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This pages contains all sorts of odd and unusual facts about Western Australia.
These are the items that we thought were interesting enough to include on this siote but there was nowhere else they seemed to fit in.
SOCIAL FACTS
The average life expectancy of people born in W.A. is 77.78 years.
The town with the highest median age is Denham at 50 years. The town with the lowest median age is Ngaanyatjarraku with a median age of 25.
Australians produce the greatest level of greenhouse gasses (per capita) in the industrialised world. This is not something to be proud of.
Australia was the third country in the world (after Russia and America) to launch a satellite into space.
Australia was the second country in the world (after New Zealand) to give women the vote.
There were approx. 2,617,200 people in W.A. as of June 2016. The total population of Australia at that time was 24,127,200.
There are slightly more males than females living in W.A.
The birth rate in W.A. is more than double the death rate.
Each year there are around 12,000 marriages and 4,000 divorces.
About 65% of the people living in W.A. were born in Australia.
The largest religion in W.A. is Catholicism. The next largest group are people who are not affiliated with any religion.
The largest number of overseas students studying in W.A. are from Malaysia. Previously the largest group were from Singapore.
NATURAL FACTS
The phrase "flat out like a lizard drinking" generally means working hard at something but it actually comes from the ability of some lizards (especially the Thorny Devil) to lie in a puddle of water and through capillary action to absorb the water which is passed up to its mouth.
While on the subject of lizards, the largest member of the Australian lizard family is the Perentie which grows up to 2.5 metres and can weigh in at 15 kilograms.
On the related subject of snakes, the longest recorded snake is an Amethyst Python which measured 8.5 metres.
The Laughing Kookaburra which seems so much a part of the south west of W.A. is in fact an introduced species.
GEOGRAPHIC FACTS
The mainland land mass of W.A. covers 2,526,786 square kilometres, add the coastal islands to this and you get a total of 2,529,875 square kilometres.
Mainland W.A. has a coastline that stretches for 12,889 kilometres.
W.A. has the largest number (3747) of coastal islands of any of the states.
Perth is the world's most sunny capital city.
The furthest point north in W.A. is Cape Londonderry. 13 44 36 S 126 47 43 E
The furthest point south is Torbay Head. 35 8 10 S 117 38 13 E
The furthest point west is Steep Point. 26 08 40 S 113 09 27 E
Albany is the furthest town south.
Wyndham is the furthest town north.
Denham is the furthest town west.
Eucla is the furthest town east.
The largest lake in W.A. is Lake Mackay at 3494 square kilometres.
Mainland Australia is the only continent with no active volcanoes.
The highest town in the state is Tom Price (750 metres).
The most isolated town in W.A. is Telfer.
The oldest town in W.A. is Albany. (1827)
The oldest inland town is York. (1830)
The longest River in W.A. is the Gascoyne. (865 Km) (The second longest is the Murchison).
The highest mountain is Mt. Meharry. (1253 metres) Several other figures are also quoted but this is the official height.
The largest island is Dirk Hartog. (613 Sq. Km.)
The largest desert in W.A. is the Great Victoria Desert. (348,750 Sq. Km.)
The highest waterfall is King George Falls (80 metres).
The longest series of cliffs in Australia are along the Great Australian Bight. (790km.)
The Nullarbor Plain contains the longest and deepest cave in Australian and one of the largest in the world. (Pannikin Plain Cave).
Murrawong Gnulling Gnulling Pool is the longest name given to any natural feature in W.A.
WA represents 32.85% of the total land mass that is Australia but has only 10% of the total population.
W.A. is the second largest state in the world after Sakha in Russia.
If W.A. was a country in its own right it would be one of the top 10 in size.
W.A. has the richest mineral wealth in the world.
ECOMOMIC FACTS
Our biggest export dollar earner is iron ore. In 2008-9 this brought in $33,529 million AUD. This was followed by gold at $16,848 million.
In the same period China was our largest trading partner and we exported $26,140 million. Japan was next largest at $17,352 million.
W.A. exports about twice what we import in dollar value.
Most overseas visitors to W.A. come from the U.K. and Singapore.
Twice as many West Australians go overseas as overseas visitors come here.
The two most popular overseas tourist destinations for W.A. residents are Indonesia (Bali) and Thailand.
MISC FACTS
The most comfortable town to stay in during summer in W.A. is Albany.
Western Australia has the greatest concentration of aboriginal art in the world.
Perth is the only city in the world where aircraft can land in the central business district.
The tallest man made object in W.A. is 387 metres tall - tower zero at Exmouth.
TIME ZONES
Australia has three time zones most of the time, depending on daylight saving. The times given here are without daylight saving.
Western Australia GMT + 8
Northern Territory and South Australia GMT + 9:30
Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania GMT + 10
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
The problem with listing these holidays is that the actual day off varies according to whether the holiday falls on a weekend or not. Easter varies so much - anywhere from March 22 to April 25) it is almost not worth listing it.
New Years Day - 1st January
Australia Day - 26th January
Labour Day - 1st March
Good Friday - March / April
Easter Monday - March / April
ANZAC Day - 25th April
Foundation Day - 7th June
Queen's Birthday - 27 September
Christmas Day - 25 December
Boxing Day - 26 December
See our new Holidays page for more information.
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