A Convict Country

Looking at Australia today, it’s hard to believe that the country was once a huge exile state that received hundreds of thousands of convicts from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Up until the second half of the 19th century, the Australian continent was the place the United Kingdom used to keep its undesirable criminals away.

According to BBC, 20% of Australia’s current population descends from convicts. Sadly, the conditions in which convicts traveled to the land down under were so bad that about 25% of them lost their lives before arrival.