Cattle-Trail near the Great Northern Highway. Photograph by gansterer. Courtesy of Panoramio
Western Australia consists of all the areas of the Australian continent to the west of the 129th meridian.
The total land area covered is 2,645,615 square kilometres (or 1,021,478 sq miles), and the coastline is over 12,000 kilometres (8,000 miles) long.
To the north of Broome the coast is deeply indented by gulfs, bays and inlets, with rugged bluffs dominating the landscape.
By contrast, south and west from Broome lie hundreds of kilometres of the most magnificent sandy beaches to be found anywhere in the world, and for more than two thousand kilometres the low-lying coastline rises barely more than a few metres above sea level. This idylic scene is broken only by rocky outcrops around the area of Cape Leeuwin on the far south-west corner of the state. The coastline then continues eastward along the south coast, broken in places by rocky outcrops such as those at Albany. Then again far to the east towards South Australia, where for many kilometres magnificant limestone cliffs soar like castle ramparts up to two hundred feet above the Southern Ocean.
Inland to the north of Broome is a region of alternating high and low plateaus stretching over thousands of square kilometres in the Kimberly region, a land of spectacular, rugged granite mountains.
Traveling inland south from Broome, a vast uninhabited plateau stretches away to distant horizons. In some locations, this great inland plateau comes to within 30 or 40 kilometres of the western coast, producing high escarpments which plunge steeply down to the coastal plains below. The inland plateau continues eastward all the way to the state's border with the Northern Territory and South Australia, covering the majority of the state. Toward the south east, the plateau rises to an elevation of over 1000 feet above sea level, and along with the erosive actions of the sea, produces the spectacular cliffs reaching into South Australia along the coast of the Nullarbor Plain on the Great Australian Bight.
The eastern interior of the state consists of mostly arid desert and low scrub. Precipitation gradually increases to the west of the deserts, where a vast although sparsely populated agricultural area exists in the central wheatbelt region, which is responsible for substantial grain production and exports. Significant areas of the state are also dedicated to the grazing of sheep and cattle, ranging from locations in which high to modest rainfall occurs, to arid areas in the north where a single cattle station can be as large as a small European country.
In the north and eastern regions of the state, mineral exploration and extraction are the main economic activities, with gold, diamonds, iron ore and a range of other minerals extracted for export to international markets. Also, offshore oil and gas exploration and extraction industries hold promises of even greater mineral wealth in the future.
Tourism is an increasingly important industry in the state, with growing numbers of eastern state and international travelers visiting Western Australia each year.
The south west region, with it's temperate climate, higher rainfall, mild winters and warm summers, is the population centre of the state and provides ideal conditions for outdoor activities. The vast majority of West Australians live and work within a triangular area located between Geraldton in the north, Esperance in the south-east and Augusta in the south-west, plus the Great Southern coastal areas. This area is in total similar in size of England. Most West Australians live and work within the Perth metropolitan region, although there is a growing trend toward living and working in the less populated south western country areas of the state.
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