Theeastern states of Australia are thestates adjoining the east continental coastline ofAustralia. These are themainland states ofVictoria,New South Wales andQueensland, and theisland state ofTasmania. TheAustralian Capital Territory andJervis Bay Territory, while not states, are also included. On some occasions, the southern state ofSouth Australia is also included in this grouping due to its economic ties with the eastern states.
Regardless of which definition is used, the eastern states include the great majority of the Australian population.[1] They contain the federal capitalCanberra and Australia's threelargest citiesSydney,Melbourne andBrisbane (all capitals of the respective east coast states). Of the 19 Australian cities with populations over 100,000 in 2021, 16 were located in the eastern states under the restricted definition (17 if including South Australia), which includes the two non-capital cities with a population over 500,000:Gold Coast, Queensland andNewcastle, New South Wales. In terms of climate, the area is dominated by ahumid subtropical zone, with sometropical (Queensland) andoceanic climate (Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, New South Wales) zones. In most situations, the eastern states are defined as those who useAustralian Eastern Standard Time (AEST), and that is the definition that this article will adhere to, unless noted.
There is only one major railway line linking the eastern states to Western Australia, the Trans-Australian Railway, which opened in 1917.
There is only one major highway linking the eastern states to Western Australia, the Eyre Highway which opened in 1942.
Since the 1980s, various governments have proposed building ahigh-speed rail in Australia. However, this rail would only connect the eastern states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.[2][3] Adelaide has often been included in the proposal and former Greens leaderBob Brown once said that a high speed rail connecting Perth was inevitable.[4]
In 2015 international visitors in Australia spent $24.1 billion. The eastern states and territory made $20.5 billion of that total, or 85%.[5][6] Likewise, the eastern states collected 8,588,000 (85%) individual visits to a state over that year, out of a possible 10,133,000.[5]
The combined population of Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania is 19,484,100, or 81% of Australia's population.[7] These five states and territory cover 2,829,463 km2, or 37% ofAustralia's total land area.[8]
Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA) or Significant Urban Areas (SUA), with a population of over 30,000, from north to south:
| City[9] | State/territory | Population | Percentage of national population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | Queensland | 178,649 | 0.80% |
| Townsville | Queensland | 162,292[10] | 0.73% |
| Mackay | Queensland | 85,040 | 0.36% |
| Rockhampton | Queensland | 80,345 | 0.38% |
| Gladstone | Queensland | 32,073 | 0.14% |
| Bundaberg | Queensland | 70,540 | 0.32% |
| Hervey Bay | Queensland | 48,680 | 0.22% |
| Sunshine Coast | Queensland | 297,380 | 1.33% |
| Brisbane | Queensland | 2,274,560 | 10.18% |
| Toowoomba | Queensland | 113,625 | 0.51% |
| Gold Coast-Tweed Heads | Queensland/New South Wales | 614,379 | 2.75% |
| Coffs Harbour | New South Wales | 68,052 | 0.29% |
| Tamworth | New South Wales | 41,810 | 0.18% |
| Port Macquarie | New South Wales | 44,875 | 0.19% |
| Dubbo | New South Wales | 36,622 | 0.16% |
| Newcastle-Maitland | New South Wales | 430,755 | 1.83% |
| Orange | New South Wales | 39,766 | 0.17% |
| Central Coast (Gosford) | New South Wales | 304,753 | 1.36% |
| Bathurst | New South Wales | 35,391 | 0.15% |
| Sydney | New South Wales | 4,840,628 | 20.61% |
| Wollongong | New South Wales | 289,236 | 1.23% |
| Bowral-Mittagong | New South Wales | 37,495 | 0.16% |
| Nowra-Bomaderry | New South Wales | 35,383 | 0.15% |
| Mildura-Wentworth | Victoria/New South Wales | 49,836 | 0.21% |
| Wagga Wagga | New South Wales | 55,364 | 0.24% |
| Canberra-Queanbeyan | Australian Capital Territory/New South Wales | 422,510 | 1.80% |
| Albury-Wodonga | New South Wales/Victoria | 87,890 | 0.37% |
| Shepparton-Mooroopna | Victoria | 49,079 | 0.21% |
| Bendigo | Victoria | 91,692 | 0.39% |
| Ballarat | Victoria | 98,543 | 0.42% |
| Melbourne | Victoria | 4,440,328 | 18.90% |
| Warragul-Drouin | Victoria | 32,698 | 0.14% |
| Geelong | Victoria | 184,182 | 0.78% |
| Traralgon-Morwell | Victoria | 40,851 | 0.17% |
| Warrnambool | Victoria | 33,856 | 0.14% |
| Devonport | Tasmania | 30,445 | 0.13% |
| Launceston | Tasmania | 86,393 | 0.37% |
| Hobart | Tasmania | 219,243 | 0.93% |
| Total: | 16,085,239 | 68.58% | |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)