Darkroom, population figures suggest aboriginals have not lived in Australia long. If they were here 2,000 years ago why would they not be in the hundreds of millions as is case of those whose (verifiable) history reaches back that far?
Experts estimate the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders at more than 770,000 at the time of the invasion in 1788 [3]. It fell to its low of around 117,000 people in 1900, a decrease by 84%.
At present, 3% of Australia’s population identify as Aboriginal [8].
It will take until 2021 for population figures to recover. If the current annual growth rate of 2.2% remains stable Aboriginal people can be as many as 721,000 by 2021 [3] and more than 900,000 by 2026 [11].
