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A multicultural continent

Australia has always been a multicultural continent. Before the arrival of Europeans, there were around 270 different language groups and many different cultural ways. Just as Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas have always been made up of many cultures, so too has Australia.

Indigenous Map

David R Horton, creator, © Aboriginal Studies Press, AIATSIS and Auslig/Sinclair, Knight, Merz, 1996
This map indicates only the general location of larger groupings of people which may include smaller groups such as clans, dialects or individual languages in a group. Boundaries are not intended to be exact. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and not those of AIATSIS. For more information about the groups of people in a particular region contact the relevant land councils. NOT SUITABLE FOR USE IN NATIVE TITLE AND OTHER LAND CLAIMS

Sites which provide information on Indigenous languages and culture include: 

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