What characterizes Western Australia?

Western Australia (WA) is the largest Australian state by area at about 2.53 million square kilometres, covering roughly one-third of the continent. Despite its size, the state's population is just 2.9 million, with the vast majority living in Perth and the south-west.

Geographically WA stretches from the Indian Ocean coast in the west and north, to the South Australian and Northern Territory borders in the east, and from the Timor Sea down to the Southern Ocean. Major regions include the Kimberley in the far north (rugged tropical sandstone country); the Pilbara in the north-west (the iron-ore heart of Australia); the Mid-West around Geraldton; the wheatbelt; the south-west forests of Margaret River, the Karri country, and the Stirling Range; and the Goldfields around Kalgoorlie-Boulder. About half the state's land area is arid desert.

WA was the last of the six colonies to vote to federate, in 1900, and a small but persistent secession movement has flickered ever since. In a 1933 referendum, 68 per cent of WA voters voted to leave the Commonwealth, but the United Kingdom Parliament, then the only body with the authority to act, declined to do so on the grounds that it was a matter for Australia. The secession question has not returned to a formal vote since.

Western Australia's economy is dominated by mining. The state produces about 60 per cent of the world's iron ore, and is a major source of gold, lithium, natural gas, alumina, nickel, and rare earths. Iron ore is exported through the Pilbara ports of Port Hedland and Dampier, mostly to East Asian steel mills. Agriculture in the wheatbelt and southern coast (wheat, sheep, wine), fishing (especially rock lobster and pearls), and tourism (Margaret River, the Kimberley, Ningaloo Reef) add further depth to the economy.