The Australian-aborigines are the native people for Australia-its earliest known inhabitants. For thousands of years they roamed all parts of the vast continent, hunting and gathering food. Today most aborigines live in cities and towns. Only a few live as their ancestors did in prehistoric times.

The term “aborigine” comes from Latin words that mean “from the beginning.” It can be applied to the first people of any region. The Australian aborigines form an ethnic group called Australoid. Most of them have brown skin and eyes and wavy, dark hair.

There are many ideas about how, when, and from where the aborigines traveled to Australia. It seems most likely that they first lived in India and the Malay Peninsula, perhaps more than 30,000 years ago. They may have traveled across the Indian Ocean to Australia by raft or dugout canoe.