The first people to live in Australia, called Aboriginals, migrated from Southeast Asia at least 40,000 years ago, probably during a period when low sea levels permitted the simplest forms of land and water travel. Until the 17th century, the continent remained relatively unknown by outsiders.

Two Indigenous peoples are recognized in Australia: Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. The latter came from the islands of the Torres Strait between the tip of Cape York in Queensland and Papua New Guinea. Ethnically and culturally, Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are distinct peoples. Historically and to this day, Aboriginal people have lived on mainland Australia, Tasmania and many of the continent's offshore islands.

By the time of the first notable European settlement in 1788, the total Indigenous population numbered about 300,000. More than 200 distinct languages existed at that time. (The ATSIS web site -- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services, an Executive Agency of the Commonwealth of Australia -- states "Some 200,250 different Australian languages were spoken and even more dialects.")

You can use your international cell phone rental to get closer to Australians.

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