First populated almost 70,000 years ago by Indigenous Australians, Australia is a diverse and beautiful land. Large interior deserts span the majority of the continent, while Eucalyptus forests dominate the mediterranean and oceanic climates of the southwest and the southeast respectively. Savannah dominates the north albeit with a small area of humid rainforest in the extreme northeast. This continent with its varied landscape gave rise to one of the oldest continuous civilizations, that of the Indigenous peoples of its landscape.
Europeans first became aware of the continent’s existence in the 17th century, by Dutch Sailors, but only began settling there in the late 18th century with the founding of the British colony of New South Wales in 1788. As the colony expanded, new colonies were formed, the European population exploded, land was cleared, and Indigenous Australians were variously marginalized and assimilated. This map of the month from the late 1870s, Map of Australia, shows the political state of the continent around 90 years after initial settlement and the explosive growth of the settler colony.
Shown upon the map are the borders of the colonies as they stood in the late 1870s. These are labeled Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Smaller divisions of these territories are marked. These are variously referred to as counties or shires. The 19 original counties of New South Wales are to be seen in the proximity of Sydney, the first colonial settlement in Australia.
Interestingly, Tasmania is here labeled “Van Diemen’s Land” which is a name which hearkens back to the earliest exploration of Australia by Dutch explorers sponsored by Anthony van Diemen. This is outdated as by 1878, the name of the island had been changed to Tasmania in honor of Abel Tasman, the “discoverer” of the island.
The Dutch explorers, under Tasman, named Australia “New Holland”. This name stuck with Western Australia until the founding of the Swan River colony. The map still refers to Western Australia as such, despite the territory being officially renamed to Western Australia in 1832.
We hope you enjoyed our January 2025 Map of the Month!
- Title: Australia
- Date: 1878
- Author: James Wyld
As with all of our Map of the Month features, if you’d like to get a scanned copy of this map, please submit a Map and Geo Service Request and we’ll be sure to get back to you within two business days, but typically sooner.
-Grace Behan, Map and GIS Assistant