Total population |
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20,658,475 [1]
94.91% of Australia's population in 2006 |
Regions with significant populations |
All areas of Australia |
Languages |
Major: Australian English. Others: German · Italian · French · Arabic · Spanish · Swedish · Portuguese · Russian · Bosnian · Romanian · Ukrainian · Croatian · Serbian · Albanian · Polish · Czech · Dutch · Persian · Pashto · Greek · Kabyle · Macedonian · Hungarian · Hebrew · Turkish · Armenian · Yiddish · other languages |
Religion |
Predominantly Protestantism; Roman Catholic is the largest single denomination; Significantly: agnosticism, atheism, Mormonism, Judaism,, Buddhism |
Related ethnic groups |
Europeans, Lebanese, Turkish European Americans, European Canadians, White people |
White Australian or Caucasian Australian is an umbrella term used to describe a very broad ethnic group in Australia. It can refer to white people born in Australia, usually of Northern European ancestry, but often includes non-European Caucasians, in addition to some other ethnic groups.
The Australian Census of 2006, when enquiring about ethnicity, did not offer "White Australian" as a standard choice. The subjective self-description most commonly used was "Australian" (37.13%). However, this is ambiguous and may include non-white people who describe themselves in terms of their Australian citizenship, such as indigenous Australians. The largest groups of European Australians identified were English Australians (31.65%), Irish Australians (9.08%), Scottish Australians (7.56%), Italian Australians (4.29%), German Australians (4.09%) and Greek Australians (1.84%). People of predominantly non-European descent, who are sometimes identified as "White Australian", included Lebanese Australians (0.92%) and Turkish Australians (0.3%).[2]
A majority of white Australians are descended from immigrants from Great Britain or Ireland. In previous historical periods, "White Australian" was regarded as synonymous with Anglo-Celtic Australian. However, this technically excluded European Australians of non-British or Irish ancestry. There are Australians who do not wish to be referred to as Anglo or Celtic and would rather be referred to as simply white, like countries like America do to their caucasian population. Although many descended from Britain or Ireland, many feel little connection to their ancestry countries and feel they have the right to be referred to simply white like Americans, rather than British/Irish Australian.
White Australians as a proportion of the population increased during the 20th century, as a result of the "White Australia Policy", which was intended to restrict "non-white" immigration. From 1947, the "post-war migration boom", meant Australia's population more than doubled, spurred by large-scale European migration. The incremental abolition of the White Australia Policy, culminating in the 1973 Immigration Act, resulted in a significant increase in immigration from Asian countries.
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