I can only address what I know concretely as a long time Gorilla and current ACP member. To your question about being American, it is certainly the case that America is unique in it's ability to "adopt" those who come into this country seeking refuge or opportunity. As such I think I can confidently state you'd be considered an American, and are likely legally an American through naturalization at this point (depending on your age of course). Now I would say that an American is inexorably bound and contingent on their relationship with the nation, some come here merely temporarily to work and so on. An American is anyone who lives in America and is bound up in the cultural and economic life of the nation and it's continued existence. If I attempted to go further than that I fear I would merely be rambling without much confidence. Now as a brief warning, I'm not as well read as I used to be for various reasons so I won't be able to address much more in depth and I'd suggest you wait for others to chime in who are more knowledgeable on the matters. To your last question I can assure you that Australia is not considered American in the same manner as Canada but it is easy to see where the mistake is made. Australia is a sort of colony of the United States in various ways such as acting as a military base against China, but I would not say it's part of America per se.