Answer to Question #102750 in Human geography for Joe

Question

Why does the continent of Australia have a culture similar to that of Europe while the island of New Guinea, nearby and settled by the same ancestors, has culture unique to the island; what happened to when Europeans encountered the area and why?

Answer 1

The reason for that similarity is that Europeans (British) colonized Australia after they arrived at Botany Bay in 1788. The British empire made Australia its colony to send prisoners to a distant place. Most prisoners spoke English and related to European culture. Then, in the 1850s, a gold rush started and more and more Europeans arrived at the continent. During the decades of years of coexistence with local inhabitants, a modern Australian culture formed.