Little Australia is the name of communities of the
Australian diaspora
The Australian diaspora are those Australians living outside of Australia. It includes approximately 598,765 Australian-born people living outside of Australia, people who are Australian citizens and live outside Australia, and people with Aust ...
in the United States, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Common features of Australian culture in "Little Australia" include shops selling
Australasia
Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...
n goods and restaurants lining the streets. A "Little Australia" strives essentially to have a sample of the culture of Australia transplanted to the midst of a large non-Australian city.
Mulberry Street and Mott Street, Manhattan
Since 2010, the world's largest ''Little Australia'' has emerged and is growing in Nolita,
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
Mott Street
Mott Street () is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north–south direction in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It is regarded as Chinatown, Manhattan, Chinatown's unofficial "Main Street". Mott Stre ...
in
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...
are commonly referred to by Australian expats as "Little Australia" due to the influence of Australian and
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
cafe culture in the neighborhood, which includes establishments such as Ruby's, Two Hands, Bluestone Lane, Bowery Cafe, Cafe Grumpy, Egg Shop, Musket Room and Happy Bones. Little Australia is adjacent to
Little Italy
Little Italy is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an Urban area, urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian cul ...
and
Chinatown
Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
in Manhattan.
In 2011, there were an estimated 20,000 Australian residents of New York City, nearly quadrupling the 5,537 in 2005.
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
had the nickname "Kangaroo Valley" or "Roo Valley", although many Australian visitors now go to cheaper districts to the north or west.
When
Barry Humphries
John Barry Humphries (17 February 1934 – 22 April 2023) was an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He was best known for writing and playing his stage and television characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He appeare ...
went (by sea) to London in 1959, he and then wife Rosalind lived in
Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove ( ) is a road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, which passes through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue.
It is also the name of the sur ...
in Kensington. He made an impromptu visit to "an Earl's Court pub, in the middle of Kangaroo Valley, as it was sometimes called. He fell physically ill and frightened by what he saw. The packs of loutish Australian youths swilling beer and swearing revived painful memories of the bullies at Melbourne Grammar." This theme re-emerged more affectionately from 1964 in Humphries' Barry McKenzie series; the character lived in an Earl's Court flat.
In 1962,
Clive James
Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Foster's Lager, and the broad-brimmed Akubra hat with corks dangling from the brim was never to be more than a myth". After he moved, he "vowed never to enter Earl's Court again".
Whistler, British Columbia
The town of
Whistler, British Columbia
Whistler (, ; , ) is a resort municipality in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains, approximately north of Vancouver and south of Pemberton, Britis ...
holds a congregation of Australians and has been described as a ‘Little Australia’ due to the strong Australian culture and many Australians on working holiday visas present. Australian Alpine skier Jono Brauer coined the term "Whistralia" to refer to the ski village in a 2010 interview, and this has since become a nickname. In 2010, it was estimated that Australians made up 34% of the workforce for Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort. Australian snacks such as
meat pies
A meat pie is a pie baked with pastry with a filling of meat and often other savory ingredients. They are found in cuisines worldwide.
Meat pies are usually baked, fried, or deep-fried to brown them and develop the flavour through the Mail ...
Vegemite
Vegemite ( ) is a thick, dark brown Australian food spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice Food additive, additives. It was developed by Cyril Callister in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, for ...
are sold at supermarkets in Whistler, and
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...
is celebrated, with multiple pubs throwing organised party events.
Niseko, Hokkaido
Since the early 2000s, a significant Australian community has emerged in the Niseko area of
Hokkaido
is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...
, which comprises the towns of Kutchan, Niseko, and Rankoshi. Similar to the case of Whistler, this is due to the popularity of the region's ski resorts. In 2020, 33.1% of foreign nationals living in Kutchan were Australians. Many Australian settlers have established tourism-related businesses such as guest houses and restaurants, and holiday homes in the area, and the area has been described as a 'Little Australia'.
See also
*
Australian diaspora
The Australian diaspora are those Australians living outside of Australia. It includes approximately 598,765 Australian-born people living outside of Australia, people who are Australian citizens and live outside Australia, and people with Aust ...