Australia Map with States and Territories

Australia has 6 states and 2 mainland self-governing territories, and these 8 regions are what the map on this page shows. The states are New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania. The mainland territories are the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. The Commonwealth also administers the Jervis Bay Territory on the New South Wales coast and 7 external territories, including Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and the Australian Antarctic Territory. Counting those, Australia has 10 federal territories in total. They are either very small or far offshore, so this map does not draw them as separate shapes.

Western Australia is the largest Australian state by area at 2,527,013 km² (975,685 sq mi), according to Geoscience Australia. That is 32.9% of the country's total area of 7,688,287 km². Queensland is second at 1,729,742 km² (667,857 sq mi), and the Northern Territory, a territory rather than a state, covers 1,347,791 km² (520,385 sq mi). Western Australia's population is small for its size. The 2021 Census counted 2,660,026 residents, and most of them live in and around Perth, the state capital. At the other end, Tasmania is the smallest state at 68,401 km² (26,410 sq mi), and the Australian Capital Territory covers 2,358 km² (910 sq mi).

New South Wales has the most people of any Australian state or territory. The Australian Bureau of Statistics counted 8,072,163 residents there in the 2021 Census, out of a national total of 25,422,788. Sydney, the state capital and Australia's largest city, holds most of that population. Victoria was second in the 2021 Census with 6,503,491 residents, most of them in Melbourne. Queensland was third with 5,156,138. The smallest count belonged to the Northern Territory at 232,605. Among the six states, Tasmania was the least populous with 557,571 residents in 2021.

The Australian Capital Territory is not a state. It is a federal territory created on 1 January 1911 to hold the national capital, Canberra, and it is surrounded entirely by New South Wales. The ACT covers 2,358 km² (910 sq mi), according to Geoscience Australia, and had 454,499 residents in the 2021 Census. It has run its own Legislative Assembly since self-government in 1989. Canberra was chosen as a compromise between the rival cities of Sydney and Melbourne. Federal Parliament met in Melbourne until 1927, when it moved to the Provisional Parliament House in Canberra.

The six Australian states and the two mainland territories differ in where their powers come from. Each state existed as a British colony before Federation on 1 January 1901, keeps its own constitution, and holds powers that the Commonwealth Constitution protects. The Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory get self-government from Acts of federal Parliament, passed in 1978 for the Northern Territory and in 1988 for the ACT. Federal Parliament can override territory laws. Representation in the Senate also differs. Each state elects 12 senators, and each mainland territory elects 2. Day to day, both territories run their own parliaments and governments much like the states do.

Tasmania is the Australian state that is an island. Bass Strait separates it from Victoria on the mainland. Geoscience Australia lists its area as 68,401 km² (26,410 sq mi), which makes it the smallest of the six states, and the 2021 Census counted 557,571 residents. Hobart is the state capital and largest city. Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park and Freycinet National Park are among its best-known protected areas. Tasmania uses Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10) and observes daylight saving in summer, as New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT do.

Norfolk Island and Christmas Island are external territories of Australia, and this map shows only the 6 states and 2 mainland self-governing territories. Australia administers 7 external territories: Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and the Australian Antarctic Territory. Most of them sit hundreds or thousands of kilometers from the mainland. At the scale of a national map most would be too small to see, and all of them would need separate inset boxes. The Jervis Bay Territory, a small federal territory on the New South Wales coast, is also not drawn as its own shape.

Mainland Australia and Tasmania use three standard time zones. Western Australia uses Australian Western Standard Time (UTC+8). South Australia and the Northern Territory use Australian Central Standard Time (UTC+9:30). Queensland, most of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory use Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10). Daylight saving adds one hour from early October to early April in South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT. Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia do not change their clocks. As a result, Australia runs on five different clock times during the summer months. Broken Hill in New South Wales is an exception and uses Central time.

A custom map of Australia starts in the browser editor on this page, which is free and needs no account. For categories, such as the states that observe daylight saving, choose a color for each state or territory. For numbers, paste one value per region, for example 2021 Census population, and the 8 regions are colored on a scale with a legend. Pins can mark places such as Alice Springs or Cairns, and label text, line color, typeface and background are all adjustable. The free plan exports a standard PNG with a small Ultimaps credit, and SVG, PDF and high-resolution PNG need Pro.