Western Australia

Western Australia is the largest state in Australia, taking up nearly 1/3 of the land area. It is 50% larger than Alaska, nearly 4 times the size of Texas and more than 4 times the size of any European country except Russia.

It stretches from the tropical North, where summers are wet and humid, with cyclones common and winters are dry, to the Southwest which has a Mediterranean climate where winters are wet and summers are dry.

The bulk of the population lives in Perth and a narrow band along the coast.

State Symbols

Our state bird is the Black Swan, which is part of the logo for this event and also part of our coat of arms and the state flag. The British colonists had only seen white swans before and there was some disbelief  when they were reported back to England. The term "black swan event" is used to describe an unexpected event.

The state animal is the Numbat, a small marsupial. It is slightly smaller in length that a typical domestic cat but much lighter in weight. They eat termites and other insects. There are only about 1000 in the wild, mainly due to predators like cats and reduction in habitat.

The state floral emblem is the Red and Green Kangaroo Paw, which is only native to Western Australian but can now be found in parks and gardens throughout Australia,

Resources

WA is famous for its minerals, which make the state prosperous. There is Iron ore in the North, Oil and gas offshore and gold in the interior.

Western Australia also produces materials required for batteries and other critical minerals including lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements.