The eastern states of Australia are the states adjoining the east coast of Australia. These are the mainland states of Victoria, Queensland, and New South Wales; the Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay Territory, while not states, are also included. The term usually includes the island state of Tasmania. On some occasions, the state of South Australia is included in this grouping. Similar terms include East Coast and Eastern Seaboard.
Regardless of which definition is used, the eastern states include the majority â€" around 80% â€"of the Australian population, the federal capital, Canberra, and the three largest cities: Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. It also includes the Gold Coast, Queensland, Newcastle, New South Wales and Wollongong, New South Wales as the three largest non-capital cities in the country. In terms of climate, the area is dominated by a humid subtropical zone, with some tropical (Queensland) and oceanic climate (Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, New South Wales) zones.
Politicians and newspapers from Western Australia frequently use the term(s) to emphasise the "them and us" attitude with respect to the state's isolation from the rest of the country.
Cities
From north to south:
- Cairns
- Townsville
- Mackay
- Rockhampton
- Bundaberg
- Sunshine Coast
- Brisbane
- Toowoomba
- Gold Coast
- Lismore
- Byron Bay
- Ballina
- Grafton
- Coffs Harbour
- Port Macquarie
- Newcastle
- Gosford (Central Coast)
- Sydney
- Wollongong
- Nowra
- Canberra
- Batemans Bay
- Bendigo
- Ballarat
- Melbourne
- Geelong
- Launceston
- Hobart
See also
- Australian regional rivalries
- Secessionism in Western Australia
- Southern Australia
- Northern Australia
Further reading
- Doenges, Debra and Andrew Teakle.(2008) Australian journey : east coast Sydney : New Holland Publishers Australia. ISBN 978-1-74110-628-2