AUSTRALIA.
The colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, nominally comprehend territory extending to nearly a million of square miles. Of these the boundaries oi* South Australia and Victoria are defined. The former comprehends three hundred thousand, and the latter ninety thousand square miles. New South Wales is usually said to comprise five hundred thousand square miles, but actually there is no limit to the north; and on the west, excepting the: part conceded to South Australia, its territory extends to Western _ Australia. The country in the occupation of the colonists, however, is comparatively small. From tho data before us we estimate the number of" square miles actually occupied as follows:—-In Victoria, 60,000; in South Australia, 40,000; in New South Wales, 150,000; making-in all 250,000 square miles." To enable the reader in some degree to understand the magnitude of. this territory, we may mention that the extent of Great "Britain and Ireland is 121,000, that of France '204*000, and that of the Austrian Empire 257,000 square miles. Comparatively with some other countries the latter is thinly peopled, and yet it supports 40,000,000' inhabitants. It cannot, we think, be doubted that the occupied territories of the three colonies are fully «qual in natural resources to the average of either France or Austria. The continent of Australia contains no less than three millions of square miles, so that^ there is room for a dozen empires equal in extent to some of the mightiest in Europe. In 1851, the population was as follows : —New South Wales, 197,168; Victoria, 77,845 ; South Australia, 66,538: Total, 341,051. In 1857, the numbers were as follows:—New South Wales, 305,437; Victoria, 460,000; South Australia, 109,917 : Total, 875,404. Adding 80,000 for Tasmania, and 50,000 for New Zealand, it appears that there are now upwards of one million inhabitants, nearly all of European origin, in the Australian group of colonies. In the three colonies first named, the increase has been upwards of half a million souls in six years, or nearly one hundred thousand per annum.
Independent of immigration there is a very large naturalincrease by the surplus of.births over deaths... From this source the accession in 1857 was as follows :—The births were in Victoria, 15,937; in New South Wales, 12,501; in South Australia, '5183: Total births, 33.621. The deaths were in Victoria, 6521;-. in New South Wales, 4846; in South Australia 1304: Total deaths, 12,671. Natural increase in 1857, 20,950. In the same year the immigration and emigration were as follows: —Immigration, Victoria, 63,260; New South Wales, 17,532; South Australia, 9086: Total, 89,878. Emigration,' Victoria, 20,411 ; New South Wales, 6573 ; South Australia, 3430. Total emigration, 30,414. Increase. by net immigration, 59,464. Total increase in 1857, 80,414.
Of births, the proportion per cent, in 1857, was, in South Australia, 4.75; in New South Wales, 4; in Victoria, 3.46; in the three colonies, 3.84. Of deaths, in South Australia, 1.19; in New South Wales, 1.58; in Victoria, 1.4; in the three colonies, 1.4. In England the ratio for births is 3.45 per cent., and for deaths 2 per cent. From the above facts it appears that in the Australian Colonies, with a great disproportion of sexes, the births are more numerous, and, with all the disadvantages incident to new countries, our deaths are fewer in proportion to the population than in the mother counUy. The proportions will be clearer when stated in the following manner:—The annual births in Australia range from 475 to 384 in 10,000. In England they are 345 in 10,000. In Australia the deaths range annually from 119 to 158 in 10,000. In England they amount to 200 in 10,000.
Twenty years ago the population of these colonies was about the number of one year's increase at the present time. Twenty years hence, should the existing ratio of increase be maintained, we expect the inhabitants to amount to somewhere about ten millions. •
Log in