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Torres Strait Islanders (/ ... The islands have long history of trade and interactions with explorers from other parts of the globe, both east and west, which has ...
It developed more fully as a creole language, with its own distinctive sound system, grammar, vocabulary, usage and meaning. Torres Strait Creole is spoken by most Torres Strait Islanders and is a mixture of Standard Australian English and traditional indigenous languages. It is an English-based creole; however, each island has its own version ...
In the 2021 census, people who self-identified on the census form as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin totalled 812,728 out of a total of 25,422,788 Australians, equating to 3.2% of Australia's population [51] and an increase of 163,557 people, or 25.2%, since the previous census in 2016. [50]
Foreign pearlers moved into the Torres Strait Islands from 1868 bringing exotic diseases which halved the Indigenous population. In 1871, the London Missionary Society began operating in the islands and most Torres Strait Islanders converted to Christianity which they considered compatible with their beliefs. Queensland annexed the islands in 1879.
The Torres Strait Islander people possess a heritage and cultural history distinct from Aboriginal traditions. The eastern Torres Strait Islanders in particular are related to the Papuan peoples of New Guinea, and speak a Papuan language. [54] Accordingly, they are not generally included under the designation "Aboriginal Australians".
The islands of the Torres Strait have been inhabited by humans for at least 2,500 years and possibly much longer. [1] The various Torres Strait Islander communities have a unique culture and long-standing history with the islands and nearby coastlines.
In Australia, the total population of Torres Strait Islanders, a Melanesian people, as of 30 June 2016, was about 38,700 identifying as being of Torres Strait Islander origin only, and 32,200 of both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander origin (a total of 70,900).
4.2% identified as Torres Strait Islander; 4.4% identified as both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. However, the net undercount of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 17.4%, [59] and the estimated Indigenous population is around 952,000 to 1,000,000, or just under 4 per cent of the total population. [57]