Template:Australia state or territory
Western Australia is Australia's largest state, covering the western most third of the mainland, bordering South Australia and the Northern Territory. It is, after Sakha in Russia, the second largest subnational entity in the world.
Geography
Western Australia consists of several extremely old cratons which merged (probably during the Neoproterozoic) to form the Australian Craton. Because the only mountain-building since then has been of the Stirling Range with the rifting from Antarctica, the land is extremely eroded and ancient, with no part of the State today above 1245 metres (at Mount Meharry in the Pilbara). Most parts of the State form a low plateau with an average elevation of about 400 metres (1200 feet), very low relief, and no surface runoff. This descends relatively sharply to the coastal plains, in some cases forming a sharp escarpment (as with the Darling Range/Darling Scarp near Perth). The extreme age of the landscape has meant that the soils are remarkably infertile and frequently laterised. Even soils derived from granitic bedrock contain an order of magnitude less available phosphorus and only half as much nitrogen as soils in comparable climates in other continents. Soils derived from extensive sandplains or ironstone are even less fertile, being even more devoid of soluble phosphate and also deficient in zinc, copper, molybdenum and sometimes potassium and calcium.
The state capital is the city of Perth, which lies on the south-western coastline. Perth's metropolitan area had an estimated population of 1.433 million in 2003 which was almost three quarters of the state's population. The Perth metropolitan area has grown to include the port of Fremantle and the town of Rockingham. Other important or well-known centres include Mandurah (pop. 54,000), Bunbury, Kalgoorlie, Albany, Geraldton, Port Hedland and Broome, but these are all relatively small cities or towns. The southwest coastal area is relatively temperate and forested. Annual rainfall varies from 300 millimetres (12 inches) at the edge of the wheatbelt to 1400 millimetres (55 inches) in the wettest areas near Northcliffe, but the months of November to March are generally very dry and plants must be adapted to this as well as the extreme poverty of all soils., The central four-fifths of the State is semi-arid or desert, and is lightly inhabited with the only significant activity being mining. Annual rainfall here averages about 200 to 250 millimetres (8 to 10 inches) but is very erratic because most of it is produced in torrential falls by cyclones that are often absent.
An exception to this is the northern tropical regions. The Kimberley has an extremely hot monsoonal climate with average annual rainfall ranging from 500 to 1500 millimetres (20 to 60 inches), but there is a very long almost rainless season from April to November. Almost all (85 percent) of the State's runoff occurs in the Kimberley, but because it occurs in violent floods and the insurmountable poverty of the generally shallow soils, the only development has taken place along the Ord River with an ambitious scheme that has only recently begun to pay off.
People
Although Western Australia has been occupied by the Aboriginal people for many thousands of years, the present state has its origins in the British settlement known as the Swan River Colony, founded at Perth in 1829 (although the first British settlement occurred in Albany in 1826). Since that time, many immigrants have continued to be of British origin, outnumbered only by arrivals from other Australian states. There has also been significant immigration from New Zealand and South Africa. Small numbers of Southeast Asian (especially ethnic Chinese) immigrants began to arrive in Western Australia in the mid 19th century. Western Australia was the last colony which accepted convicts, and the natives of Russia deported from England during the following years would arrive only there. Immigration restrictions (the White Australia Policy) caused non-white immigration to cease in the 1890s. Following World War II, immigration from Europe increased, especially from Italy, Yugoslavia,Russia,and Greece. In the 1970s, a new wave of Asian immigrants, mostly ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese began to arrive in Western Australia. Perth, in particular, paralleled the multicultural experience of other large Australian cities and has become home to people from most of the countries in the world. Presently, 11.9% of Western Australian residents were born in the United Kingdom or Ireland, while 5.3% were born in Asia. In recent years, Western Australia has had the highest overseas migration rates in the nation.
Economy
Western Australia's economy has been largely based on the extraction and export of mining and petroleum commodities, especially iron ore, alumina, natural gas, nickel and gold. Western Australia is a leading alumina extractor, producing more than 20% of the world's aluminium. It is also the world's third-largest iron ore producer, producing around 15% of the world's total iron ore output. Western Australia also extracts up to 75% of Australia's 240 tonnes of gold.
Western Australia's economy recently has benefited from an unprecedented amount of foreign demand for resources, particularly from China. This has contributed to GSP growth of 4.8%, 7.5% and 5.25% for the 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2004/05 financial years respectively. [1] [2]
Agricultural exports are also important, especially wheat, barley and sheep products such as wool and meat. In recent years, tourism has grown in importance, with the majority of visitors coming from the United Kingdom and Ireland, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia.
Government
With the federation of the Australian colonies in 1901, Western Australia became a State within Australia's federal structure; this involved ceding certain powers to the Commonwealth (or Federal) government in accordance with the Constitution; all powers not specifically granted to the Commonwealth remained solely with the State, however over time the Commonwealth has effectively expanded its powers through increasing control of taxation and financial distribution.
The State legislature is bicameral, consisting of the Legislative Assembly (or lower house), and the Legislative Council (or upper house). Suffrage is universal for Australian citizens residing in Western Australia over 18 years of age.
Whilst the sovereign of Western Australia is the Queen of Australia (Queen Elizabeth II), and executive power nominally vested in her State representative the Governor (currently John Sanderson until August 2005, to be replaced by Governor-elect Ken Michael), executive power is effectively administered by the premier and ministers. The premier (currently Geoff Gallop) and ministers are drawn from the party or coalition of parties holding a majority of seats in the lower house of Parliament.
Interestingly, in a referendum in April 1933, 68% of voters voted for the state to leave the Commonwealth of Australia with the aim of returning to the British Empire as an autonomous territory. The State Government sent a delegation to Westminster, however the British Government refused to intervene and therefore no action was taken to implement this decision.
Major population centres (ranking)
Native species
- Birds (see List of Western Australian birds)
WA is home to around 540 species of birds (depending on the taxonomy you choose to adopt). Of these around 15 are endemic to the state. The best areas for birds are the south-western corner of the state and the area around Broome and the Kimberley.
- Flora (see Flora of Western Australia)
Western Australia, in its south west region has some of the largest numbers of plant species for its area in the world. Prior to European settlers expanding agriculture, it is speculated that there were significant numbers of flower and plant species that were never described before they became extinct.
Education
Education in Western Australia consists of one year of pre-school, followed by seven years of primary school education, and five years of secondary education. The final two years of secondary education are not compulsory, and often students opt to substitute them for TAFE vocational education, or regular employment. The students that stay on in the final two years usually sit for the Tertiary Entrance Examination in order to be eligible to study at university.
Media
Western Australia has only one daily newspaper, the independent tabloid The West Australian, and one Sunday tabloid newspaper, News Corporation's The Sunday Times.
Metropolitan Perth has six broadcast television stations, while regional Western Australia is served by four broadcast networks. The regional southwest of the state is also served by pay television giant Foxtel, which acquired the Galaxy Television satellite service in the 1990s.