Polish Australians

Polish Australians refers to Australian citizens or residents of full or partial Polish ancestry, or Polish citizens living in Australia.

In 2006 52,254 Australian residents declared they were born in Poland. Cities with the largest Polish populations were Melbourne (16,439), Sydney (12,514), Adelaide (5,859) and Perth (5,142).

The Polish-born Australian resident population predominantly were Australian citizens (90.3%), Christian (82.4%) and used Polish at home (70.0%). Around 78% arrived in Australia before 1990.

In addition, in 2006 163,802 Australian residents declared they had Polish ancestry, either alone or in combination with one other ancestry.

History

The first Pole known to have arrived in Australia was Joseph Potaski, who was sent there as a convict from Great Britain in 1803.

A prominent Pole, Paul Edmund Strzelecki arrived at Sydney on 25 April 1839. At the request of the Governor of New South Wales, Sir George Gipps. Strzelecki made a geological and mineralogical survey of the Gippsland region in present-day eastern Victoria, where he made many discoveries including gold in 1839. In 1839, with an expedition crew, Strzelecki set out from Sydney on an expedition into the Australian Alps. In 1840 he climbed the highest peak on mainland Australia and named it Mount Kosciuszko. He reached Melbourne on 28 May 1840. From 1840 to 1842 Strzelecki explored Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land). Having travelled 11,000 kilometres (7,000 miles) through New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, examining the geology along the way Strzelecki returned to England where he was awarded in May 1846 the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society.

Australians

Australians (/əˈstreɪljənz/), colloquially known as Aussies (/ɒziːz/), are a people associated with the continent of Australia, sharing a common history, culture, and language (Australian English). Present-day Australians are citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia, governed by its nationality law.

The majority of Australians descend from the peoples of the British Isles. The Colony of New South Wales was established by the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1788, with the arrival of the First Fleet, and five other colonies were established in the early 19th century, now forming the six present-day Australian states. Many early settlements were penal colonies, and transported convicts (and, later, ex-convicts) made up a significant proportion of the population in most colonies. Large-scale immigration did not occur until the 1850s, following a series of gold rushes. Further waves of immigration occurred after the First and Second World Wars, with many post-World War II migrants coming from southern and eastern Europe, the Middle East, south and east Asia, and the Pacific islands. Prior to British settlement, Australia was inhabited by various indigenous peoples – Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal Tasmanians, and Torres Strait Islanders, a Melanesian people. A small percentage of present-day Australians descend from these peoples.

Australian wine

The Australian wine industry is the world's fourth largest exporter of wine with approximately 750 million litres a year to the international export market with only about 40% of production consumed domestically. The wine industry is a significant contributor to the Australian economy through production, employment, export and tourism.

There is a A$2.8 billion domestic market for Australian wines, with Australians consuming over 530 million litres annually with a per capita consumption of about 30 litres – 50% white table wine, 35% red table wine.Norfolk Islanders are the second biggest per capita wine consumers in the world with 54 litres. Only 16.6% of wine sold domestically is imported.

Wine is produced in every state, with more than 60 designated wine regions totalling approximately 160,000 hectares; however Australia's wine regions are mainly in the southern, cooler parts of the country, with vineyards located in South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland. The wine regions in each of these states produce different wine varieties and styles that take advantage of the particular Terroir such as: climatic differences, topography and soil types. With the major varieties being predominantly Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Semillon, Pinot noir, Riesling, and Sauvignon blanc. Wines are often labelled with the name of their grape variety, which must constitute at least 85 percent of the wine.