What are Australia's states and territories and their capitals?

What are Australia's states and territories and their capitals?

Australia has six states and two mainland territories. Canberra is the capital of the nation, and each state and territory has its own capital city. The list is short, and you can learn it in a few minutes.

The six states and their capitals

The two mainland territories and their capitals

Note that the capital of the Australian Capital Territory is also the capital of the whole nation.

A few facts about each place

The booklet adds small facts that help the list stick.

• New South Wales: the first colony set up by the British. Sydney is the biggest city in the country. Two national icons stand there, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
• Victoria: the smallest of the mainland states. Gold rush wealth built many of its fine buildings.
• Queensland: the second largest state. The Torres Strait Islands lie to its north, and the Great Barrier Reef runs along its eastern coast.
• Western Australia: the largest state. Its east is mostly desert, and it has many large mining projects.
• South Australia: a rugged coastline and many famous wine regions.
• Tasmania: the smallest state, an island with the Bass Strait between it and the mainland.
• Australian Capital Territory: between Sydney and Melbourne. Parliament House and the High Court of Australia are in Canberra.
• Northern Territory: tropical in the north and dry red desert in the south. Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon are icons.

How to remember them

Start with the surprise. The biggest city is not the capital. Canberra is, and it sits between the two big cities, Sydney and Melbourne.

Then walk around the country in one loop: Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin. Say it as a trip, east coast down, then west, then north. Eight places, eight capitals.

For the sizes, learn only the ends: Western Australia is the largest state, Tasmania the smallest. In between, Queensland is second largest.

A note on the star: the Commonwealth Star on the flag has six points for the states and one for the territories. See what the flags mean.

Why states and territories are not the same

The Constitution recognises rights for states. Territories do not have them. A state can pass laws in its own right, but laws of a self-governing territory can be changed or cancelled by the Australian Government at any time. Each state has a Governor. You can read about the three levels of government in a separate article.

The full text is in Part 1, Australia and its people. Try a free practice test when you can draw the map from memory.

Check yourself

• Can you name all eight capitals without looking?
• Which state is the largest, and which is the smallest?
• What is one difference between a state and a territory?