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 | % | (square kilometres) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAINLAND AREA | ISLAND AREA | TOTAL AREA | ||
| Western Australia | 33.0 | 2 526 786 | 3089 | 2 529 875 |
| Queensland | 22.5 | 1 723 936 | 6712 | 1 730 648 |
| Northern Territory | 17.5 | 1 335 742 | 13 387 | 1 349 129 |
| South Australia | 12.7 | 978 810 | 4672 | 983 482 |
| New South Wales | 10.4 | 800 628 | 14 | 800 642 |
| Victoria | 3.0 | 227 010 | 406 | 227 416 |
| Tasmania | 0.9 | 64 519 | 3882 | 68 401 |
| Australian Capital Territory | < 1 | 2358 | — | 2358 |
| Jervis Bay Territory | < 1 | 72 | 1 | 73 |
| AUSTRALIA | — | 7 659 861 | 32 163 | 7 692 024 |
| Calculations on Australia’s area are based on data explained in Geoscience Australia’s GEODATA Coast 100K 2004 page. 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. | ||||
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.
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 (square kilometers) |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | ||
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