There are eight capital cities in Australia, each of which functions as the seat of government for the state or territory in which it is located. One of these, Canberra, is also the national capital. Section 125 of the Constitution of Australia specified that the seat of the national government, that is, the national capital, would be in its own territory within New South Wales, at least 100 miles (161 km) from Sydney. The Constitution specified that until this national capital was ready, the Parliament would sit in Melbourne. In 1927, the national capital was finally ready and the national government relocated from its former seat in Melbourne to Canberra within the Australian Capital Territory (or the Federal Capital Territory as it was known at the time).

In each state and internal territory, the capital is also the jurisdiction's most populous city. The Australian external territory of Norfolk Island has its official capital at Kingston, although this acts merely as the administrative centre of government; its de facto capital is Burnt Pine.[1]

State and territory capitals of Australia
State/territory Capital City population[2] State/territory
population[3] 		Percentage of state/territory
population in capital city 		Established Capital since Image
 New South Wales Sydney 5,029,768 7,759,274 64.82% 1788 1788
 Victoria Melbourne 4,725,316 6,179,249 76.47% 1835 1851
 Queensland Brisbane 2,360,241 4,848,877 48.68% 1825 1860
 Western Australia Perth 2,022,044 2,558,951 79.02% 1829 1829
 South Australia Adelaide 1,324,279 1,713,054 77.31% 1836 1836 View of Adelaide CBD
 Tasmania Hobart 224,462 517,588 43.37% 1804 1826
 Australian Capital Territory Canberra 403,468 403,468 100.00% 1913 1913
 Northern Territory Darwin 145,916 245,740 59.38% 1869 1911

References

  1. ^ Norfolk Island - Kingston http://www.pitcairners.org/vt_kingston.html Norfolk Island's Home on the Web
  2. ^ Statistics, c=AU; o=Commonwealth of Australia; ou=Australian Bureau of (28 July 2017). "Main Features - Main Features". www.abs.gov.au.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Statistics, c=AU; o=Commonwealth of Australia; ou=Australian Bureau of (28 July 2017). "Details - Main Features". www.abs.gov.au.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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