Portal:Western Australia/Intro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Western Australia is a state of Australia occupying the western third of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent and with a total land area of 2,529,875 km² (976,790.2 sq mi), it is the largest of Australia's states and territories. It is bordered to the east by South Australia and the Northern Territory, to the west by the Indian Ocean and to the south by the Southern Ocean. With 2 million people, the state comprises around 10 percent of the Australian population and ranks fourth in population among the states and territories. The majority of its people reside in the capital city Perth, with most of the remainder settled in the South West region.
The state has been inhabited by Indigenous Australians for around 40,000 years. The first European to visit Western Australia was a Dutch explorer, Dirk Hartog who on 26 October 1616 landed at (what is now known as) Cape Inscription, Dirk Hartog Island. In 1829, the Swan River Colony was established on the Swan River by Captain James Stirling. The colony eventually became a state of Australia on 1 January 1901.
