Perth was founded by Captain James Stirling in 1829 as the administrative centre of the Swan River Colony. The city is situated on the traditional lands of the WhadjukNoongar people, where Aboriginal Australians have lived for at least 45,000 years. Perth was named after the city of Perth in Scotland.[6] Perth was proclaimed as a city by Queen Victoria in 1856,[7] although the City of Perth currently governs only a small area around the central business district. Substantial population growth occurred during the late 19th-century Western Australian gold rushes, and the city has continued to expand, particularly after World War II due to a high net migration rate. Post-war immigrants were predominantly from the British Isles and Southern Europe, while more recent arrivals see a growing population of Asian descent. During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, a series of mining booms in various regions of Western Australia propelled Perth into the role of the regional headquarters for significant mining operations.
Ranked as one of the world's most liveable cities, Perth was classified by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as a Beta global city in 2020. As of 2021,[update] Perth is divided into 30 local government areas, comprising over 350 suburbs. The metropolitan contours span 115 kilometres (71mi) from Two Rocks in the north to Singleton in the south,[contradictory] and 45 kilometres (28mi) from the west coast to Sawyers Valley in the east. Beyond the central business district, predominant urban centres within the metropolitan area include Armadale, Fremantle, Joondalup, Midland, and Rockingham. Most of those were originally established as separate settlements and retained a distinct identity after being subsumed into the wider metropolitan area. Mandurah, Western Australia's second-largest city, forms a conurbation with Perth along the coastline. Despite this, it is generally regarded as an independent city.
The name of the city is taken from Perth, Scotland in honour of the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, and Member for Perthshire in the British House of Commons, Sir George Murray.[8][9] Murray's association with the city was included in Stirling's proclamation of the colony, read in Fremantle on 18 June 1829, which concluded with the statement, "Given under my hand and Seal at Perth this 18th Day of June 1829. James Stirling Lieutenant Governor".[10] The only contemporary information on the source of the name comes from Charles Fremantle's diary entry for 12 August 1829, which records that they "named the town Perth according to the wishes of Sir George Murray".[11][12]
Since 2019, the Noongar name Boorloo has been recognised as denoting the central business district,[13][14] the local government area,[15] or the capital city in general.[16][17][18] The name Boorloo was initially recorded by Robert Menli Lyon as Boorlo in 1833,[19] which was interpreted as "Perth, properly Point Fraser" (a location in East Perth). He also gave the name Byerbrup for "the highland stretching along from Mount Eliza through the centre of the town of Perth".[20] In 1947, Ludwig Glauert posited that Lyon may have misunderstood his sources and that "boorloo" or "belo" (now transcribed as "bilya") is simply the Noongar word for "river".[21] Another source has interpreted Boorloo to mean "big swamp",[22] describing the chain of lakes where the central business district and Northbridge are situated.[23]
Perth is located on the traditional land of the Whadjuk people, one of several groups in south-western Western Australia that make up the Noongar people.
Archaeological evidence attests to human habitation in the Perth area for at least 48,000 years;[24]:9 according to Noongar tradition, they have occupied the area since "time immemorial".[25] Noongar country encompasses the southwest corner of Western Australia, with particular significance attached to the wetlands on the Swan Coastal Plain, both spiritually (featuring in local mythology) and as a source of food.[26]
The current central business district location is within the traditional territory of the Mooro, a Noongar clan, led by Yellagonga at the time of the British settlement. The Mooro was one of several Noongar clans based around the Swan River, known collectively as the Whadjuk. The Whadjuk themselves were one of a larger group of fourteen tribes that formed the south-west socio-linguistic block known as the Noongar (meaning 'the people' in their language), also sometimes called the Bibbulmun.[27][28][29]
On 19 September 2006, the Federal Court of Australia ruled in the case of Bennell v State of Western Australia [2006] FCA 1243 that Noongar native title persisted over Perth metropolitan area.[30] An appeal was subsequently filed, and in 2008, the Full Court of the Federal Court upheld parts of the appeal by the Western Australian and Commonwealth governments.[31] Following this appeal, the Western Australian Government and the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council negotiated the South West Native Title Settlement. This settlement, including the Whadjuk Indigenous Land Use Agreement over the Perth region, was finalised by the Federal Court on 1 December 2021.[32] As part of this agreement, the Noongar (Koorah, Nitja, Boordahwan) (Past, Present, Future) Recognition Act was passed in 2016, officially recognising the Noongar people as the traditional owners of the south-west region of Western Australia.[33]
On 10 January 1697, Dutch Captain Willem de Vlamingh conducted the first documented exploration by a European of the present-day Perth region. His crew initially explored the area on foot, leading them to what is now central Perth.[34] Continuing, they travelled up the Swan River in search of native inhabitants.[35] They named the river Swarte Swaene-Revier, a reference to the black swans prevalent in the region.[35] After Vlamingh's observations, other Europeans conducted further voyages of exploration in the period between 1697 and 1829. However, as with Vlamingh's assessments, they judged the area inhospitable and unsuitable for the agriculture necessary to sustain a European-style settlement.[36]
Despite the Colony of New South Wales establishing a convict-supported settlement at King George's Sound (later Albany) on the south coast of Western Australia in 1826, responding to rumours of potential French annexation, Perth marked the first comprehensive European settlement in the western third of the continent of Australia in 1829. Officially designated as "Western Australia" in 1832, the colony retained the informal moniker "Swan River Colony" for many years, after the area's major watercourse.[37]
The Foundation of Perth 1829 by George Pitt Morison is a historical reconstruction of the official ceremony by which Perth was founded, although not everyone depicted may have actually been present.
On 4 June 1829, newly arriving British colonists had their first view of the mainland.[contradictory] Captain James Stirling, aboard Parmelia, noted that the site was "as beautiful as anything of this kind I had ever witnessed".[38] On 12 August that year, Helen Dance, wife of the captain of the second ship, Sulphur, felled a tree to commemorate the town's founding.[39] From 1831 onward, confrontations between British settlers and the Noongar people escalated due to conflicting land-value systems and increased land use as the colony expanded. These confrontations resulted in multiple events, including the murder of settlers (such as Thomas Peel's servant Hugh Nesbitt[40]), the execution without trial of Whadjuk elder Midgegooroo,[41] the killing of his son Yagan in 1833,[42] and the Pinjarra massacre in 1834.[24]:114[43]
The strained relations between the Noongar people and the Europeans arose due to these events. Agricultural development on the land restricted the traditional hunter-gatherer practices of the native Whadjuk Noongar, compelling them to camp in designated areas, including swamps and lakes north of the European settlement. Third Swamp, known to them as Boodjamooling, remained a primary campsite for the remaining Noongar people in the Perth region, also accommodating travellers, itinerants, and homeless individuals. During the gold rush in the 1890s, miners on their way to the goldfields joined this community.[44]
In 1850, at a time when penal transportation to Australia's eastern colonies had ceased, Western Australia was opened to convicts at the request of farming and business people due to a shortage of labour.[45] Over the next eighteen years, 9,721 convicts arrived in Western Australia aboard 43 ships,[46][47] outnumbering the approximately 7,300 free settlers.[48]
The designation of Perth as a city was formally announced by Queen Victoria in 1856. However, despite this recognition, Perth remained a tranquil town. A description from 1870 by a Melbourne journalist depicted it as:[49][50]
a quiet little town of some 3000 inhabitants spread out in straggling allotments down to the water's edge, intermingled with gardens and shrubberies and half rural in its aspect ... The main streets are macadamised, but the outlying ones and most of the footpaths retain their native state from the loose sand— the all pervading element of Western Australia— productive of intense glare or much dust in the summer and dissolving into slush during the rainy season.
With the discovery of gold at Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie in the late 19th century, Western Australia experienced a mining boom.[51] Perth became a key hub for supplying the goldfields, and the newfound prosperity helped finance the construction of important public buildings, roads, and railways. Perth's population grew from approximately 8,500 in 1881 to 61,000 in 1901.[52]
After a referendum in 1900,[53] Western Australia joined the Federation of Australia in 1901,[49] and "became a founding state of Australia".[24] It was the last of the Australian colonies to agree to join the Federation, and it did so only after the other colonies had offered several concessions, including the construction of a transcontinental railway line from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie to link Perth with the eastern states.[54]
In 1927, Indigenous people were prohibited from entering large swathes of Perth under penalty of imprisonment, a ban that lasted until 1954.[55]
In 1933, two-thirds of Western Australians voted in a referendum to secede from the Australian Federation. However, the state general election held at the same time as the referendum had voted out the incumbent "pro-independence" government, replacing it with a government that did not support the independence movement. Respecting the result of the referendum, the new government nonetheless petitioned the Imperial Parliament at Westminster. The House of Commons established a select committee to consider the issue but after 18 months of negotiations and lobbying, finally refused to consider the matter, declaring that it could not legally grant secession.[53][56]
Perth entered the post-war period with a population of approximately 280,000 and an economy that had not experienced sustained growth since the 1920s. Successive state governments, beginning with the Willcock Labor Government (1936–1945), determined to change this. Planning for post-war economic development was initially driven by Russell Dumas, who as Director of Public Works (1941–1953) drew up plans for Western Australia's major post-war public-works projects, including the raising of the Mundaring and Wellington dams, the development of the new Perth Airport, and the development of a new industrial zone centred on Kwinana. The advent of the McLarty Liberal Government (1947–1953) saw the emergence of something of a consensus on the need for continuing economic development. Economic growth was fuelled by large-scale public works, the post-war immigration program, and the success that various state governments had in attracting substantial foreign investment into the state, beginning with the construction of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Refinery at Kwinana in 1951–52.[57]
Construction of the Narrows Bridge nearing completion in 1959
The result of this economic activity was the rapid growth of the population of Perth and a marked change in its urban design. Commencing in the 1950s, Perth began to expand along an extensive highway network laid out in the Stephenson-Hepburn Report, which noted that Perth was beginning to resemble a pattern of development less in line with the British experience and more in line with North America.[58] This was encouraged by the opening of the Narrows Bridge and the gradual closure of the Perth-Fremantle Tramways. The mining-pastoral boom of the 1960s only accelerated the pace of urban growth in Perth.
In 1962, Perth received global media attention when city residents lit their house lights and streetlights as American astronaut John Glenn passed overhead while orbiting the Earth on Friendship7. This led to its being nicknamed the "City of Light".[a][59][60][61] The city repeated the act as Glenn passed overhead on the Space Shuttle in 1998.[62][63]
Perth's development and relative prosperity, especially since the mid-1960s,[64] has resulted from its role as the main service centre for the state's resource industries, which extract gold, iron ore, nickel, alumina, diamonds, mineral sands, coal, oil, and natural gas.[65] Whilst most mineral and petroleum production takes place elsewhere in the state, the non-base services provide most of the employment and income to the people of Perth.[66]
Perth experienced a period of recovery in 1990. In July 1994, the state government separated the city's CBD from its suburban districts, creating the City of Perth and three other local government areas.[citation needed]
Perth's metropolitan area extends along the coast to Two Rocks in the north and Singleton to the south,[70] a distance of approximately 125 kilometres (80mi).[71] From the coast in the west to Mundaring in the east is a distance of approximately 50 kilometres (30mi). The Perth metropolitan area covers 6,418 square kilometres (2,478sqmi).[2] The built-up urban area of Perth is 1,722 square kilometres (665sqmi), the same as Wuhan or Salt Lake City and slightly smaller than London, making Perth the 67th largest urban area in the world. Perth is also the 50th least densely populated out of the 990 urban areas in the world with a population above 500,000.[72]
The metropolitan extent of Perth can be defined in other ways – the Australian Bureau of Statistics Greater Capital City Statistical Area, or Greater Perth in short, consists of that area, plus the City of Mandurah and the Pinjarra Level 2 Statistical Area[74] of the Shire of Murray,[75][76] while the Regional Development Commissions Act 1993 includes the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale in the Peel region.[77]
The largest river flowing through Perth is the Swan River, named for the native black swans by Willem de Vlamingh, captain of a Dutch expedition and namer of WA's Rottnest Island, who discovered the birds while exploring the area in 1697.[78] This water body is also known as Derbarl Yerrigan.[79] The city centre and most of the suburbs are on the sandy and relatively flat Swan Coastal Plain, which lies between the Darling Scarp and the Indian Ocean. The soils of this area are quite infertile.
Perth receives moderate, though highly seasonal, winter-based rainfall. Summers are generally hot, sunny and dry, lasting from December to March, with February generally the hottest month. Winters are relatively mild and wet, giving Perth a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classificationCsa).[81][82] Perth has an average of 8.8 hours of sunshine per day, which equates to around 3,200 hours of sunshine and 138.7 clear days annually, making it Australia's sunniest capital city.[83]
Summers are typically hot and dry but not completely devoid of rain, with sporadic rainfall in the form of short-lived thunderstorms, weak cold fronts and on occasions decaying tropical cyclones from Western Australia's northwest, which can bring heavy rain. Temperatures above 35°C (95°F) occur, on average, 26 days per year and rise above 40°C (104°F) on 5 days per year. The highest temperature recorded in Perth was 46.2°C (115.2°F) on 23 February 1991, although Perth Airport recorded 46.7°C (116.1°F) on the same day.[83][84] On most summer afternoons a sea breeze, known locally as the Fremantle Doctor, blows from the southwest, providing relief from the hot northeasterly winds. Temperatures often fall below 30°C (86°F) a few hours after the arrival of the wind change.[85] In the summer, the 3pm dewpoint averages at around 12°C (54°F).[83]
Winters are mild and wet, with most of Perth's annual rainfall between May and September. Winters see significant rainfall as frontal systems move across the region, interspersed with clear and sunny days where minimum temperatures tend to drop below 5°C (41°F). The lowest temperature recorded in Perth was −0.7°C (30.7°F) on 17 June 2006.[84] The lowest temperature within the Perth metropolitan area was −3.4°C (25.9°F) on the same day at Jandakot Airport, although temperatures at or below zero are rare occurrences. The lowest maximum temperature recorded in Perth is 8.8°C (47.8°F) on 26 June 1956. It occasionally gets cold enough for frost to form.[86] While snow has never been recorded in the Perth CBD, light snowfalls have been reported in outer suburbs of Perth in the Perth Hills around Kalamunda, Roleystone and Mundaring. The most recent snowfall was in 1968.
The rainfall pattern has changed in Perth and southwest Western Australia since the mid-1970s. A significant reduction in winter rainfall has been observed with a greater number of extreme rainfall events in the summer,[87] such as the slow-moving storms on 8 February 1992 that brought 120.6 millimetres (4.75in) of rain,[84][85] heavy rainfall associated with a tropical low on 10 February 2017, which brought 114.4 millimetres (4.50in) of rain,[88] and the remnants of ex-Tropical Cyclone Joyce on 15 January 2018 with 96.2 millimetres (3.79in).[89] Perth was also hit by a severe thunderstorm on 22 March 2010, which brought 40.2mm (1.58in) of rain, and large hail and caused significant damage in the metropolitan area.[90]
The average sea temperature ranges from 18.9°C (66.0°F) in October to 23.4°C (74.1°F) in March.[91]
Source: Bureau of Meteorology[92] Temperatures: 1993–2023; Rainfall: 1993–2023; Relative humidity: 1994–2011
Isolation
With more than two million residents, Perth is one of the most isolated major cities in the world. The nearest city with a population of more than 100,000 is Adelaide, over 2,100km (1,305mi) away.[93] Perth is geographically closer to both East Timor (2,800km or 1,700mi), and Jakarta, Indonesia (3,000km or 1,900mi), than to Sydney (3,300km or 2,100mi).[93]
Demographics
Perth population density by mesh blocks (MB), according to the 2016 census
Perth is Australia's fourth-most-populous city, having overtaken Adelaide in 1984.[97] In June 2023 there was an estimated resident population of 2,309,338 in the Greater Perth area, representing an increase of approximately 3.6% from the 2022 estimate of 2,228,020, the highest growth rate of Australia's capital cities.[1]
Perth's population is notable for the high proportion of British- and Irish-born residents. At the 2021 Census, 169,938 England-born Perth residents were counted,[98] ahead of even Sydney (151,614),[100] despite the latter having well over twice the population.
Russell Square, Northbridge – historically the favoured meeting place of the Italian community of "Little Italy"
The ethnic make-up of Perth changed in the second part of the 20th century when significant numbers of continental European immigrants arrived in the city. Prior to this, Perth's population had been almost completely Anglo-Celtic in ethnic origin. As Fremantle was the first landfall in Australia for many migrant ships coming from Europe in the 1950s and 1960s, Perth started to experience a diverse influx of people, including Italians, Greeks, Dutch, Germans, Turks, Croats, and Macedonians. The Italian influence in the Perth and Fremantle area has been substantial, evident in places like the "Cappuccino strip" in Fremantle featuring many Italian eateries and shops. In Fremantle, the traditional Italian blessing of the fleet festival is held every year at the start of the fishing season. In Northbridge every December is the San Nicola (Saint Nicholas) Festival, which involves a pageant followed by a concert, predominantly in Italian. Suburbs surrounding the Fremantle area, such as Spearwood and Hamilton Hill, also contain high concentrations of Italians, Croatians, and Portuguese. Perth has also been home to a small Jewish community since 1829[102]– numbering 5,082 in 2006 – who have emigrated primarily from Eastern Europe and more recently from South Africa.
A more recent wave of arrivals includes White South Africans. South Africans overtook those born in Italy as the fourth-largest foreign group in 2001. By 2016, there were 35,262 South Africans residing in Perth.[103] Many Afrikaners and Anglo-Africans emigrated to Perth during the 1980s and 1990s, with the phrase "packing for Perth" becoming associated with South Africans who choose to emigrate abroad, sometimes regardless of the destination.[104][105] As a result, the city has been described as "the Australian capital of South Africans in exile".[106] The reason for Perth's popularity among white South Africans has often been attributed to the location, the vast amount of land, and the slightly warmer climate compared to other large Australian cities– Perth has a Mediterranean climate reminiscent of Cape Town.
Since the end of the White Australia policy in 1973, Asia has become an increasingly significant source of migrants, with communities from Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and India all now well-established. There were 112,293 persons of Chinese descent in Perth in 2016– 5.3% of the city's population.[98] These are supported by the Australian Eurasian Association of Western Australia,[107] which also serves a community of Portuguese-Malacca Eurasian or Kristang immigrants.[108]
The Indian community includes a substantial number of Parsees who emigrated from Bombay– Perth being the closest Australian city to India– in 2021 those with Indian ancestry accounted for 3.5% of Perth's population[98] Perth is also home to the largest population of Anglo-Burmese in the world; many settled here following the independence of Burma in 1948 with immigration taking off after 1962. The city is now the cultural hub for Anglo-Burmese worldwide.[109] There is also a substantial Anglo-Indian population in Perth, who also settled in the city following the independence of India.
At the 2021 census, 74% of inhabitants spoke only English at home, with the next most common languages being Mandarin (2.3%), Italian (1.1%), Vietnamese (1.0%), Punjabi (0.9%) and Cantonese (0.9%).[110]
41.8% of the 2021 census respondents in Perth had no religion,[110] as against 38.4% of national population.[110] In 1911, the national figure was 0.4%.[111]
Perth is represented by 10 full seats and significant parts of three others in the Federal House of Representatives, with the seats of Canning, Pearce, and Brand including some areas outside the metropolitan area.
By virtue of its population and role as the administrative centre for business and government, Perth dominates the Western Australian economy, despite the major mining, petroleum, and agricultural export industries being located elsewhere in the state.[132] Perth's function as the state's capital city, its economic base and population size have also created development opportunities for many other businesses oriented to local or more diversified markets. Perth's economy has been changing in favour of the service industries since the 1950s. Although one of the major sets of services it provides is related to the resources industry and, to a lesser extent, agriculture, most people in Perth are not connected to either; they have jobs that provide services to other people in Perth.[133]
As a result of Perth's relative geographical isolation, it has never had the necessary conditions to develop significant manufacturing industries other than those serving the immediate needs of its residents, mining, agriculture and some specialised areas, such as, in recent times, niche shipbuilding and maintenance. It was simply cheaper to import all the needed manufactured goods from either the eastern states or overseas.
Industrial employment influenced the economic geography of Perth. After WWII, Perth experienced suburban expansion aided by high levels of car ownership. Workforce decentralisation and transport improvements made it possible for the establishment of small-scale manufacturing in the suburbs. Many firms took advantage of relatively cheap land to build spacious, single-storey plants in suburban locations with plentiful parking, easy access and minimal traffic congestion. "The former close ties of manufacturing with near-central and/or rail-side locations were loosened."[132]
Industrial estates such as Kwinana, Welshpool and Kewdale were post-war additions contributing to the growth of manufacturing south of the river. The establishment of the Kwinana industrial area was supported by standardisation of the east–west rail gauge linking Perth with eastern Australia. Since the 1950s the area has been dominated by heavy industry, including an oil refinery, steel-rolling mill with a blast furnace, alumina refinery, power station, and a nickel refinery. Another development, also linked with rail standardisation, was in 1968 when the Kewdale Freight Terminal was developed adjacent to the Welshpool industrial area, replacing the former Perth railway yards.[132]
With significant population growth post-WWII,[134] employment growth occurred not in manufacturing but in retail and wholesale trade, business services, health, education, community and personal services, and in public administration. Increasingly it was these services sectors, concentrated around the Perth metropolitan area, that provided jobs.[132]
Perth has also become a hub of technology-focused startups since the early 2000s that provide a pool of highly skilled jobs to the Perth community. Companies such as Appbot, Agworld, Touchgram, and Healthengine all hail from Perth and have made headlines internationally. Programs like StartupWA and incubators such as Spacecubed and Vocus Upstart are all focused on creating a thriving startup culture in Perth and growing the next generation of Perth-based employers.[135]
Education is compulsory in Western Australia between the ages of six and seventeen, corresponding to primary and secondary school.[136] Tertiary education is available through several universities and technical and further education (TAFE) colleges.
Students may attend either public schools, run by the state government's Department of Education, or private schools, usually associated with a religion, or engage in home schooling.
The University of Western Australia, which was founded in 1911,[139] is renowned as one of Australia's leading research institutions.[140] The university's monumental neo-classical architecture, most of which is carved from white limestone, is a notable tourist destination in the city. It is the only university in the state to be a member of the Group of Eight, as well as the Sandstone universities. It is also the state's only university to have produced a Nobel Laureate:[141]Barry Marshall, who graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery in 1975 and was awarded a joint Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2005 with Robin Warren.
Curtin University, previously known as Western Australian Institute of Technology (1966–1986) and Curtin University of Technology (1986–2010), is Western Australia's largest university by student population.[142]
Murdoch University was founded in 1973 and incorporates Western Australia's only veterinary school and, until its controversial closure in 2020, Australia's only theology program to be completely integrated into a secular university.
The University of Notre Dame Australia was established in 1990. Notre Dame was established as a Catholic university with its lead campus in Fremantle and a large campus in Sydney, and a campus in Broome. Its lead campus is in the west end of Fremantle, using historic port buildings built in the 1890s, giving Notre Dame a distinct European university atmosphere.
Radio stations are on AM, FM and DAB+ frequencies. ABC stations include ABC News (585AM), 720 ABC Perth, Radio National (810AM), Classic FM (97.7FM) and Triple J (99.3FM). The six local commercial stations are 882 6PR and 1080 6IX on AM; Triple M Perth (92.9FM), Nova 93.7, Mix94.5, and 96FM on FM. DAB+ has mostly the same as both AM and FM plus national stations from the ABC/SBS, Radar Radio and Novanation, along with local stations My Perth Digital, Hot Country Perth, and 98five Christian radio. Major community radio stations include RTRFM (92.1FM), Sonshine FM (98.5FM),[143] SportFM (91.3FM)[144] and Curtin FM (100.1FM).[145]
Television
Perth is served by thirty digital free-to-air television channels:
ABC, SBS, Seven, Nine and 10 were also broadcast in an analogue format until 16 April 2013, when the analogue transmission was switched off.[146] Community station Access 31 closed in August 2008. In April 2010 a new community station, West TV, began transmission (in digital format only). West TV ceased broadcasting in February 2020.
Scene from the inauguration of the 2015 Perth Festival, Australia's oldest continuously-running cultural festival
A number of cultural events are held in Perth. Held annually since 1953, Perth Festival is Australia's longest running annual cultural festival and includes the Perth Writers Festival and the Winter Arts Festival. The Fringe World Festival has been held annually across January and February in Perth since 2012.[148] Perth also hosts annual music festivals including Listen Out, Origin and St Jerome's Laneway Festival. The Perth International Comedy Festival features a variety of local and international comedic talent, with performances held at the Astor Theatre and nearby venues in Mount Lawley. Regular night food market events are held during the summer months throughout the Perth CBD and surrounding suburbs. Sculpture by the Sea showcases a range of local and international sculptors' creations along Cottesloe Beach. There is also a wide variety of public art and sculptures on permanent display across the city.
Due to Perth's relative isolation from other Australian cities, overseas performing artists sometimes exclude it from their Australian tour schedules. This isolation, however, has helped foster a strong local music scene, with many local music groups. Famous musical performers from Perth include the late AC/DC frontman Bon Scott, whose heritage-listed grave at Fremantle Cemetery is reportedly the most visited grave in Australia.[169] Perth-born performer and artist Rolf Harris became known by the nickname "The Boy From Bassendean".[170] Further notable music acts from Perth include The Triffids,[171]The Scientists,[172]The Drones,[173]Tame Impala,[174] and Karnivool.[175]
Perth has inspired various artistic and cultural works. John Boyle O'Reilly, a Fenian convict transported to Western Australia, published Moondyne in 1879, the most famous early novel about the Swan River Colony. Perth is also the setting for various works by novelist Tim Winton, most notably Cloudstreet (1991). Songs that refer to the city include "I Love Perth" (1996) by Pavement, "Perth" (2011) by Bon Iver, and "Perth" (2015) by Beirut. Films shot or set in Perth include Japanese Story (2003), These Final Hours (2013), Kill Me Three Times (2014) and Paper Planes (2015).
Tourism is an important part of Perth's economy, with approximately 2.8 million domestic visitors and 0.7 million international visitors in the year ending March 2012.[176] Tourist attractions are generally focused around the city centre, Fremantle, the coast, and the Swan River. In addition to the Perth Cultural Centre, there are dozens of museums across the city. The Scitech Discovery Centre in West Perth is an interactive science museum, with regularly changing exhibitions on a large range of science and technology-based subjects. Scitech also conducts live science demonstration shows and operates the adjacent Horizon planetarium. The Western Australian Maritime Museum in Fremantle displays maritime objects from all eras. It houses Australia II, the yacht that won the 1983 America's Cup, as well as a former Royal Australian Navy submarine. Also in Fremantle is the Army Museum of Western Australia, situated within a historic artillery barracks. The museum consists of several galleries that reflect the Army's involvement in Western Australia and the military service of Western Australians.[177] The museum holds numerous items of significance, including three Victoria Crosses.[178] Aviation history is represented by the Aviation Heritage Museum in Bull Creek, with its significant collection of aircraft, including a Lancaster bomber and a Catalina of the type operated from the Swan River during WWII.[179]
There are many heritage sites in Perth's CBD, Fremantle, and other parts of the metropolitan areas. Some of the oldest remaining buildings, dating back to the 1830s, include the Round House in Fremantle, the Old Mill in South Perth, and the Old Court House in the city centre. Registers of important buildings are maintained by the Heritage Council of Western Australia and local governments. A late heritage building is the Perth Mint.[180]Yagan Square connects Northbridge and the Perth CBD, with a 45-metre-high digital tower and the 9-metre statue "Wirin" designed by Noongar artist Tjyllyungoo. Elizabeth Quay is also a notable attraction in Perth, featuring Swan Bells, a panoramic view of Swan River, and the sculpture Spanda by artist Christian de Vietri.
Forrest Place, a major pedestrian thoroughfare
Retail shopping in the Perth CBD is focused around Murray Street and Hay Street. Both these streets are pedestrian malls between William Street and Barrack Street. Forrest Place is another pedestrian mall, connecting the Murray Street mall to Wellington Street and the Perth railway station. A number of arcades run between Hay Street and Murray Street, including the Piccadilly Arcade, which housed the Piccadilly Cinema until it closed in late 2013. Other shopping precincts include Watertown in West Perth, featuring factory outlets for major brands, the historically significant Fremantle Markets, which date to 1897, and the Midland townsite on Great Eastern Highway, combining historic development around the Town Hall and Post Office buildings with the modern Midland Gate shopping centre further east. Joondalup's central business district is largely a shopping and retail area lined with townhouses and apartments, and also features Lakeside Joondalup. Joondalup was granted the status of "tourism precinct" by the State Government in 2009, allowing for extended retail trading hours.
The Swan Valley, with fertile soil, uncommon in the Perth region, features numerous wineries, such as the large complex at Houghtons, the state's biggest producer, Sandalfords and many smaller operators, including microbreweries and rum distilleries. The Swan Valley also contains specialised food producers, many restaurants and cafes, and roadside local produce stalls that sell seasonal fruit throughout the year. Tourist Drive 203 is a circular route in the Swan Valley, passing by many attractions on West Swan Road and Great Northern Highway.
Kings Park, in central Perth between the CBD and the University of Western Australia, is one of the world's largest inner-city parks,[181] at 400.6 hectares (990 acres).[182] It has many landmarks and attractions, including the State War Memorial Precinct on Mount Eliza, Western Australian Botanic Garden, and children's playgrounds. Other features include DNA Tower, a 15m (49ft) high double helix staircase that resembles the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecule,[183] and Jacob's Ladder, comprising 242 steps that lead down to Mounts Bay Road.
Hyde Park is another inner-city park 2km (1.2mi) north of the CBD. It was gazetted as a public park in 1897, created from 15ha (37 acres) of a chain of wetlands known as Third Swamp.[184]Avon Valley, John Forrest and Yanchep national parks are areas of protected bushland at the northern and eastern edges of the metropolitan area. Within the city's northern suburbs is Whiteman Park, a 4,000-hectare (9,900-acre) bushland area, with bushwalking trails, bike paths, sports facilities, playgrounds, a vintage tramway, a light railway on a 6-kilometre (3.7mi) track, motor and tractor museums, and Caversham Wildlife Park.
Perth Zoo, in South Perth, houses a variety of Australian and exotic animals from around the globe. The zoo is home to highly successful breeding programs for orangutans and giraffes, and participates in captive breeding and reintroduction efforts for a number of Western Australian species, including the numbat, the dibbler, the chuditch, and the western swamp tortoise.[185]
The climate of Perth allows for extensive outdoor sporting activity, and this is reflected in the wide variety of sports available to residents of the city. Perth was host to the 1962 Commonwealth Games and the 1987 America's Cup defence (based at Fremantle). Australian rules football is the most popular spectator sport in Perth– nearly 23% of Western Australians attended a match at least once in 2009–2010.[186] The two Australian Football League teams located in Perth, the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Football Club, have two of the largest fan bases in the country. The Eagles, the older club, was until recently, one of the most successful teams in the league, and one of the largest sporting clubs in Australia. The next level of football is the Western Australian Football League, comprising nine clubs each having a League, Reserves, and Colts team. Each of these clubs has a junior football system for ages 7 to 17. The next level of Australian rules football is the Perth Football League, comprising 68 clubs servicing senior footballers within the metropolitan area. Other popular sports include cricket, basketball, soccer, rugby league, and rugby union.[187]
Perth is served by Perth Airport in the city's east for regional, domestic and international flights and Jandakot Airport in the city's southern suburbs for general aviation and charter flights.
Perth has a road network with three freeways—Mitchell, Kwinana and Graham Farmer—and nine metropolitan highways. The Northbridge Tunnel, part of the Graham Farmer Freeway, is the only significant road tunnel in Perth.
Rail freight terminates at the Kewdale Rail Terminal, 15km (9mi) south-east of the city centre.
Perth's main container and passenger port is at Fremantle, 19km (12mi) south west at the mouth of the Swan River.[192] The Fremantle Outer Harbour at Cockburn Sound is one of Australia's major bulk cargo ports.[193]
Perth's electricity is predominantly generated, supplied, and retailed by three Western Australian Government corporations. Verve Energy operates coal and gas power generation stations, as well as wind farms and other power sources.[194] The physical network is maintained by Western Power,[195] while Synergy, the state's largest energy retailer, sells electricity to residential and business customers.[196]
Alinta Energy, which was previously a government owned company, had a monopoly in the domestic gas market since the 1990s. However, in 2013 Kleenheat Gas began operating in the market, allowing consumers to choose their gas retailer.[197]
The Water Corporation is the dominant supplier of water, as well as wastewater and drainage services, in Perth and throughout Western Australia. It is also owned by the state government.[198]
Perth's water supply has traditionally relied on both groundwater and rain-fed dams. Reduced rainfall in the region over recent decades had greatly lowered inflow to reservoirs and affected groundwater levels. Coupled with the city's relatively high growth rate, this led to concerns that Perth could run out of water in the near future.[199] The Western Australian Government responded by building desalination plants, and introducing mandatory household sprinkler restrictions. The Kwinana Desalination Plant was opened in 2006,[200][201] and Southern Seawater Desalination Plant at Binningup (on the coast between Mandurah and Bunbury) began operating in 2011. A trial winter (1 June– 31 August) sprinkler ban was introduced in 2009 by the State Government, a move which the Government later announced would be made permanent.[202]
↑ The city most commonly referred to as the "City of Light" is Paris. However, over 30 other cities also carry the label in various forms.
↑ In accordance with the Australian Bureau of Statistics source, England, Scotland, Mainland China and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau are listed separately.
↑ The Australian Bureau of Statistics has stated that most who nominate Australian as their ancestry are part of the Anglo-Celtic group.[99]
↑ Those who nominated their ancestry as Aboriginal. Does not include Torres Strait Islanders. This relates to nomination of ancestry and is distinct from persons who identify as Indigenous (Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander) which is a separate question.
↑ Indigenous identification is separate to the ancestry question on the Australian Census and persons identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander may identify any ancestry.
Related Research Articles
The Swan River is a major river in the southwest of Western Australia. The river runs through the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia's capital and largest city.
Fremantle is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for Fremantle is Freo.
Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, 418 kilometres (260 mi) southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a part of King George Sound. The central business district is bounded by Mount Clarence to the east and Mount Melville to the west. The city is in the local government area of the City of Albany. While it is the oldest colonial, although not European, settlement in Western Australia — predating Perth and Fremantle by over two years — it was a semi-exclave of New South Wales for over four years until it was made part of the Swan River Colony.
Mandurah is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately 72 kilometres (45 mi) south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 90,306.
The Noongar are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast. There are 14 different groups in the Noongar cultural bloc: Amangu, Ballardong, Yued, Kaneang, Koreng, Mineng, Njakinjaki, Njunga, Pibelmen, Pindjarup, Wadandi, Whadjuk, Wiilman and Wudjari. The Noongar people refer to their land as Noongar boodja.
Heirisson Island is an island in the Swan River in Western Australia at the eastern end of Perth Water, between the suburbs of East Perth and Victoria Park. It occupies an area of 285,600 square metres, and is connected to the two foreshores by The Causeway and the under-construction Boorloo Bridge. The next upstream island is Kuljak Island, then Ron Courtney Island, with no islands in the Swan River downstream between Heirisson Island and the Indian Ocean other than the artificial islet in Elizabeth Quay.
Subiaco is an inner-western suburb of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) west of Perth's central business district, in the City of Subiaco local government area. Historically a working-class suburb containing a mixture of industrial and commercial land uses, since the 1990s the area has been one of Australia's most celebrated urban redevelopment projects. It remains a predominantly low-rise, urban village neighbourhood centred around Subiaco train station and Rokeby Road.
The Town of Victoria Park is a local government area of Western Australia. It covers an area of 17.62 km² in metropolitan Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It had a population of approximately 35,000 as at the 2016 census.
Coolbellup is a suburb in Perth, Western Australia, located 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of the central business district within the local government area of the City of Cockburn.
Bedford is a suburb 6 kilometres (4 mi) north-east of the central business district (CBD) of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. Named after Frederick Bedford, the Governor of Western Australia from 1903 to 1909, the suburb is within the City of Bayswater local government area. It is predominantly a low density residential suburb consisting of single-family detached homes, with clusters of commercial buildings along Beaufort Street, Grand Promenade and Walter Road.
Beeliar is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Cockburn. The name refers to the Beeliar people, a group of Aboriginal Australians who had land rights over the southern half of Perth's metropolitan area. The suburb contains the Thomsons Lake Nature Reserve.
Jolimont is a small western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Subiaco, although a small portion of the suburb is administered by the Town of Cambridge west of the CBD. The suburb is believed to be named after the Melbourne suburb of Jolimont, which was in turn named after "Jolimont" - the residence of Governor La Trobe. Its postcode is 6014.
Daglish is a small western suburb of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) west of the Perth central business district, and within the City of Subiaco local government area. It was named after Henry Daglish, who was the mayor of Subiaco, member for the electoral district of Subiaco and premier of Western Australia from 1904 to 1905. The Daglish railway station opened in 1924 in response to population growth in the neighbouring suburb of Subiaco. The following year, the Municipality of Subiaco bought the land west of the railway station to sell for housing. Development occurred over the following 20 years. The initial development next to the railway station used the garden suburb principles, with large lots and gardens, curved streets, and lots of green space. Today, the suburb has significant heritage value due to its uniform streetscape, with most original homes still standing. It has a population of 1,419 as of the 2016 Australian census.
Roe Highway is a 35-kilometre-long (22 mi) limited-access highway and partial freeway in Perth, Western Australia, linking Kewdale with the city's north-eastern and south-western suburbs. The northern terminus is at Reid Highway and Great Northern Highway in Middle Swan, and the southern terminus is with Murdoch Drive at the Kwinana Freeway interchange in Bibra Lake. Roe Highway, in addition to Reid Highway, form State Route 3, a partial ring road around the outer suburbs of the Perth metropolitan area. Roe Highway also forms part of National Highway 94 from Great Eastern Highway Bypass to Great Eastern Highway, and National Highway 95 from Great Eastern Highway to Great Northern Highway.
The City of Perth is a local government area and body, within the Perth metropolitan area, which is the capital of Western Australia. The local government is commonly known as Perth City Council. The City covers the Perth city centre and surrounding suburbs. The City covers an area of 20.01 square kilometres (8 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 21,092 as at 30 June 2015. On 1 July 2016 the City expanded, absorbing 1,247 residents from the City of Subiaco.
Whadjuk, alternatively Witjari, are Noongar people of the Western Australian region of the Perth bioregion of the Swan Coastal Plain.
Perth is the capital city of Western Australia. It was established by Britain as the Swan River Colony in 1829. The area had been explored by Europeans as early as 1697, and occupied by the Indigenous Whadjuk Noongar people for millennia.
The Western Australian economy is a state economy dominated by its resources and services sector and largely driven by the export of iron-ore, gold, liquefied natural gas and agricultural commodities such as wheat. Covering an area of 2.5 million km2, the state is Australia's largest, accounting for almost one-third of the continent. Western Australia is the nation's fourth most populous state, with 2.6 million inhabitants.
Victoria Park is an inner suburb of Perth, the capital of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is located on the Swan River south-east of East Perth, and is linked to East Perth and the Perth central business district via The Causeway, which crosses Heirisson Island.
Northbridge is an inner city suburb of Perth, Western Australia, historically separated from Perth's central business district by the Fremantle and Joondalup railway lines. It is part of the City of Perth local government area.
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↑ (1970) Perth– a city of light Perth, W.A. Brian Williams Productions for the Government of WA, 1970 (Video recording) The social and recreational life of Perth. Begins with a 'mock-up' of the lights of Perth as seen by astronaut John Glenn in February 1962
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↑ Department of Culture and the Arts. "His Majesty's Theatre". Government of Western Australia. Archived from the original on 10 July 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
↑ National Health Performance Authority. "Hospitals in Perth". My Hospitals. Commonwealth of Australia. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
↑ Dortch, Eloise (7 May 2005). "Plan for a second desalination plant". The West Australian. West Australian Newspapers Ltd. p.1. A document dated 12 January obtained by The West Australian under Freedom of Information laws shows that the Water Corporation fears Perth will begin running out of water by late 2008 without one of the two developments.
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Fforde, Cressida (2002). "Chapter 18: Yagan". In Fforde, Cressida; Hubert, Jane; Turnbull, Paul (eds.). The Dead and Their Possessions: Repatriation in Principle, Policy, and Practice. Routledge. pp.229–241. ISBN0-415-23385-2.
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