Regions of Western Australia

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Map of the regions

The regions of Western Australia are distinct geographic areas of Western Australia, defined by the State Government for purposes of economic development administration. Together they comprise the whole of mainland Western Australia, with the exception of the Perth metropolitan area which is not contained in a region. Although originally defined for administrative purposes, they are a useful and convenient way of referring to regional areas of Western Australia, and so receive much wider usage.

The regions were established by the Regional Development Commissions Act 1993, which defined their extents and established Regional Development Commissions to promote their economic development. In defining the regions, an attempt was made to capture distinct socio-economic communities. For example, the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia has an economy based heavily on mining, whereas the Wheatbelt region is economically dependent on agriculture.

The regions of Western Australia are:

It must be noted that the Commonwealth Government Bureau of Meteorology and other instrumentalities also divide the state up into regions as well, and these do not necessarily tie in with the divisions given above. Names of the regions in popular usage also may differ with the 'official' boundaries.