Australia’s Indigenous population estimated at 2.2m before ‘demographic catastrophe’ of colonisation
Summary
New research shows that Australia’s Indigenous population before British colonization in 1788 was about 2.2 million, much higher than earlier estimates of 250,000 to 300,000. The study finds that colonization caused a large drop in population due to diseases, massacres, and other harmful impacts.Key Facts
- Before colonization, the Indigenous population of Australia was around 2.2 million people.
- Earlier estimates greatly underestimated this number, often citing about 250,000 to 300,000.
- The population dropped to about 7% of its original size by 1861 due to diseases like smallpox and violence.
- A smallpox outbreak in 1789 alone killed up to 220,000 Aboriginal people.
- Other deadly diseases included measles, influenza, tuberculosis, and typhoid.
- Many deaths from massacres have not been properly recorded and may be underestimated.
- The colonization was justified by the idea of “terra nullius,” claiming the land belonged to no one.
- Indigenous people were not properly counted in the Australian census until 1971.
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