What are the largest cities in Western Australia?
The largest cities in Western Australia are Perth, Mandurah, Bunbury, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Albany. Remote towns such as Broome serve the state's vast north.
Perth holds about 80 percent of the state's population. Mandurah, on the coast south of Perth, is effectively part of the metropolitan area. Bunbury is the main port and city of the southwest, near popular wine and surf regions.
Geraldton serves the mid-west and is known for wind and crayfish, while Kalgoorlie-Boulder is the heart of the Eastern Goldfields and home to the huge Super Pit gold mine. Albany, on the south coast, was the first European settlement in Western Australia, founded in 1826.
The far north
Broome, in the Kimberley, grew from pearling and is famous for Cable Beach. Port Hedland and Karratha in the Pilbara are mining and export centres for iron ore and gas.
Because distances are so large, many people in regional Western Australia rely on flights to Perth for business, health care and family visits.
Did You Know?
Albany is older than Perth: the British settled it in 1826, three years before the Swan River Colony.