When Heath Ledger moved out of a brownstone he shared with actress Michelle Williams, he found an apartment not far from a neighborhood in lower Manhattan that probably felt like home: “Little Australia.”

In the wake of the Australian actor’s death, the tight-knit community has received renewed attention as tourists and reporters flocked there to get a better understanding of how and where the movie star spent his time.

Ledger’s attraction to the area, located slightly north of Little Italy and below the East Village, was clear. The place is teeming with Australian expats who have started a slew of businesses and carved out a life thousands of miles away from their rugged, beautiful land.

“I knew there would be some Australians when I came here but I didn’t realize there were this many,” a Melbourne native who moved to the city about four years ago and works in the neighborhood, Zack Perinoni, 29, said. “But I shouldn’t have been surprised because they’re freaking everywhere.”

By some estimates, there are about 13,000 Australians living in New York City. They come here because it’s a natural fit, culturally. The two countries also share a warm relationship, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith of Australia said during a news conference in New York City promoting Australia Week — an event meant to expose Americans to all things Australian.

It’s hard not to miss the signs of the Australian influence that dot the blocks of Nolita, the adjacent East Village and the Lower East Side.

The Tuck Shop — “the great Aussie bite” — serves savory meat pies and slices of lamington; Bondi Road was named after a beach in Sydney; at The Sunburnt Cow you can get a “burger with the lot” (or everything you can imagine); or ask for a “flat white” coffee at Ruby’s.

At Public, a popular restaurant, the dishes are straight from Down Under. The wine list is heavy on bottles from Australia and New Zealand. The food includes Tasmanian sea trout, New Zealand snapper and venison, along with grilled wild Kangaroo, a lean cut of meat.

The restaurant goes through about 60 pounds of kangaroo a week, Chef Brad Farmerie, who’s American but trained under Australian and Kiwi chefs in London, said.

Mr. Farmerie and his brother, Adam Farmerie, who’s part owner of Public, said they have several Australians working for them — the general manager for instance — and at least one Kiwi. They sponsor Australians so they can get a visa to work in America, the brothers said.

The only thing missing is Australian music. Australian bands like INXS, whose lead singer committed suicide in 197, don’t pervade the dining room.

“We try not to,” Brad Farmerie said. “There’s only so much Midnight Oil we can take.”

Nolita and these other neighborhoods haven’t always been the center of Australian life in New York City. In fact, less than a decade ago it would have been hard to spot an Australian or hear their national chant, “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!”

“There was nothing here at all. No Australians. Nothing,” Will Ford, who along with his brother Frank Ford and a good friend, rolled the dice and opened an Australian restaurant called Eight Mile Creek in Nolita in 1999, said. It’s named after a creek that runs near their family’s house in south Australia.

“When we were first here, it was a very small Australian community. There wasn’t any place to connect,” Frank Ford said as his 2-year-old Australian sheep dog, a blue heeler, snoozed in the corner. The dog’s name is “Onya Cobber,” which means “good on you, mate.”

That’s not the case anymore. The brothers were preparing for a massive party to celebrate Australia Day, which honors the day British ships sailed into Sydney, creating the first permanent European settlement on the continent.

At the celebration, plenty of Australian beer such as Coopers, Tooheys, Boags, and Bluetongue would flow. When it comes to heavy drinking, Australians stick together, the brothers said.

The brothers didn’t want to talk about Ledger. They weren’t alone. All the people interviewed for this story were reluctant to discuss the actor. They were tired of reporters asking if Ledger had his last supper here or there.

They had lost one of their own, the owner of Ruby’s, which is across the street from Eight Mile Creek, Nick Mathers, 29, said.

Mr. Mathers, who opened Rudy’s in 2002, said people from his relatively small country had looked up to Ledger and other actors like Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, and Eric Bana.

“We really admire those people,” Mr. Mathers said.