This Australia map shows 12 units: the 6 states, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, Jervis Bay Territory and the 3 inhabited external territories. They sit in 5 regions, a grouping we made because Australia has no official one. Australia officially has 6 states and 10 territories, and the map leaves out the 4 uninhabited territories. The 12 units had 27,613,654 residents on 30 June 2025, and the capital is Canberra. Click a region or state to see its capital, population, area, time zone and World Heritage sites, or type a town in the search box.
How to use this Australia map
Every region and state on the map is clickable.
- Explore a region: click or tap it to open its states, population, area, landmarks and food. Switch the Regions / States toggle to see all 12 units on their own.
- Compare data: use View by to color the map by region, type, population, density, area, GDP per capita, UNESCO sites or time zone. The time zone layer draws Broken Hill, Lord Howe Island and the Eucla roadhouses as the separate areas they are.
- Find a town: type a town in the search box to see its state and region. It answers questions such as which state Cairns, Alice Springs or Wollongong is in.
- Print it: Printables has a labelled map of Australia, a blank map and a blank map with the five region colors, all in A4.
- Take the data: Export downloads all 12 units as CSV with a citation.
The same kind of map exists for other federations and for other countries: the map of Canada and regions of India both have territories alongside provinces or states, and we also publish regions of Italy, Japan, Brazil, Switzerland, Portugal and the Netherlands. For the continent, see Oceania, and for everything we have on the country, Australia.
Regions of Australia
Australia has no official regions. The Commonwealth, the six states and the territories are the only levels of government above local councils, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publishes its own statistical areas but no grouping of the states. The five regions on this map are our grouping: four geographic regions plus the external territories. They have no government and no legal status. Click a column heading to sort.
| Region | States and territories | Population | Area (km²) | Share of population | Largest city |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Australia | 3 states, 1 territory and 1 other territory | 21,821,082 | 2,760,761 | 79.0% | Melbourne |
| Northern Australia | 1 territory | 264,556 | 1,347,791 | 1.0% | Darwin |
| Southern and Western Australia | 2 states | 4,947,047 | 3,511,334 | 17.9% | Perth |
| Tasmania | 1 state | 576,261 | 68,401 | 2.1% | Hobart |
| External Territories | 3 other territories | 4,708 | 189 | 0.0% | Burnt Pine |
Eastern Australia holds 79.0% of the people on 35.9% of the area. Southern and Western Australia is the reverse: 45.7% of the area and 17.9% of the people. The Northern Territory alone is 17.5% of the area and 1.0% of the people.
The five regions one by one
Eastern Australia (Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria and Jervis Bay Territory) has 21,821,082 people. It matches the everyday phrase “the eastern states” with two differences: it adds the ACT and Jervis Bay Territory, and it puts Tasmania in a region of its own. New South Wales (8,592,524), Victoria (7,073,859) and Queensland (5,669,764) hold 77.3% of the country between them. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra are all here.
Northern Australia is the Northern Territory on this map, with 264,556 people on 1,347,791 km², or 0.2 per km². Policy documents often use “Northern Australia” for a wider area that includes northern Queensland and northern Western Australia. Here it is the one unit that lies entirely in the north. Darwin (145,019) and Alice Springs (30,875) are its two largest urban areas.
Southern and Western Australia (South Australia and Western Australia) has 4,947,047 people and 3,511,334 km². Western Australia alone is 32.9% of the area of the 12 units. Perth (2,430,757) and Adelaide (1,470,938) hold most of the population, and the rest of both states is thinly settled desert, farmland and coast.
Tasmania is the one island state, south of the mainland across Bass Strait, with 576,261 people and 68,401 km². Hobart (233,736) is the capital. The map also draws Macquarie Island, far to the south, as part of Tasmania.
External Territories are Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean and Norfolk Island in the Pacific. They have 4,708 residents together on 188.5 km², and the federal government administers them. The map shows each as an inset.
States and territories of Australia
The table lists all 12 units with capital, region, population, area, the year formed and GDP per capita. Click a heading to sort, or a unit name to open its card on the map. Population is the ABS estimated resident population (ERP) on 30 June 2025. Area is total area, including inland water and offshore islands, because neither Geoscience Australia nor the ABS publishes a land-only figure. GDP per capita is for 2024-25 in Australian dollars.
All 12 states and territories
| Code | Name | Type | Capital | Region | Population | Area (km²) | Formed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | New South Wales | State | Sydney | Eastern Australia | 8,592,524 | 801,150 | 1788 |
| VIC | Victoria | State | Melbourne | Eastern Australia | 7,073,859 | 227,444 | 1851 |
| QLD | Queensland | State | Brisbane | Eastern Australia | 5,669,764 | 1,729,742 | 1859 |
| SA | South Australia | State | Adelaide | Southern and Western Australia | 1,902,665 | 984,321 | 1836 |
| WA | Western Australia | State | Perth | Southern and Western Australia | 3,044,382 | 2,527,013 | 1829 |
| TAS | Tasmania | State | Hobart | Tasmania | 576,261 | 68,401 | 1825 |
| ACT | Australian Capital Territory | Territory | Canberra | Eastern Australia | 484,630 | 2,358 | 1911 |
| NT | Northern Territory | Territory | Darwin | Northern Australia | 264,556 | 1,347,791 | 1911 |
| JBT | Jervis Bay Territory | Other territory | Jervis Bay Village | Eastern Australia | 305 | 67 | 1915 |
| CX | Christmas Island | Other territory | Flying Fish Cove | External Territories | 1,889 | 136 | 1958 |
| CC | Cocos (Keeling) Islands | Other territory | West Island | External Territories | 626 | 14 | 1955 |
| NF | Norfolk Island | Other territory | Kingston | External Territories | 2,193 | 39 | 1914 |
The 12 units cover 7,688,475.5 km² and had 27,613,654 residents, or 3.59 per km². That is 7.7% more than the 25,649,248 counted on 30 June 2020. For the eight states and territories, a later ABS release gives 27,921,150 for the March 2026 quarter, 1.2% above June 2025. The four Other Territories have no quarterly figure, so the page stays on the June 2025 basis. Use the population layer and the density layer to see how thinly most of the map is settled.
How many states and territories does Australia have?
Australia has 6 states and 10 territories. Three of the territories are internal: the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and Jervis Bay Territory. Seven are external: Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and the Australian Antarctic Territory.
Most sources say “6 states and 2 territories”. That count includes only the two territories with their own elected legislatures, the ACT and the Northern Territory. The longer count includes every territory the Commonwealth administers.
This map draws 12 units: the 6 states, the ACT, the Northern Territory, Jervis Bay Territory and the three inhabited external territories. It leaves out four external territories that have no permanent residents:
- Ashmore and Cartier Islands and the Coral Sea Islands are small island groups with no permanent population.
- Heard Island and McDonald Islands cover 372 km² in the southern Indian Ocean. They are a World Heritage property, the 21st on Australia’s list, and they belong to no mapped unit.
- The Australian Antarctic Territory is a claim over part of Antarctica. Under the Antarctic Treaty the claim is held in abeyance, and only four other countries recognise it.
The six states were colonies until 1901, so the answer to “how many states before 1901” is none: Australia had six colonies and no states. The ABS groups Jervis Bay Territory, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Norfolk Island as the “Other Territories”, which is why the table above labels them that way.
State or territory: what is the difference?
A state has its own constitution and parliament and holds its powers under the Commonwealth Constitution. A territory is subordinate to the Commonwealth: Section 122 of the Constitution lets the federal Parliament make laws for any territory, and it can change or withdraw self-government. The ACT gained self-government in 1989 and the Northern Territory on 1 July 1978. Both now run their own parliaments, but the Commonwealth Parliament can still override their laws.
The internal and external labels describe geography and history. Internal territories sit on the mainland coast of the continent. External territories lie offshore. Cocos and Christmas Island were transferred from Singapore, in 1955 and 1958. Jervis Bay Territory is an internal territory with no self-government. The federal government administers it, and its 305 residents sit under no state or territory legislature of their own.
Australia has no official language in law, and the map uses English names. Norfuk, the language of Norfolk Island, is co-official on that island. For the languages Australians speak, see our lists of languages spoken in Australia and Indigenous languages in Australia.
Canberra: the capital of Australia
Canberra is the capital of Australia and the seat of the federal Parliament, and it is not Sydney or Melbourne. It lies in the Australian Capital Territory, which New South Wales ceded to the Commonwealth on 1 January 1911. The territory was called the Federal Capital Territory until 1938. Melbourne hosted the federal Parliament until it moved to Canberra in 1927.
The ACT has 484,630 residents. The Canberra urban area has 521,049, because it includes Queanbeyan, which is across the border in New South Wales. The ACT is the most densely populated unit on the map, at 205.53 people per km². Each of the other seven capitals is also the largest city of its state or territory. Our capital cities of Oceania page lists the capitals of the rest of the region.
On ABS figures for 30 June 2025, Melbourne’s urban area (5,328,274) is larger than Sydney’s (5,219,674). Brisbane has 2,745,086, Perth 2,430,757, Adelaide 1,470,938 and Hobart 233,736. For a longer list, see largest cities in Oceania by population and cities and towns in Australia.
Top End, Outback, Red Centre, Kimberley and Gippsland: which state is each in?
Australians describe places by informal regions that do not appear on a standard map. None of the terms below has an official boundary, so the table gives the state or territory each belongs to and an approximate description.
| Term | State or territory | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Top End | Northern Territory | The northern part of the territory, from Darwin to Arnhem Land. The boundary is loosely drawn. |
| Red Centre or Central Australia | Northern Territory | The area around Alice Springs and the MacDonnell Ranges. Broader use extends into parts of South Australia and Western Australia. |
| Outback | All mainland states and the Northern Territory | Remote, sparsely settled country. It has no fixed boundary and in broad use overlaps with Central Australia. |
| Kimberley | Western Australia | The northernmost of the state’s nine administrative regions, bordering the Northern Territory on the east. |
| Pilbara | Western Australia | One of the nine regions of Western Australia, in the north of the state. It is the center of iron ore mining. |
| Far North Queensland | Queensland | The area around Cairns, Cape York Peninsula and the Torres Strait. |
| Gippsland | Victoria | The south-east of the state, east of Melbourne. |
| Eastern states | Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT | Sometimes includes South Australia. Our Eastern Australia region is close to this, with Tasmania separated. |
Two of these regions have parks worth planning around: the Top End and Red Centre in our national parks in the Northern Territory guide, and Far North Queensland in national parks in Queensland. For what the country is best known for, see what Australia is known for.
Australian time zones by state
Australia has three standard time zones on the mainland: Western Standard Time (AWST, UTC+8) in Western Australia, Central Standard Time (ACST, UTC+9:30) in the Northern Territory and South Australia, and Eastern Standard Time (AEST, UTC+10) in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and Jervis Bay Territory. Counting the exceptions and the external territories, the map has eight different standard offsets, from UTC+6:30 to UTC+11.
Daylight saving adds one hour from the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT, Jervis Bay Territory, South Australia and Norfolk Island. Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not observe it. The 2026-27 season began on 4 October 2026, and the previous one ended on 5 April 2026.
That splits the country in summer. Sydney moves to UTC+11, one hour ahead of Brisbane (UTC+10) and three hours ahead of Perth (UTC+8). Adelaide moves to UTC+10:30, half an hour ahead of Brisbane. In winter Sydney is two hours ahead of Perth and Adelaide is half an hour behind Sydney. The exceptions:
- Broken Hill and the County of Yancowinna in New South Wales keep Central time (UTC+9:30, UTC+10:30 in summer), as South Australia does.
- Lord Howe Island in New South Wales is UTC+10:30 and moves by half an hour, to UTC+11, in summer.
- Eucla and the roadhouses east of Caiguna on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia (Cocklebiddy, Madura, Mundrabilla and Eucla, about 200 people) unofficially keep UTC+8:45 all year. Border Village roadhouse in South Australia does the same.
- The Ngaanyatjarra communities in Western Australia changed from UTC+9:30 to AWST on 1 July 2024.
- Queensland stays on UTC+10 all year. The resort on Heron Island stopped running its own summer clock in 2014, so the state has no exception.
- The external territories use their own times: Christmas Island UTC+7, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands UTC+6:30 and Norfolk Island UTC+11, which moves to UTC+12 in summer.
The table lists each time-zone area on the map. Switch to the time zone layer to see where the lines fall.
| Clock | Name | Where |
|---|---|---|
| AWST UTC+8, no DST (Western Australia) | AWST | Western Australia (Most of the state) |
| ACWST UTC+8:45 (Eucla, unofficial) | ACWST (unofficial) | South Australia (Border Village roadhouse (unofficial)); Western Australia (Eucla area, Eyre Highway east of Caiguna (unofficial)) |
| ACST UTC+9:30, no DST (Northern Territory) | ACST | Northern Territory (Whole territory; no daylight saving) |
| ACST UTC+9:30 + DST (South Australia, Broken Hill) | ACST / ACDT | New South Wales (Broken Hill and the County of Yancowinna); South Australia (Most of the state) |
| AEST UTC+10, no DST (Queensland) | AEST | Queensland (Whole state; Queensland does not observe daylight saving) |
| AEST UTC+10 + DST (NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, ACT) | AEST / AEDT | New South Wales (Most of the state); Victoria (Whole state); Tasmania (Whole state); Australian Capital Territory (Whole territory); Jervis Bay Territory (Whole territory) |
| LHST UTC+10:30 + half-hour DST (Lord Howe Island) | LHST / LHDT | New South Wales (Lord Howe Island) |
| NFT UTC+11 + DST (Norfolk Island) | NFT / NFDT | Norfolk Island (Whole territory) |
| CXT UTC+7, no DST (Christmas Island) | CXT | Christmas Island (Whole territory) |
| CCT UTC+6:30, no DST (Cocos (Keeling) Islands) | CCT | Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Whole territory) |
Biggest, smallest and fastest-growing
| Measure | Highest | Lowest |
|---|---|---|
| Area | Western Australia, 2,527,013 km² | Cocos (Keeling) Islands, 13.7 km² |
| Area, states only | Western Australia, 2,527,013 km² | Tasmania, 68,401 km² |
| Population | New South Wales, 8,592,524 | Jervis Bay Territory, 305 |
| Population, states and territories | New South Wales, 8,592,524 | Northern Territory, 264,556 |
| Density per km² | ACT, 205.53 | Northern Territory, 0.2 |
| GDP per capita, 2024-25 | Western Australia, A$152,502 | Tasmania, A$76,908 |
| Population growth, 2020 to 2025 | Western Australia, 12.2% | Jervis Bay Territory, −9.0% |
| Local government areas | Western Australia, 137 | Christmas Island and Cocos, 1 each |
Western Australia covers 32.9% of the area of the 12 units, roughly a third of the country, and holds 11.0% of its people. Queensland is second by area (1,729,742 km², 22.5%) and third by population. Tasmania has 0.9% of the area and 2.1% of the population.
Western Australia added 331,470 people between June 2020 and June 2025, a rise of 12.2% from 2,712,912 to 3,044,382. Queensland grew by 9.8% and added the most people of any state, 504,151. Tasmania grew by 3.4%, the slowest of the eight states and territories. Among the small territories, Christmas Island grew 7.5%, Norfolk Island 4.3% and the Cocos Islands 3.0%, while Jervis Bay Territory fell from 335 to 305.
Western Australia also has the highest gross state product per capita, A$152,502, followed by the Northern Territory (A$131,983) and the ACT (A$123,409). The national figure is A$101,438, and New South Wales sits just below it at A$100,105. GSP per capita measures what industries based in a state produce, not what residents earn, so mining in the Pilbara lifts Western Australia far above wages. The ABS publishes nothing for Jervis Bay Territory, Christmas Island, the Cocos Islands or Norfolk Island, so those four show as no data on the GDP layer. For the city view, read richest cities in Australia.
Other Territories: Jervis Bay, Christmas Island, Cocos and Norfolk Island
These four units hold 5,013 people and are the smallest on the map. The table shows how they compare with the rest of the country.
| Name | Capital | Population | Area (km²) | Territory since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jervis Bay Territory | Jervis Bay Village | 305 | 67 | 1915 |
| Christmas Island | Flying Fish Cove | 1,889 | 136 | 1958 |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | West Island | 626 | 14 | 1955 |
| Norfolk Island | Kingston | 2,193 | 39 | 1914 |
Jervis Bay Territory (305 people, 67 km²) is on the New South Wales coast. It was separated from New South Wales in 1915 to give the national capital a seaport. It has no capital; Jervis Bay Village (128 residents at the 2021 Census) is the main settlement and the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community is the other. Booderee National Park and the naval college HMAS Creswell are here, and our list of bays in Australia covers the bay itself.
Christmas Island (1,889 people, 136.1 km²) is in the Indian Ocean, on UTC+7. Britain annexed it in 1888 and it transferred to Australia on 1 October 1958. Flying Fish Cove is the administrative center. It has one local government, the Shire of Christmas Island.
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands (626 people, 13.7 km²) are the smallest unit on the map, a coral atoll group on UTC+6:30. Most residents live on Home Island (432 at the 2021 Census) and the administrative center is West Island (147). The islands transferred to Australia on 23 November 1955.
Norfolk Island (2,193 people, 38.7 km²) is in the Pacific on UTC+11, with daylight saving to UTC+12. It transferred to Australia on 1 July 1914, governed itself from 1979 and lost self-government on 18 June 2015. The Norfolk Island Regional Council, run by administrators, now handles local government. Kingston and Arthur’s Vale is one of the eleven Australian Convict Sites on the World Heritage list.
The ABS area for Norfolk Island is 38.7 km², while the federal Department of Infrastructure gives about 35. The ABS outline includes offshore rocks and the intertidal zone. The same applies to Christmas Island (136.1 against 135 km²) and the Cocos Islands (13.7 against 14).
How the states formed: colonies to Federation
Australia began as a set of British colonies. Six of them federated in 1901, and the territories came later.
| Year | Change |
|---|---|
| 1788 | The Colony of New South Wales is founded at Sydney Cove. |
| 1803 | Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) is settled. |
| 1825 | Van Diemen’s Land becomes a separate colony from New South Wales. It is renamed Tasmania in 1856. |
| 1829 | The Swan River Colony, later Western Australia, is founded. |
| 1836 | The Province of South Australia is proclaimed. |
| 1851 | Victoria separates from New South Wales on 1 July. |
| 1859 | Queensland separates from New South Wales on 6 June. |
| 1901 | The six colonies federate as the Commonwealth of Australia and become states. |
| 1911 | On 1 January the Northern Territory passes from South Australia to the Commonwealth, and the land for the ACT passes from New South Wales. |
| 1914 | Norfolk Island transfers to Australia on 1 July. |
| 1915 | Jervis Bay Territory is separated from New South Wales. |
| 1938 | The Federal Capital Territory is renamed the Australian Capital Territory. |
| 1955 | The Cocos (Keeling) Islands transfer from Singapore to Australia on 23 November. |
| 1958 | Christmas Island transfers from Singapore to Australia on 1 October. |
| 1978 | The Northern Territory gains self-government on 1 July. |
| 1989 | The ACT gains self-government. |
| 2015 | Norfolk Island’s self-government is abolished on 18 June. |
The Northern Territory and the ACT were carved out of South Australia and New South Wales and handed to the Commonwealth. Jervis Bay Territory followed from New South Wales four years after them.
Local government areas
Below the states, Australia has 542 local government areas (LGAs) with a boundary on the ABS 2025 list. The map uses them as its sub-units, so state borders on the map equal LGA borders.
| Unit | LGAs |
|---|---|
| Western Australia | 137 |
| New South Wales | 128 |
| Victoria | 79 |
| Queensland | 78 |
| South Australia | 70 |
| Tasmania | 29 |
| Northern Territory | 19 |
| Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands | 1 each |
| ACT, Jervis Bay Territory and Norfolk Island | 0 |
The ACT has no local government, because the territory government performs those functions, and the ABS codes the whole territory as one unincorporated area. South Australia’s 70 areas are 68 councils plus two Aboriginal-controlled areas. The Northern Territory’s 19 include the Groote Archipelago and the Darwin Waterfront Precinct. For a state’s museums, see the museums in Australia hub.
UNESCO World Heritage sites by state
Australia has 21 World Heritage properties: 5 cultural, 12 natural and 4 mixed. Murujuga Cultural Landscape in Western Australia, added in 2025, is the newest. A property that crosses a state border counts in every unit it touches, so the unit lists add up to 25 even though 20 distinct properties lie in the 12 units.
| Property | Units |
|---|---|
| Australian Convict Sites | New South Wales, Tasmania, Western Australia, Norfolk Island |
| Gondwana Rainforests of Australia | New South Wales, Queensland |
| Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh / Naracoorte) | Queensland, South Australia |
| Great Barrier Reef | Queensland |
| Wet Tropics of Queensland | Queensland |
| K’gari | Queensland |
| Greater Blue Mountains Area | New South Wales |
| Willandra Lakes Region | New South Wales |
| Lord Howe Island Group | New South Wales |
| Sydney Opera House | New South Wales |
| Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens | Victoria |
| Budj Bim Cultural Landscape | Victoria |
| Kakadu National Park | Northern Territory |
| Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | Northern Territory |
| Tasmanian Wilderness | Tasmania |
| Macquarie Island | Tasmania |
| Shark Bay, Western Australia | Western Australia |
| Ningaloo Coast | Western Australia |
| Purnululu National Park | Western Australia |
| Murujuga Cultural Landscape | Western Australia |
| Heard and McDonald Islands | None of the 12 units (external territory, not drawn) |
New South Wales has 6, Queensland 5 and Western Australia 5. Tasmania has 3, Victoria and the Northern Territory 2 each, and South Australia and Norfolk Island 1 each. The ACT, Jervis Bay Territory, Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands have none. The UNESCO layer counts the sites per unit. The convict sites are covered in our guides to ruins in Australia and historical places in Australia.
Which state is it in?
Search a town on the map to see its state and region. These are the places visitors ask about most, and several sit on a border.
| Place | State or territory | Region |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney | New South Wales | Eastern Australia |
| Newcastle | New South Wales | Eastern Australia |
| Wollongong | New South Wales | Eastern Australia |
| Queanbeyan | New South Wales | Eastern Australia |
| Melbourne | Victoria | Eastern Australia |
| Geelong | Victoria | Eastern Australia |
| Brisbane | Queensland | Eastern Australia |
| Gold Coast | Queensland | Eastern Australia |
| Cairns | Queensland | Eastern Australia |
| Canberra | Australian Capital Territory | Eastern Australia |
| Darwin | Northern Territory | Northern Australia |
| Alice Springs | Northern Territory | Northern Australia |
| Uluru | Northern Territory | Northern Australia |
| Perth | Western Australia | Southern and Western Australia |
| Broome | Western Australia | Southern and Western Australia |
| Adelaide | South Australia | Southern and Western Australia |
| Hobart | Tasmania | Tasmania |
| Launceston | Tasmania | Tasmania |
Two urban areas cross a state border. Canberra and Queanbeyan form one urban area of 521,049, split between the ACT and New South Wales. The Gold Coast and Tweed Heads form one of 761,634, split between Queensland and New South Wales. The map counts the whole urban area under Canberra and the Gold Coast.
On a map of Australia and New Zealand, the Tasman Sea separates the two countries. Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea lie across the sea to the north. Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands lie in the Indian Ocean, closer to Indonesia than to the mainland, and Norfolk Island sits in the Pacific.
Frequently asked questions
What is the capital of Australia?
Canberra is the capital of Australia. It is the seat of the federal Parliament and sits in the Australian Capital Territory. Sydney and Melbourne are larger, but neither is the capital. The ACT had 484,630 residents on 30 June 2025, and the Canberra urban area, which crosses into New South Wales, had 521,049.
How many states and territories does Australia have?
Australia has 6 states and 10 territories. Of the territories, 3 are internal (the ACT, the Northern Territory and Jervis Bay Territory) and 7 are external. Many sources say 6 states and 2 territories, which counts only the two self-governing ones. This map draws 12 units and leaves out four uninhabited external territories.
Does Australia have states or provinces?
Australia has states, not provinces. The six states are New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, and each was a colony before 1901. The country also has territories and 542 local government areas. The five regions on this map are our own grouping and not a level of government.
What is the population of Australia, and which state is largest?
The 12 units on this map had 27,613,654 residents on 30 June 2025, according to the ABS. A later release puts the eight states and territories at 27,921,150 in March 2026. New South Wales is the most populous state with 8,592,524 residents, followed by Victoria with 7,073,859 and Queensland with 5,669,764.
How many time zones does Australia have?
Australia has three standard time zones on the mainland: UTC+8 in Western Australia, UTC+9:30 in the Northern Territory and South Australia and UTC+10 in the eastern states. Daylight saving applies in the south-east but not in Queensland, Western Australia or the Northern Territory. Lord Howe Island, Broken Hill, Eucla and the external territories add five more offsets.
Which Australian state is the largest and which is the smallest?
Western Australia is the largest state at 2,527,013 km², about a third of the country. Tasmania is the smallest at 68,401 km² and has 576,261 residents. The ACT is the smallest of the eight states and territories, with 2,358 km². By population, New South Wales is largest and the Northern Territory has the fewest of the eight.
Which state or territory are Sydney, Cairns, Alice Springs and Broome in?
Sydney is in New South Wales, Cairns in Queensland, Alice Springs in the Northern Territory and Broome in Western Australia. To check any other town, type it in the search box above the map. It shows the state or territory and the region.
What is the difference between a state and a territory?
States are the six former colonies and keep their own constitutions and powers. Territories are created by the federal Parliament, which can change their self-government. The ACT and the Northern Territory have elected parliaments. Jervis Bay Territory and the external territories are administered by the Commonwealth.
What are the external territories of Australia?
Australia has seven external territories: Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and the Australian Antarctic Territory. Only the first three have residents, 4,708 together, and the map shows those three as insets.
Is Jervis Bay in the ACT or New South Wales?
Jervis Bay Territory is neither. It was separated from New South Wales in 1915 and is an internal territory of its own, administered by the federal government. It has 305 residents and covers 67 km². The land around the bay belongs to New South Wales.
How many World Heritage sites does Australia have, and where?
Australia has 21 World Heritage properties. New South Wales has 6, Queensland 5 and Western Australia 5. Heard Island and McDonald Islands is the only one outside the 12 mapped units. The most recent addition is the Murujuga Cultural Landscape in Western Australia, inscribed in 2025.
What are the Top End, the Outback and the Red Centre?
They are informal regions with no official borders. The Top End is the northern part of the Northern Territory around Darwin, and the Red Centre is the desert around Alice Springs. The Outback is the remote interior of the mainland states and the Northern Territory.
Sources and methodology
- Population: ABS, Regional population 2024-25, estimated resident population on 30 June 2025 and 30 June 2020, through the ABS API (data.api.abs.gov.au, CC BY 4.0). The 12 units sum to the ABS Australia total of 27,613,654, and each state equals the sum of its local government areas. The 2020 figures are the series rebased to the 2021 Census. The March 2026 quarter figure of 27,921,150 comes from the ABS release of 17 September 2026 and is not used in the table, because the Other Territories have no quarterly figure. The quarterly series was revised after the annual release, so its June 2025 values differ from ours by up to 9,818 people per state.
- Area: Geoscience Australia, Area of Australia, total area for the states, the ACT and Jervis Bay Territory (7,688,287 km² together). Christmas Island, the Cocos Islands and Norfolk Island use the ABS ASGS 2021 SA3 areas. Density divides population by total area.
- Boundaries and local government areas: ABS ASGS 2021 states and territories and ASGS 2025 local government areas (542 with a boundary). Macquarie Island is drawn from Natural Earth. Heard Island and McDonald Islands, the Australian Antarctic Territory, the Coral Sea Islands and Ashmore and Cartier Islands are not drawn.
- GDP per capita: ABS, Australian National Accounts: State Accounts, gross state product per capita at current prices for 2024-25, released 20 November 2025, in Australian dollars. The 2025-26 edition is due on 18 November 2026. The national figure is the ABS GDP per capita (A$101,438) and is not the weighted mean of the units.
- Cities: the largest ABS Significant Urban Areas by ERP at 30 June 2025. For the small territories the figures are Census 2021 counts, and coordinates come from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).
- World Heritage: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 21 properties, checked on 1 November 2026. Serial properties count in every unit they touch.
- Time zones: the IANA time zone database and Wikipedia, Time in Australia, checked on 1 November 2026. No Australian Government page was readable. The 2026 daylight saving dates come from press reports, and no change to Queensland, Western Australia or Northern Territory law was found.
- Counts of states and territories: Wikipedia, States and territories of Australia, which lists six states and ten territories. Section 122 of the Constitution covers the territories.
- Regions and regional terms: the five regions are a 33travels grouping. The Top End, Red Centre, Outback, Kimberley, Pilbara, Far North Queensland and Gippsland descriptions follow the Wikipedia articles of the same names and are approximate.
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