Federation refers to the unification of six British colonies to form Australia on January 1, 1901. What is the term for this event?

• A. Confederation
• B. Federation
• C. Union
• D. Settlement

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is the term used for when separate political entities come together to form a single nation with a central governing system. That process is called federation. In Australia, the six colonies agreed to unite under a common constitution, creating the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901 and establishing a federal system that shares power between the national government and the six states. This is the formal, constitutional way of describing their unification.

Think of the other terms in context: a confederation is typically a looser arrangement where states keep most of their sovereignty and the central authority is weaker; a union is a broader word that can describe various kinds of joining without specifying a constitutional structure; settlement refers to establishing colonies in the first place, not the political act of forming a unified nation.