Western Australia

Capital

Perth

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.1 million inhabitants (10% of the national total), 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state.

The state's capital city is Perth. The people of Western Australia are often colloquially referred to as sandgropers, the common name of an insect found on sand dunes around Perth.

Western Australia is bounded by South Australia and the Northern Territory to the east, and the Indian Ocean to the west and north. In Australia, the body of water south of the continent is officially gazetted as the Southern Ocean, whereas the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) designates it as part of the Indian Ocean.

The total distance of the state's eastern borders is 1,862 km, and there is 12,889 km of coastline. The total land area occupied by the state is 2.5 million km.