What was the name of the first British colony in the Pacific?

New South Wales was the first British colony established in the Pacific. Britain founded it in 1788 as a penal colony after the First Fleet transported convicts, marines, sailors, and officials from Britain to Australia.

The First Fleet, commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip, sailed from Portsmouth on 13 May 1787 with 11 ships. It reached Botany Bay on 18 January 1788, but Phillip judged the site unsuitable for the permanent settlement. The fleet then moved to Port Jackson, where Sydney Cove became the colony’s principal settlement. New South Wales was formally proclaimed on 7 February 1788.

The colony’s purpose was partly to relieve overcrowded British prisons and partly to strengthen Britain’s position in the Pacific during rivalry with France. Its establishment marked the beginning of British colonisation on the Australian mainland, although Aboriginal peoples had lived there for at least 65,000 years.

Norfolk Island was settled soon afterward, while Van Diemen’s Land and New Zealand became separate British colonies later. Those places are therefore important Pacific colonies, but they were not Britain’s first in the region.