States and territories of Australia

States and territories of Australia 

 States 
 Areas Abbreviation  Capital 25x15px New South Wales NSW  Sydney 25x15px Queensland QLD  Brisbane 25x15px South Australia SA   Adelaide 25x15px Tasmania TAS  Hobart 25x15px Victoria VIC  Melbourne 25x15px Western Australia WA  Perth

Territories
Mainland
 Territory Abbreviation  Capital  Australian Capital Territory ACT  Canberra 25x15px Jervis Bay Territory JBT Jervis Bay Village 25x15px Northern Territory NT  Darwin
From 1926 to 1931, Central Australia existed as a separate territory between the 20th and 26th parallels of latitude, before again being conquered and becoming a part of the Northern Territory again.

Overseas territories
 25x15px Ashmore and Cartier Islands
 25x15px Australian Antarctic Territory
 25x15px Norfolk Island
 25x15px Christmas Island
 Cocos (Keeling) Islands
 25x15px Coral Sea Islands
 25x15px Heard and McDonald Islands

 Former 
 Territory of North Australia (1927-31)
 Territory of Central Australia (1927-31)
 Territory of Papua (1902-49)
 Territory of New Guinea (1920-49)
 Territory of Papua and New Guinea (1949-72)

 Background and overview 
The states started as separate British colonies before Federation (in 1901). Their powers are protected by the Australian constitution. The territories are under the control of the Commonwealth government. The Australian Parliament has powers to create laws in the territories that it does not have in the states.

Most of the territories are directly administered by the Commonwealth government. Three of the territories (the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and Norfolk Island) administer themselves. In the territories that govern themselves, the Australian Parliament has the power to govern, and can override laws made by the territorial governments. It has done this at times, but it is rare that it happens. The Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are usually treated as states.

Each state has a governor. This governor is chosen by the King of the UK, but he chooses the person on the advice of the state Premier. The Administrators of the Northern Territory and of Norfolk Island are chosen by the Governor-General. The Australian Capital Territory is governed by the Governor-General.

The head of government of each state is called the Premier. This person is chosen by the state's Governor. Normally the Governor will select as Premier whoever leads the lower house of the state Parliament. However, the Governor can chose someone else as Premier. The head of government of the self-governing mainland territories is called the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, who normally whoever controls the Legislative Assembly, is appointed by the Administrator.

 Statistics 
 State/territory Land area (km²)  Rank Population (2004)                     Rank Population density (/km²)             Rank % of population in capital            Rank Australian Capital Territory     2358  8th   324300  7th  137.53  1st 100% 1st New South Wales   800642  5th 6760000  1st    8.44  3rd  63%    5th Victoria   227416  6th 5002300  2nd   22     2nd  71%    4th Queensland 1730648  2nd 3919500  3rd    2.26  5th  46%    7th South Australia   983482  4th 1537900  5th    1.56  6th  73.5%  2nd Western Australia 2529875  1st 1998400  4th    0.79  7th  73.4%  3rd Tasmania    68401  7th   484000  6th    7.08  4th  41%    8th Northern Territory 1349129  3rd   200800  8th    0.15  8th  54%    6th

 Other websites 
 Maps of Australia 
 CityMayors article