State snapsot - people and trends

Transport

Despite having the largest landmass of all Australian states and the fourth highest number of cars, WA ranked fifth in the total number of kilometres travelled. WA-registered cars clocked up 21.3 billion kilometres in 2004. There were 1,471,497 cars registered in WA in 2004. Each one travelled an average of 14,500km last year.

Internet activity

88 ISPs; 281,581 access lines; 606,000 subscribers; 1.797 million MBs downloaded.

Libraries

•1,341 people work in local government libraries (146 of whom are male).

•233 branches.

•9.573 million visits; 1.1 million memberships and registered borrowers; active registered borrowers was 636,000.

Education

•A total of 1,064 schools.

•775 government schools.

•289 non-government (158 Catholic 131 Independent).

•663 primary schools (up by 32 schools in 21 years).

•135 secondary (up 17 in 21 years).

•194 secondary and primary combined. 336,066 full-time students and 3,477 part-time.

• 20,467 full-time Indigenous students.

•Teaching staff of 27,880.

Population

• The population of WA at the 2001 national census was 1,851,252 people (922,268 males and 928,984 females) with an average age of 33. Latest ABS estimates show 2,003,800.

• There were 58,496 people of Indigenous origin living in the region.

• Of the population, 68 per cent were Australian born with the majority of remaining residents from the UK, New Zealand and Italy.

• English is the only language spoken at home by 84 per cent of the population, with Italian, Chinese and Vietnamese the next most common languages spoken.

• 43 per cent have recently used a personal computer at home with 15 per cent aged under 20, 18 per cent between 20 and 44, and 10 per cent aged 44 and over. The total number of people who had recently used the Internet was 704,428.

• During the week prior to census, 828,781 people in WA (457,992 males and 370,789 females) were employed, representing 93 per cent of the labour force. Of these, 63 per cent were working full time. Within the total workforce 9 per cent were employed as managers and administrators and 17 per cent as professionals.

General/History

•WA occupies 2,525,500 square kilometres.

•Estimated daytime CBD population 100,000.

•Australian Aborigines have inhabited the Swan River region for thousands of years.

•In 1697, the Dutch navigator Willem de Vlamingh named the Swan River after the unique black swans he saw on its banks.

• It was not until 1829 that Captain Charles Howe Fremantle took possession of the area on behalf of the British Crown, when he landed at the mouth of the Swan River. Later that year, Captain James Stirling, a sea captain, officially founded Perth and established the Swan River Colony.

•This colony, unlike those in the eastern states, was populated by free settlers. The hardships and labour shortages they experienced led to the arrival of convicts in 1850. As a result, Perth’s industry, transportation and communication networks grew rapidly. Prominent city landmarks built with convict labour include Government House, Perth Town Hall, Trinity Church and the Old Courthouse.

• Perth, named after the Scottish city of the same name, was proclaimed a city by Queen Victoria in 1856. The first Perth city council met in 1858, and by January 1871 the City of Perth was incorporated and several other municipal councils and road boards were established.

• In the mid 1890s the discovery of gold in Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie to the east transformed the city as its population soared. Many of the buildings constructed during this economic boom portray the wealth and opulence of the period. The valuable commodities of iron ore and nickel created another boom for Perth in the 1960s. It was at this time that the city’s skyline began to change, with office towers being constructed.

• Perth is known as the ‘City of Lights’, not only for its visibility and brightness, but also as a result of the first Mercury spacecraft passing over the city in 1962. Perth became a blaze of light as thousands of street, porch, house and office lights were switched on to greet American astronaut Colonel John Glenn on his orbital flight. More than 35 years later, Perth once again lit up its sky to welcome back John Glenn during his Discovery space flight in 1998.

Voting

• State electoral enrolment figures as at June 30 2005 and show total state enrolment of 1,266,817.

• As of June 2005, Wanneroo had the highest number of enrolments for the metro area with 32,614, and Mindarie the lowest with 24,920. For the country area the highest was Dawesville with 15,763 and the lowest Kalgoorlie at 12,697.

•The state is broken into the east metro region, the north metro region, the south metro region, the ag region, mining and pastoral, South West.

• The east has 10 districts, the north 14 and the south 10, ag has 7, mining and pastoral 5, South West 11.