List of cities in Australia by population

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This list of Australian cities by population briefly explains the three different population figures given for Australian cities, and provides rankings for each.

Contents

[edit] Capital city Statistical Divisions and Statistical Districts by population

Statistical Divisions (SDs) are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as areas under the unifying influence of one or more major towns or cities. Each capital city forms its own Statistical Division, and in Australia the population of the SD is the most-often quoted figure for that city's population. Statistical Districts are defined as non-capital but predominantly urban areas. The Australian Government treats divisions and districts with more than 100,000 people as metropolitan.[1]

Statistical Divisions are in bold, the rest are Statistical Districts.

Rank Statistical Division/District State June 2007 Estimated Resident Population[2]
1 Sydney New South Wales 4,336,374
2 Melbourne Victoria 3,806,092
3 Brisbane Queensland 1,857,594
4 Perth Western Australia 1,554,769
5 Adelaide South Australia 1,158,259
6 Gold Coast-Tweed Queensland/New South Wales 583,657
7 Newcastle New South Wales 523,662
8 Canberra-Queanbeyan Australian Capital Territory/New South Wales 388,072
* Canberra Australian Capital Territory [3] 339,573
9 Wollongong New South Wales 280,159
10 Sunshine Coast Queensland 230,429
11 Greater Hobart Tasmania 207,484
12 Geelong Victoria 169,544
13 Townsville Queensland 157,174
14 Cairns Queensland 135,856
15 Toowoomba Queensland 123,406
16 Darwin Northern Territory 117,395
17 Launceston Tasmania 104,071
18 Albury-Wodonga New South Wales/Victoria 101,842
19 Ballarat Victoria 89,665
20 Bendigo Victoria 86,510
21 Burnie-Devonport Tasmania 80,241
22 Mackay Queensland 79,172
23 Latrobe Valley Victoria (incl. Moe, Morwell, Traralgon) 77,270
24 Rockhampton Queensland 74,530
25 Mandurah Western Australia 73,477
26 Bundaberg Queensland 64,663
27 Bunbury Western Australia 59,876
28 Wagga Wagga New South Wales 56,147
29 Hervey Bay Queensland 53,323
30 Coffs Harbour New South Wales 50,726
31 Mildura Victoria 48,691
32 Gladstone Queensland 47,169
33 Shepparton Victoria 46,680
34 Tamworth New South Wales 44,970
35 Port Macquarie New South Wales 42,042
36 Orange New South Wales 37,333
37 Dubbo New South Wales 36,150
38 Geraldton Western Australia 34,214
39 Nowra-Bomaderry New South Wales 32,556
40 Bathurst New South Wales 32,385
41 Warrnambool Victoria 32,042
41 Lismore New South Wales 31,865
43 Kalgoorlie/Boulder Western Australia 30,700


[edit] 50 largest Urban Centres by population

Urban Centres are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as being a population cluster of 1,000 or more people. For statistical purposes, people living in Urban Centres are classified as urban. These figures represent the populations of the contiguous built-up areas of each city.

State and territory capitals are in bold.

Rank Urban Centre Total number of persons, 2006 census[4] Stat. Division/District
(if part of larger SD)
1 Sydney, New South Wales 3,641,422 [1]
2 Melbourne, Victoria 3,371,888 [2]
3 Brisbane, Queensland 1,676,389 [3]
4 Perth, Western Australia 1,256,035 [4]
5 Adelaide, South Australia 1,040,719 [5]
6 Gold Coast-Tweed Heads, Queensland/New South Wales 454,436 [6]

[7]

7 Canberra-Queanbeyan, Australian Capital Territory/New South Wales 356,120 [8]

[9]

8 Newcastle, New South Wales 288,732 [10] Newcastle
9 Central Coast, New South Wales 282,726 [11] Sydney
10 Wollongong, New South Wales 234,482 [12]
11 Sunshine Coast, Queensland 184,662 [13]
12 Geelong, Victoria 137,220 [14]
13 Townsville-Thuringowa, Queensland 128,808 [15]
14 Hobart, Tasmania 128,557 [16]
15 Cairns, Queensland 98,349 [17]
16 Toowoomba, Queensland 95,265 [18]
17 Ballarat, Victoria 78,221 [19]
18 Bendigo, Victoria 76,051 [20]
19 Albury-Wodonga, New South Wales/Victoria 73,497 [21]

[22]

20 Launceston, Tasmania 71,395 [23]
21 Mandurah, Western Australia 67,813 [24]
22 Rockingham, Western Australia 67,520 [25] Perth
23 Mackay, Queensland 66,874 [26]
24 Darwin, Northern Territory 66,291 [27]
25 Maitland, New South Wales 61,431 [28] Newcastle
26 Rockhampton, Queensland 60,827
27 Bunbury, Western Australia 54,482
28 Bundaberg, Queensland 46,961
29 Wagga Wagga, New South Wales 46,735
30 Hervey Bay, Queensland 41,225
31 Port Macquarie, New South Wales 39,219
32 Shepparton-Mooroopna, Victoria 38,773
33 Melton, Victoria 35,490 Melbourne
34 Tamworth, New South Wales 33,475
35 Orange, New South Wales 31,544
36 Dubbo, New South Wales 30,574
37 Mildura, Victoria 30,016
38 Sunbury, Victoria 29,566
39 Bathurst, New South Wales 28,992
40 Gladstone, Queensland 28,808
41 Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia 28,242
42 Warrnambool, Victoria 28,150
43 Nowra-Bomaderry, New South Wales 27,478
44 Geraldton, Western Australia 27,420
45 Lismore, New South Wales 27,069
46 Coffs Harbour, New South Wales 26,353
47 Albany, Western Australia 25,196 (no Stat. dist.)
48 Richmond-Windsor, New South Wales 25,011 Sydney
49 Palmerston, Northern Territory 23,614 Darwin
50 Mount Gambier, South Australia 23,494 (no Stat. dist.)

[edit] 25 largest Local Government Areas by population

Local Government Areas are the main units of local government in Australia. They may be termed cities, shires, councils or other names, but they all function similarly. Brisbane is the only state capital city with one LGA covering the majority of its urban area.

Rank Local Government Area Estimated resident population, 2007[2] Stat. Division/District
1 Brisbane City Council, Queensland 1,007,901 Brisbane
2 Gold Coast City Council, Queensland[5] 524,667 Gold Coast
* Australian Capital Territory [6] 339,865[7] Canberra
3 City of Blacktown, New South Wales 284,692 Sydney
4 City of Casey, Victoria 229,080 Melbourne
5 Sutherland Shire, New South Wales 213,917 Sydney
6 City of Greater Geelong, Victoria 208,395 Geelong
7 City of Wollongong, New South Wales 195,768 Wollongong
8 City of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales 193,092 Newcastle
9 City of Stirling, Western Australia 189,083 Perth
10 City of Fairfield, New South Wales 187,362 Sydney
11 Logan City Council, Queensland[8] 180,358 Brisbane
12 City of Bankstown, New South Wales 179,657 Sydney
13 City of Penrith, New South Wales 177,686 Sydney
14 City of Brimbank, Victoria 176,249 Melbourne
15 City of Liverpool, New South Wales 172,932 Sydney
16 City of Monash, Victoria 171,478 Melbourne
17 City of Sydney, New South Wales 168,682 Sydney
18 Baulkham Hills Shire, New South Wales 168,026 Sydney
19 City of Boroondara, Victoria 163,890 Melbourne
20 City of Gosford, New South Wales 162,388 Sydney
21 Hornsby Shire, New South Wales 158,285 Sydney
22 City of Parramatta, New South Wales 157,775 Sydney
23 Maroochy Shire Council, Queensland[9] 157,238 Sunshine Coast
24 City of Joondalup, Western Australia 157,203 Perth
25 City of Hume, Victoria 157,145 Melbourne

In comparison with these figures, the populations of the other capitals are relatively small. Melbourne has 81,144, Darwin 72,852, Hobart 49,720, Adelaide 18,575, and Perth only 13,486.[2] Most of these cities have suburban LGAs much larger than the central cities.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ 1217.0.55.001 - Glossary of Statistical Geography Terminology, 2003. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  2. ^ a b c 3218.0 - Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2006-07. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  3. ^ Canberra is unique in having a Statistical District as well as a Statistical Division. The Statistical District is larger than the SD, and includes the neighbouring city of Queanbeyan in New South Wales in the population. Only the Statistical District is ranked here.
  4. ^ Census data
  5. ^ Parts of the Gold Coast were transferred to Logan City in March 2008.
  6. ^ Canberra is technically unincorporated and is not an LGA. All local-level functions are performed by the territory government.
  7. ^ 3218.0 - Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2006-07 : Australian Capital Territory. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  8. ^ Logan acquired territory from the Gold Coast and Beaudesert in March 2008.)
  9. ^ In March 2008 Maroochy was merged with Caloundra and Noosa to form the Sunshine Coast Regional council; it is expected this will become the third largest LGA in Australia when combined statistics are released.