Interesting WA facts

1. Area of state:

Mainland 2 526 786 square kilometres (km)
Islands 3089 square km
Total 2 529 875 square km (33 per cent of Australia)

2. Coastline

Mainland 12 889km
Islands 7892km
Total 20 781km

3. Extremities

• Most northerly point : Cape Londonderry - Latitude 13° 44' 36"; Longitude 126° 47' 43"
• Most southerly point : Torbay Head - Latitude 35° 08' 10"; Longitude 117° 38' 13"
• Most westerly point : Steep Point - Latitude 26° 08' 40"; Longitude 113° 09' 27"
• Most easterly point : Western Australian border - Longitude 129°
• Most northerly town : Wyndham
  Latitude 15° 29' 16"; Longitude 128° 07' 08" - 3 216km by road and 2 205km by air from Perth
• Most southerly town : Albany
  Latitude 35° 01' 07"; Longitude 117° 52' 56" - 409km by road and 389km by air from Perth
• Most westerly town : Denham
  Latitude 25° 55' 41"; Longitude 113° 31' 58" - 834km by road and 708km by air from Perth
• Most easterly town : Eucla
  Latitude 31° 40' 35"; Longitude 128° 52' 54" - 1 429km by road and 1 215km by air from Perth
• Highest town in state : Tom Price - 750 metres above sea level
• Most isolated town : Telfer
• Oldest settlement : Albany 1826 located 409 kilometres from Perth, on the southern coast
• Oldest inland settlement : York 1830 being situated approximately 97 kilometres by road east of Perth in the Avon Valley
• Highest building: in the state is the transmitter hut on Mount Nameless, near Tom Price - 1 126 metres above sea level
• Tallest building or tower: Tower Zero at Exmouth - 387 metres tall.

4. Largest lakes, tallest mountains etc

Islands

• Largest: Dirk Hartog Island, 613 square km
• 2nd largest: Barrow Island, 222 square km.

There are approximately 3747 islands off the coast of Western Australia.

Lakes

• Largest: Lake Mackay, 3494 square km ( on WA/NT border, 80 per cent in WA)
• 2nd Largest: Lake Barlee, 1980 square km.

Rivers

• Longest: Gascoyne River, 865km
• 2nd longest: Murchison River, 820km
• Longest in Kimberley: Fitzroy/Hann, 733km
• Longest in South West: Swan/Avon, 365km.

Mountains

• Highest: Mount Meharry, 1253 metres (Hamersley Range - the 20 highest peaks in WA are in the Hamersley Range)
• Highest in Kimberley: Mount Wells, 983 metres
• Highest in desert region: Mount Hinckley, 1013 metres
• Highest in south west: Bluff Knoll, 1073 metres
• Highest in Darling Range: Mount Saddleback, 593 metres.

Deserts

• Largest: Great Victoria Desert, 348 750 square km (WA/SA)
• 2nd largest: Great Sandy Desert, 267 250 square km
• Tanami Desert, 184 500 square km (WA/NT)
• Gibson Desert, 156 000 square km
• Little Sandy Desert, 111 500 square km.

Waterfalls

• Highest: King George Falls, twin falls of approx 80 metres
• 2nd highest: Mitchell Falls - three tiered falls approx 60-80 metre drop.

5. Miscellaneous

Cliffs

The cliffs of the Great Australian Bight, Wylie Scarp, Baxter Cliffs, Hampton Tableland and Bunda Cliffs (in South Australia) are the longest in Australia - 790km (205km in SA).

Caves

Pannikin Plain Cave on the Nullarbor Plain is one of the world's deepest and longest underwater caves.

Tallest building

The Central Park building at 261.7 metres (51 floors) is Perth's tallest.

Border

The length of the WA border with NT and SA is 1862km.

Zero kilometre peg

The zero kilometre peg for Western Australia is a plaque on the wall of the Central Government Building (originally the General Post Office) at the corner of Cathedral Avenue and St Georges Terrace.

Longest feature name

Murrawong Gnulling Gnulling Pool (25 letters), on Yalgamine Creek, a small tributary of the Murchison River. The longest name near Perth is Ngangaguringguring Hill (18 letters).

Most common feature names