Australia

For the novel by the same name, see Australia (Novel)

Australia is the largest island in the Oceanian part of the world. Although it was inhabited for thousands of years, it remained mostly unknown to the rest of the world until the 17th century.

The first Europeans to explore its coasts were the Dutch who named this land New-Holland. It was originaly believed that Australia was in fact two islands separated by the Carpentarian Sea and the land claimed was the western one. It is with this mind set that later Cambrian explorers settled what they thought to be the eastern island (called by them New South Cambria). A treaty between Cambria and Scotland in the late 18th century allowed the second the right to set up colonies in the northern part of New South Cambria while maintaining exlusive right to all the land south of the 25th southern parallel and west of the great dividing range.

Meanwhile, the English settled New-Holland under the justification of Terra Nullius (the Dutch had never set up any colonies and Aborigene ownership was overlooked). When later the two islands were discovered to be only one landmass, it created frictions between the colonial authorities of Kemr and England as both claimed the land in between their respective settlements. Although this land was later to be administered by the Australasian Penal Company, it is only with the creation of the Commonwealth of Australasia (and of the Great Corridor Territory) that the exact borders of English-Australia and New South Cambria were settled.

Nowadays, Australia is where the majority of the population of Australasia lives as well as the seat of most of the inter-provincials organisations. For these reasons, many Australasians have come to refer to Australia as being "the mainland".