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Brisbane, Sir Thomas Makdougall

(Encyclopedia)Brisbane, Sir Thomas Makdougall brĭzˈbən, –bān [key], 1773–1860, British soldier, astronomer, and colonial administrator in Australia, b. Scotland. From 1793 to 1814 he served in the army in F...

coolie labor

(Encyclopedia)coolie labor, term applied to unskilled laborers from Asia, especially from India and China. With the discontinuance of slavery, the use of Chinese and Indian contract labor in British and French colo...

Lord Howe Island

(Encyclopedia)Lord Howe Island, volcanic island (2016 pop. 382), 5 sq mi (12.9 sq km), S Pacific, a dependency of New South Wales, Australia. It is a resort c.300 mi (480 km) E of the Australian coast. The island h...

Groote Eylandt

(Encyclopedia)Groote Eylandt gro͞ot īˈlənd [key] [Du.,=large island], 950 sq mi (2,461 sq km), Northern Territory, N Australia. It is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and part of the Arnhem Land Ab...

Partridge, Eric Honeybrook

(Encyclopedia)Partridge, Eric Honeybrook, 1894–1979, British lexicographer; b. New Zealand. He studied in Australia and at Oxford, taught briefly in England, and founded a small publishing company. For 50 years h...

kangaroo

(Encyclopedia)kangaroo, name for a variety of hopping marsupials, or pouched mammals, of the family Macropodidae, found in Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea. The term is applied especially to the large kangaroos ...

Moreton Bay Region

(Encyclopedia)Moreton Bay Region, local government area (2016 pop. 425,302), SE Queensland, Australia, on Moreton Bay N of Brisbane. Encompasing 787 sq mi (2,037 sq km), the region was formed in 2008 by the amalgam...

Macquarie, Lachlan

(Encyclopedia)Macquarie, Lachlan məkwäˈrē [key], 1761–1824, governor (1809–21) of the British colonies in Australia. Sent to replace the corrupt rule of the officers of the original convict guard, he establ...

Carpentaria, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)Carpentaria, Gulf of kärpəntârˈēə [key], arm of the Arafura Sea, 305 mi (491 km) wide and 370 mi (595 km) long, indenting the northern coast of Australia. On its eastern shore, near Weipa, lies ...

Keating, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Keating, Paul, 1944–, Australian politician. A trade-union official and member of the Labor party, he was first elected to parliament in 1969. As federal treasurer (treasury minister) from 1983 to 1...