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Western Australia

The state of Western Australia is big, bold and beautiful, and despite covering one third of Australia has a population of fewer than two million. It has miles of coastline washed by the Indian Ocean and a range of climatic zones from tropical through to temperate. The northern area is raw and harsh; the south is characterised by rolling green pasture; to the west is the ocean while to the east lie golden wheat fields.

The true richness of Western Australia lies in its huge mineral deposits - gold, diamonds, iron ore, bauxite, nickel, natural gas and oil lie under the ground and provide employment for much of the population. The goldfields of Kalgoorlie still produce a couple of thousand of ounces of gold a day. The young and vital state capital, Perth, was built on the mineral wealth of the state and offers a leisurely lifestyle centred on its lovely beaches for its large immigrant population.

Western Australia is big on extremes; it boasts 8,000 species of wildflower, more than any other region in the world. It has the smallest church, the largest casino and the narrowest pub in the Southern Hemisphere. Its rocky coastline has also been responsible for plenty of tragedy - more than 700 vessels have come to grief here since the first Dutch sailors arrived on the shores of the state in the 17th century.