The Aborigines are the indigenous inhabitants of Australia, having migrated from Southeast Asia approximately 40,000 years ago. In the late eighteenth century, when European colonization began, there were over 300,000 Aborigines in Australia. Many were killed by European diseases and abuses, and by 1920 there were only 60,000 Aborigines remaining. Like the Maori of New Zealand, Australia’s Aborigine population rebounded in the late twentieth century, and now stands at over 200,000. Most Aborigines now live in urban areas and are gaining political support and benefits.