What is Victoria's size?

Victoria is Australia's smallest mainland state by area at about 227,000 square kilometres, smaller than the United Kingdom and only one-eleventh the size of Western Australia. Despite its small footprint, Victoria has the second-largest population of any state, about 6.9 million in 2024, second only to New South Wales.

The state stretches from the Murray River along its northern border with New South Wales, south to Bass Strait, and from the Great Australian Bight in the south-west to Cape Howe in the far south-east. Geographically Victoria is varied: the Australian Alps and the upper Murray catchment in the north-east; the volcanic plains of the western district around Ballarat and Geelong; the Mallee dryland-farming country in the north-west; and the Gippsland coastal plains in the east.

Victoria became a separate colony in 1851 after gold was discovered at Ballarat and Bendigo, separating from New South Wales. The Victorian gold rushes drew migrants from Britain, Ireland, China, and elsewhere and made Melbourne briefly one of the wealthiest cities in the British Empire. Victoria's population, capital, and economy grew faster than any other colony in the second half of the 19th century. Victoria became one of the six federating colonies in 1901 and Melbourne hosted the federal Parliament until it moved to Canberra in 1927.

Today Victoria is Australia's leading state for manufacturing, finance, research, and the arts. Major industries include automotive engineering (though Holden and Ford ended local production in 2017), food processing, education (the universities of Melbourne and Monash are both in the country's top three), and the public service. Victoria is also Australia's top wine-producing state by number of producers and a major source of dairy products, lamb, and timber from the Otway and Strzelecki Ranges.