaria. In 1642 Abel Tasman discovered the western coast of an unknown large island, which was named Tasmania. Subsequently, A. Tasman walked around Australia from the south and east and established that it was an independent continent.
In 1770, on the ship "Endeavour" ("Attempt"), an English navigator James Cook sailed to the eastern coast of Australia and declared it an English possession. Soon a “penal colony” for criminals was organized here. Subsequently, free settlers appeared on the mainland. The conquest of the mainland began, accompanied by the extermination of the indigenous population. A hundred years later, most of the aborigines were exterminated. The remaining indigenous people were driven to the interior desert territories of the mainland.
In the 19th century More than a dozen expeditions were equipped to explore the interior desert regions of the continent. For the first time in 1860, an Englishman managed to cross Australia from south to north Robert Burke . The expedition went from the city of Adelaide to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The development of Australia was facilitated by the discovery of large gold deposits in the 19th century, as well as the presence on the mainland of convenient pastures for cattle breeding. Air John Edward, sheep farmer, in 1839-1840. In search of pastures, he explored the coast of the Great Australian Bight.Look at the map - what did he discover?(Lake Eyre and Torrens).Strzelecki Pavel Edmund, Polish emigrant, geographer and geologist by training. Discovered large deposits of gold and discovered the highest point in Australia.Look at the map, what is the name of this mountain?(Kostsyushko, 2228 m.).
By the end of the 19th century. basically the exploration of the mainland was completed. During the same period, England declared Australia its colony. Currently, the Commonwealth of Australia is an independent state.
"Discovery of Australia"
Researchers | A country | date | What's open |
Luis Torres | Spain | 1606 | northern tip of Cape York Peninsula, Torres Strait |
Willem Janszoon | Holland | 1606 | Gulf of Carpentaria, first documented landing |
Abel Tasman | Holland | 1642 | the island of Tasmania proved that Australia is an independent continent |
James Cook | England | 1770 | declared Australia an English possession |
Robert Burke | England | 1860 | crossed Australia from south to north |
Air John Edward | England | 1839-1840 | A sheep farmer, in search of pastures, explored the coast of the Great Australian Bight and discovered Lakes Eyre and Torrens. |
Strzelecki Pavel Edmund | Poland | 1840 | discovered large deposits of gold and discovered the highest point in Australia - Kosciuszko, 2228 m. |
IV. Relief and minerals
Working with a tectonic map(atlas, pp. 8-11)
Remember which ancient continent Australia broke away from?(Gondwana). Using a tectonic map, determine what lies at the base of the continent?(most of it is an ancient platform that is part of the Indo-Australian lithospheric plate). This is due to the predominance of flat terrain. In the Paleozoic, when mountain-building processes were actively taking place on the Gondwana continent, an area of ancient folding formed along one of the faults. Later, in the Cenozoic era, the medium-high mountains of the Great Dividing Range formed here. Over the course of a long history of development, the Australian continent has experienced uplift and subsidence. As a result of movements and the formation of faults, part of the land sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and the islands of New Guinea and Tasmania separated.
Australia is the flattest continent. Most of it is a plain, the edges of which are raised, especially significantly in the east. Mountains occupy only 5% of the continent.
There are three main landforms in Australia: the Great Dividing Range, the Central Lowlands with prevailing heights of up to 100 m, and the Western Australian Plateau with average heights of 400-500 m.
Australia is the only continent where earthquakes and volcanism are not observed, since the boundaries of lithospheric plates are located far from the mainland.
Australia's subsoil is rich in minerals. Ore minerals, such as ores of non-ferrous and ferrous metals, owe their origin to the metamorphic and igneous rocks of the platform's basement. Their deposits are found in the western and northern parts of Australia. Deposits of hard and brown coal, oil and gas in south-eastern Australia are associated with sedimentary rocks.
V. Lesson summary
Who first discovered Australia?
What reasons led to the rapid development of the mainland?
On a map of the mainland, find geographical names associated with the names of explorers and travelers.
Which continent was Australia formerly part of?
What lies at the base of the continent?
How many lithospheric plates are there at the base of the continent, what are they called?
Where does the collision of lithospheric plates occur?
What landforms are found on the mainland?
How are they distributed across the continent?
Determine the patterns of distribution of mineral resources on the continent
Are there mountain glaciers in Australia? (In the Australian Alps - the highest part of the Great Dividing Range - snow remains in shaded gorges)
VI. Homework:§ 35
And after a short time they managed to establish their trading posts there. Simultaneously with strengthening their positions in the Moluccas, the Portuguese undertook voyages in search of the mythical “Isles of Gold”. One of them in the city ended with the first visit to the north-west coast of Australia. The discoverer's laurels are given to Cristóvão de Mendonça (port. Cristóvão de Mendonça). No details of the voyage have been preserved, but in a city in western Australia, on the shores of Roebuck Bay (18° S), small bronze cannons with a Portuguese crown, cast no later than the beginning of the 16th century, were found.
The Portuguese plotted the sections of the coast they discovered on their secret maps, which have partially reached us. The French map of the Dauphin (about the city), apparently compiled from Portuguese sources, shows a part of the coast south of Java called Greater Java, as part Great Australian Land, which, according to the scientists of that time, surrounded the entire south pole of the globe. Among the clearly French inscriptions there are also Portuguese ones.
The same Great Java is depicted on a series of maps compiled in - years, definitely based on Portuguese materials, by cartographers from the city of Dieppe. Apparently, Portuguese ships before the city sometimes approached the northern and northeastern coasts of Australia. Probably, these were, although multiple, but still random voyages.
In December 1605, from the west coast of South America from Callao (Peru), a Spanish expedition moved west across the Pacific Ocean to the Philippines, with the hope of finding the mythical southern continent. The commander of one of the three ships was Luis Vaez Torres. After the discovery of the New Hebrides archipelago in June, Torres led an expedition of the remaining two ships. At this moment, Torres was close enough to the eastern coast of the “green” continent that he would have reached it if he had headed southwest. However, he moved west with a deviation to the north. The sailors crossed the Coral Sea for the first time and approached the southern coast of New Guinea. In his report, Torres reports that he walked along the southern coast of New Guinea for 300 leagues (about 1800 km), then “due to shoals and strong currents, he moved away from the coast and turned southwest. There were large islands there, and a number of them could be seen in the south.” What Torres saw in the south was undoubtedly the northern coast of Australia with the adjacent islands. After traveling another 180 leagues (about 1000 km), the expedition turned north, reached New Guinea, and then through the Moluccas and the Philippines, proving that New Guinea is a large island. The sailors thus became the first Europeans to pass through the dangerous strait strewn with coral reefs, separating Australia from New Guinea. The Spanish government kept this great discovery, like many others, under the strictest confidence. Only 150 years later, during the Seven Years' War, the British temporarily captured Manila, and Spanish government archives fell into their hands. A copy of Torres' report fell into the hands of the English cartographer Alexander Dalrymple, who proposed calling the passage between New Guinea and the Cape York Peninsula the Torres Strait.
Dutch discoveries
The unfortunate outcome of the expeditions of Kennedy and Leichhardt suspended the exploration of the country for many years. Only in Gregory did he set off with two ships to the northern shore, west of Arnhemsland, to explore the Victoria River flowing into the sea there. Following the course of this river, Gregory turned southwest, but returned, being stopped by an almost impassable desert. Soon after this he again undertook a journey westward to seek, if possible, traces of Leichhardt, and returned to Adelaide without achieving his goal. At the same time, it was decided to carry out an immediate exploration of the area of salt lakes lying north of Spencer Gulf. Harris, Miller, Dullon, Warburton, Swinden Campbell and many others rendered great service in this research. John McDuel Stewart made three trips to the region of the salt lakes and drew up a plan for an expedition across the entire continent, in the direction from south to north. He walked to the middle of the mainland and planted the English banner on the mountain of the Stuart Bluff ridge, which is 1000 m in height. In June, due to the hostile attitude of the natives, he was forced to abandon his enterprise. On January 1, however, he renewed his attempt to cross the mainland from south to north and penetrated 1.5° further inland than the first time; but in July he had to return without achieving his intended goal. The third attempt was made by him in November of the same year and was crowned with success: on July 24, 1862, Stuart hoisted the English banner on the northern shore of Arnghamsland and returned almost dying to his compatriots.
In order to cross Central Australia from south to north, on August 20, 1860, an expedition set out from Adelaide under the command of Robert O'Hara Burke, accompanied by astronomer William Wills, consisting of about 30 people, with 25 camels, 25 horses, etc. The travelers were divided into two groups, of which the second was supposed to back up the main one. Burke, Wheels, King and Gray reached the marshy shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria in February 1861, but were unable to reach the sea coast. In April, Gray died; the rest reached the camp of the second party on April 21, but found it abandoned. It turned out that the support group, having waited much longer than the agreed time, left the camp on April 20. There was no longer any strength to catch up with those who had left. Burke and Wheels died from exhaustion. Only King survived, who in September 1861 was found in a native camp by an expedition sent from Melbourne; he was as thin as a skeleton. Two expeditions, later sent to find Burke, managed to successfully cross the mainland. On the initiative of the Melbourne botanist Miller, the ladies' committee in the colony of Victoria in 1865 raised funds for a new journey, the immediate goal of which was to clarify the fate of the missing Leichhardt expedition. Duncan Max Inteer, who saw traces of the said expedition in the upper reaches of the Flinder River, became the head of the new enterprise and set off in July; but such a terrible drought prevailed within the country that half of the total number of participants had to be sent back to the colony. Soon Max Intir died of a malignant fever, and the same fate befell his companion Sloman. W. Barnett, who after them took command of the expedition, returned to Sydney in 1867 without collecting any new information about Leichhardt. An expedition was sent for the same search from the colony of Western Australia, which managed to learn from the natives in one area (at 81° S and 122° E) that several years before they had been killed 13 days away from there to the north, on the dry bottom of a lake, two white people with three horses that were with them. This story was repeated in another area. Therefore, in April, an expedition was equipped to the mentioned lake, which, although it did not achieve its goal, penetrated further into the interior of the country than all previous expeditions sent from the west. Already from 1824, the British government made various attempts to occupy the northern coast of Australia. For 4.5 years it maintained a military post (Fort Dundas) on the western shore of Melville Island, for 2 years another post (Fort Wellington) on the Cobourg Peninsula and a garrison at Port Essington. But since the hope of benefits from trade relations between Australia and East Asia did not materialize, these attempts were abandoned. It was only after Stuart in the colony of South Australia passed through the mainland to the northern shore of Arnhemsland that the Northern Territory was placed under the control of this colony, the latter taking up the issue of settling the country.
McKinlay's Expedition
In April 1864, a naval expedition of geometers headed north from Port Adelaide under the command of Colonel Finnis, who was soon replaced by McKinley. The latter began exploring Arnhemsland in 1866, but the rainy season and floods did not allow him to carry out his intention, and he returned to Adelaide. Then in February 1867, the South Austrian government sent Captain Cadell to the northern shore, who discovered the significant Blyth River, and the chief of surveyors, Goyder, who surveyed an area of 2,700 square meters in the vicinity of Port Darwin. km. Colonization progressed more successfully in northern Queensland, especially towards the Gulf of Carpentaria, since cattle breeding needed new pastures, which private enterprise began to find. At the beginning of the forties, in all of what is now Queensland, only the area around Moretonbay was populated, and then very weakly. Since then, settlements have expanded north to the Gulf of Carpentaria. When subsequently, in the city, telegraph communication between Australia and Asia and through it with all other countries of the world was established, the exploration of the interior of the Australian continent made enormous progress. Already during the laying of the telegraph wire, small settlements began to appear along its route, from which expeditions were later undertaken to explore the country. So, in 1872, Ernst Gilles, setting off from the Chambers Pillar telegraph station, followed the Finke River to its source, where he discovered an extremely fertile country Glen of Palms. From the telegraph station Alice Springs in 1873 the geometer Gosse went and discovered under 25°21′00″ S w. 131°14′00″ E. D. John Forrest reached the Murchison watershed, where the barren desert begins, which he explored at a distance of 900 km.
Gilles' achievements
In 1875-78 Gilles undertook three further journeys into the barren steppes of inland Australia. On behalf of the government of the colony of South Australia, the course of the Herbert River was explored, trigonometric measurements were made, and, in addition, an expedition was undertaken to explore completely unknown areas lying on the seashore. This expedition discovered the large Mubray River, which falls in three waterfalls up to 150 m in height. Sergison discovered excellent arable land near the banks of the Victoria River in November 1877. John Forrest returned in 1879 from a journey he had taken to the completely unknown north-eastern part of the colony of Western Australia, during which he discovered beautiful alluvial plains on the banks of the Fitzroy River. His second voyage led to the discovery in Western Australia of 20 million and in South Australia about 5 million acres of good pasture and arable land, a significant part of which was suitable for growing sugar cane and rice. In addition, the interior of the country was explored by other expeditions in 1878 and 1879, and John Forrest, on behalf of the Western Australian government, made a trigonometric measurement between the Ashburton and De Gray rivers, and from his reports it turns out that the area there is very convenient for settlements.
Townsend (2241 m) as the highest peak of the chain. In 1886 Lindsay crossed the country from the great telegraph circuit (crossing the mainland in a meridional direction) to the MacArthur River, and Giles and Lowry to the Kimberley District.
Geologist Tenison Wood explored the mineral wealth of the northern territory, Lindsay, Brown and East - in the same respect - the central parts of Australia. Most researchers studied the country from the point of view of its suitability for agriculture and cattle breeding. In 1886-90. The Norwegian Lumholtz studied the life of the natives of Queensland. In 1888-89 naturalist Gaddon lived on the Torres Strait Islands.
In 1890, a number of researchers studied the MacDonel mountain range (in the center of the mainland) and the southern part of the outskirts of the Kimberley. In 1894-98, a scientific expedition led by Winnecke studied central Australia.
Who discovered Australia? The first explorers of the Green Continent
Do you think James Cook? But they didn’t guess right!
It is not entirely true to say that the championship in the discovery of the smallest continent on our Planet belongs to the English navigator James Cook. Although the version is considered official, it causes debate among scientists. Historians have somewhat different opinions on this issue. So what is the reason? AND who discovered Australia In fact? Let's figure it out with us.
This question gives rise to controversy in the scientific world. If we talk about when a person first set foot on Australian territory, we will hear one opinion. According to another opinion, one should take into account when the first strangers appeared in the vastness of the Green Continent, although they did not know that they found themselves on a new continent. The third, generally accepted option, says that you need to start from the date when the entire civilized world learned about Australia.
Australia. Sydney Opera House.
Official version
Why James Cook? Thanks to the trip around the world (1768 – 1771), led by the famous navigator, everyone around learned about the existence of another continent. Since then, Europeans have begun active exploration of the mysterious Australia, which gives every reason to consider James Cook the discoverer of a new continent.
The young English sailor set out in search of unknown southern lands in 1868, when his first circumnavigation of the world began. To study the passage of Venus through the solar disk - this was the goal voiced by the expedition leaders. But the secret instructions spoke about the search for Terra Incognita, also called the Southern Continent.
The ship Endeavor, led by James Cook, arrived on the eastern shores of the Green Continent two years after the start of the voyage - April 1770. It was this date that historians recognized as official.
Who discovered Australia before James Cook?
- First Settlers
The appearance of the ancestors of indigenous people on the lands of the Green Continent was recorded 40 - 60 thousand years ago. This is confirmed by archaeological finds dating from this particular period. It is known that the pioneers arrived here by sea. However, it was not possible to establish where exactly their journey began.
- Ancient Egyptians
The theory is proven by archaeological excavations carried out at different times in the territory of Ancient Egypt and Australia. We know that eucalyptus grows only on the Green Continent. How then could the Egyptians embalm mummies with eucalyptus oil? Evidence of its use was found during studies of many burials. While studying the Australian continent, historians found drawings of insects resembling scarabs. Could this mean that trade ties were established between the peoples? Researchers' opinions are mixed.
- Portuguese
Some historians suggest that the first European navigators to set foot on the lands of Australia were the Portuguese. Having visited the Moluccas (1509), travelers began to move deeper into the mainland (northwest). To prove this theory, scientists cite data from archaeological research that took place in the above territories at the beginning of the 20th century. The remains of ship guns found in these places date back to the 16th century. The fragments resemble Portuguese ships.
There is not enough reliable evidence for all these versions. This gives rise to discussions in the scientific community.
- Dutch
When answering the question of who discovered Australia, one cannot ignore the events of 1605, when a naval expedition led by the Dutch admiral Willem Janszoon set off for the island of New Guinea. Their journey began in the city of Bantam (Indonesia). After three months, the travelers found themselves off the coast of Australia (northwestern part). They carefully explored the lands they found, drew up detailed maps, but never realized that they had become the discoverers of the mainland. Considering that they were in New Guinea, they called it New Holland.
The material presented in the article is aimed at forming an idea of who is the discoverer of the continent. The article contains reliable historical information. The information will help you obtain true information from the history of the discovery of Australia by sailors and travelers.
Who discovered Australia?
Every educated person today knows that the discovery of Australia by James Cook occurred when he visited the east coast of the mainland in 1770. However, these lands were known in Europe long before the famous English navigator appeared there.
Rice. 1. James Cook.
The ancestors of the indigenous population of the mainland appeared on the continent approximately 40-60 thousand years ago. This historical segment dates back to ancient archaeological finds that were discovered by scientists in the upper reaches of the Swan River at the western tip of the mainland.
Rice. 2. Swan River.
It is known that people ended up on the continent thanks to sea routes. This fact also indicates that it was these pioneers who became the earliest sea travelers. It is generally accepted that at that time at least three heterogeneous groups settled in Australia.
Explorers of Australia
There is an assumption that the discoverers of Australia were the ancient Egyptians.
TOP 2 articleswho are reading along with this
From history we know that Australia was discovered several times by different people:
- Egyptians;
- Dutch admiral Willem Janszoon;
- James Cook.
The latter is recognized as the official discoverer of the continent for humanity. All these versions are still controversial and contradictory. There is no clear point of view on this issue.
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During research carried out on the Australian mainland, images of insects similar in appearance to scarabs were found. And during archaeological research in Egypt, researchers discovered mummies that were embalmed using eucalyptus oil.
Despite such clear evidence, many historians express reasonable doubts about this version, since the continent became famous in Europe much later.
Attempts to discover Australia were made by the world's navigators back in the 16th century. Many Australian researchers assume that the first Europeans to set foot on the continent were the Portuguese.
It is known that in 1509, sailors from Portugal visited the Moluccas, after which in 1522 they moved to the northwest of the mainland.
At the beginning of the 20th century, naval guns that were created back in the 16th century were found in this area.
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The unofficial version of the discovery of Australia is the one that states that the discoverer of the continent is the Dutch admiral Willem Janszoon. He was never able to understand that he had become the discoverer of new lands, because he believed that he was getting closer to the lands of New Guinea.
Rice. 3. Willem Janszoon.
However, the main history of Australian exploration is attributed to James Cook. It was after his travels to unknown lands that the active conquest of the mainland by Europeans began.
It is known for certain that Cook went on a voyage around the world and ended up in “distant lands.” In 1770, his expedition reached the coast of the mainland. Officially, this date of the discovery of Australia is recognized as historically accurate.
What have we learned?
From historical information we learned who first visited the lands of the distant continent. The time period when exactly these lands were developed by man has been established. The names of the first seafarers are mentioned, who for the first time found themselves near Australia without even suspecting that they had made a major geographical discovery.
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