Portal:Western Australia

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The Western Australia Portal edit

Introduction

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P:WA

Western Australia is a state of Australia occupying the western third of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent and with a total land area of 2,529,875 km² (976,790.2 sq mi), it is the largest of Australia's states and territories. It is bordered to the east by South Australia and the Northern Territory, to the west by the Indian Ocean and to the south by the Southern Ocean. With 2 million people, the state comprises around 10 percent of the Australian population and ranks fourth in population among the states and territories. The majority of its people reside in the capital city Perth, with most of the remainder settled in the South West region.

The state has been inhabited by Indigenous Australians for around 40,000 years. The first European to visit Western Australia was a Dutch explorer, Dirk Hartog who on 26 October 1616 landed at (what is now known as) Cape Inscription, Dirk Hartog Island. In 1829, the Swan River Colony was established on the Swan River by Captain James Stirling. The colony eventually became a state of Australia on 1 January 1901.

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Selected article

Cyclone Inigo is tied for the most intense cyclone in the Australian cyclone region on record. It developed from a tropical disturbance that crossed eastern Indonesia in late March 2003. Becoming a named tropical cyclone on April 1, Inigo rapidly intensified as it tracked southwestward, reaching a minimum central pressure of 900 hPa on April 4. An approaching trough weakened the cyclone and turned it to the southeast, and on April 8 Inigo dissipated after making landfall on Western Australia as a minimal tropical storm. Suggest • Archive • Read more... edit

Selected picture

Photo credit: Gnangarra
Westfield Winery is one of the many wineries in the Swan Valley, Westfield was started during the 1920's and has been in the same family since. The owner of the winery was responsible for saving the valley by providing resistant root stock for what was later identified as nematodes.

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Featured content

Featured articles

Banksia brownii • Banksia epica • Banksia telmatiaea • Hamersley, Western Australia • Red-winged Fairy-wren • Yagan

Good articles

Aquinas College, Perth • Australian Ringneck • Avondale Agricultural Research Station • Black Swan emblems and popular culture • Convict era of Western Australia • Cullacabardee, Western Australia • Cyclone Inigo • Dryandra Woodland • Scotch College, Perth

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Topics

Western Australia

Buildings and structures • Conservation • Crime • Culture • Education • Elections • Energy • Geography • Government • History • Images • Lists • Media • Natural history • Organisations • People • Politics • Prisons • Sport • Transport • Visitor attractions • Stubs

Lists

Amphibians • Birds • Caves • Convict ship voyages • Courts and tribunals • Cyclones • Government agencies • Governors • Highways • Hospitals • Islands • Lakes • Mammals • Pastoral leases • Power stations • Premiers • Postcodes • Protected areas • Remote roads • Reptiles • Rocks • Schools • Statues • Towns • Watercourses

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Did you know...

...that the Black Kangaroo Paw (Macropidia fuliginosa), is a plant native to Western Australia and survives being burned to the ground?
...that the wine-producing region of Blackwood Valley is named after the longest continually flowing river in Western Australia?
...that Belinda Dann, a member of Australia's Stolen Generation, died just months after being reunited with her family, who had been searching for her for over a century?

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News

29 May - $10 billion plan unveiled to build and develop six islands off Fremantle's North Quay. Read more...
8 May - State government releases the 2008 budget. Read more...
29 April - Perth records its wettest April since records began in 1876. Read more...