States and territories of Australia

States and territories of Australia
source
Name	States and territories of Australia
Category	Federated states and territories
Start date	1 January 1901
Territory	Commonwealth of Australia
Current number	6 states, 3 internal territories, 7 external territories
Number date	2024
Population range	0 (Ashmore and Cartier Islands) – 8,339,000 (New South Wales)
Area range	0.0049 km² (Coral Sea Islands) – 2,645,615 km² (Western Australia)
Government	State government, Territory government
Subdivision	Local government areas

States and territories of Australia are the primary political and administrative divisions of the Commonwealth of Australia. The federation comprises six states, which were former British colonies that united in 1901, and ten territories, three of which are internal and seven are external. These entities possess varying degrees of legislative and administrative autonomy, with the states holding significant powers under the Australian Constitution and the territories largely governed by Commonwealth legislation.

States

The six states are the original constituent members of the Australian Federation. New South Wales, the most populous, is home to Sydney and was the site of the first European settlement. Victoria, with its capital Melbourne, is a major financial and cultural centre. The vast Western Australia, rich in mineral resources, is dominated by the Great Sandy Desert and the city of Perth. Queensland, known for the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest, has Brisbane as its capital. South Australia, with its capital Adelaide, is a hub for wine production in regions like the Barossa Valley. The island state of Tasmania, separated by the Bass Strait, is renowned for its wilderness areas like the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

Internal territories

Australia has three self-governing internal territories. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) was created to house the national capital, Canberra, and is home to institutions like Parliament House and the High Court of Australia. The Northern Territory, with its capital Darwin, spans from the red centre of Uluru to the tropical north. The Jervis Bay Territory serves as a coastal enclave for the ACT, providing sea access and including the Booderee National Park.

External territories

The seven external territories are non-self-governing possessions of Australia, mostly uninhabited islands. The inhabited territories are Norfolk Island, with its distinctive Pitcairn descendant community; the Territory of Christmas Island, known for its annual red crab migration; and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, with a majority Cocos Malay population. The uninhabited territories include the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, the Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and the Australian Antarctic Territory, which is Australia's claim in Antarctica under the Antarctic Treaty System.

Government and administration

The governance structures differ significantly between states and territories. State governments operate under their own constitutions and possess all legislative powers not exclusively granted to the Parliament of Australia by the Australian Constitution, as interpreted by the High Court of Australia. Territory governments, established by acts of the federal parliament like the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978, exercise powers delegated by the Commonwealth. The Administrator of the Northern Territory and the Governor-General of Australia represent the Crown in the territories, while each state has its own Governor.

History

The modern divisions originated from the separate British colonial administrations established throughout the 19th century, such as the Colony of New South Wales and the Colony of Victoria. The movement for Federation culminated in the Constitution of Australia coming into effect on 1 January 1901, creating the original six states. The Northern Territory was transferred from South Australia to Commonwealth control in 1911. The Australian Capital Territory was established in the same year, selected from land in New South Wales following the Sydney–Melbourne rivalry. The external territories were acquired through annexation, such as Christmas Island from the Straits Settlements in 1958, and claims like the Australian Antarctic Territory in 1933.

Geography and population

The states and territories encompass the world's sixth-largest country by total area, featuring diverse landscapes from the Great Dividing Range to the Nullarbor Plain. Population distribution is highly uneven, concentrated largely in coastal cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, while vast interior regions such as the Gibson Desert are sparsely populated. The external territories extend Australia's maritime and territorial claims across the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Southern Ocean, contributing to one of the world's largest exclusive economic zones. Category:Subdivisions of Australia Category:First-level administrative divisions by country