Area of Australia - States and Territories
Last updated:27 June 2014
Land areas of States and Territories
Australia is the world's sixth largest country, after Russia, Canada, China, the USA, and Brazil. In addition to the mainland, Australia is surrounded by many thousands of small fringing islands and numerous larger ones, which, overall, amount to an area half the size of Tasmania.
| State/Territory | % | Mainland area km2 | Island area km2 | Total area km2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Australia | 32.9 | 2 523 924 | 3089 | 2 527 013 |
| Queensland | 22.5 | 1 723 030 | 6712 | 1 729 742 |
| Northern Territory | 17.5 | 1 334 404 | 13 387 | 1 347 791 |
| South Australia | 12.8 | 979 651 | 4670 | 984 321 |
| New South Wales | 10.4 | 801 137 | 13 | 801 150 |
| Victoria | 3.0 | 227 038 | 406 | 227 444 |
| Tasmania | 0.9 | 64 519 | 3882 | 68 401 |
| Australian Capital Territory | < 1 | 2358 | — | 2358 |
| Jervis Bay Territory (*) | < 1 | 66 | 1 | 67 |
| AUSTRALIA | — | 7 656 127 | 32 160 | 7 688 287 |
*Commonwealth Territory. Calculations on Australia's area are based on data explained in Geoscience Australia's GEODATA Coast 100K 2004 page. Calculations are based on GDA_1994_Australia-Albers projection. The data is nationally uniform, is sourced primarily from the 1:100 000 scale National Topographic Map Series and is the most authoritative data source currently available to calculate the area of Australia.
Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay Territory
The Canberra - Yass district was chosen as the site of the new national capital in 1908. An area covering 2358 square kilometres was ceded to the Commonwealth in 1911, forming the Australian Capital Territory. It was considered that the capital should have its own port and consequently the Jervis Bay Territory was formed in 1915 when land was surrendered to the Commonwealth by New South Wales.
Marine areas of States and Territories
The marine areas of states and territories are referred to as coastal waters. This is a belt of water between the territorial sea baseline, which usually is the low water line along the coast of the states and the Northern Territory, and a line three nautical miles or 5.5 kilometres seaward from the baseline.
| State/Territory | % | Marine area km2 |
|---|---|---|
| Queensland | 29.7 | 121 994 |
| Western Australia | 28.2 | 115 740 |
| Northern Territory | 17.5 | 71 839 |
| South Australia | 14.6 | 60 032 |
| Tasmania | 5.4 | 22 357 |
| Victoria | 2.5 | 10 213 |
| New South Wales | 2.1 | 8802 |
| AUSTRALIA | — | 410 977 |
Source: Maritime Boundaries Program, Geoscience Australia. 12 January 2001. Albers projection was used to calculate areas. The adjacent areas of each of the states and the Northern Territory as determined under the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 was used to split into state and territory jurisdiction. Figures include water areas around offshore islands where appropriate. The Queensland figure includes the water area around the Torres Strait Islands and reef islands, but not Coral Sea Islands.