Western Australia is the westernmost and largest state of Australia, covering 2,527,013 square kilometres and bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west. It is the second-largest subdivision of any country on Earth.
The state spans dramatically different environments, from the tropical Kimberley in the north through interior deserts — including the Great Sandy, Gibson and Great Victoria — to Mediterranean climates along the south-west coast. Despite its size, Western Australia holds only 10.9 per cent of Australia’s population (2.965 million as of June 2024), with roughly 80 per cent concentrated in the capital, Perth, leaving vast areas sparsely inhabited. Indigenous peoples have lived here for tens of thousands of years; Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog made the first recorded European landfall in 1616. British colonisation began with the Swan River Colony in 1829, and late-19th-century gold rushes drove rapid growth. Today the state anchors the world’s largest iron ore mining industry and remains a global centre for minerals, petroleum and natural gas extraction.
Western Australia features in our Field Notes coverage of rare wildlife sightings and deep-sea discoveries off its coast.
