Perth () is the capital and largest city of the state of Western Australia. It is the fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.2 million in the city and 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The world's most isolated major city by certain criteria, Perth is part of the South West Land Division of Western Australia, with most of Perth's metropolitan area on the Swan Coastal Plain between the Indian Ocean and the Darling Scarp. The city has expanded outward from the original British settlements on the Swan River, upon which its central business district and port of Fremantle are situated.
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 Whadjuk Noongar people, where Aboriginal Australians have lived for at least 48,000 years. Perth was named after the city of Perth in Scotland. Initially established as a free settlement, the colony accepted transported convicts from 1850 to supply labour for public works and construction. Perth was proclaimed as a city by Queen Victoria in 1856. 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. It became Australia's fourth-most populated city in 1984, overtaking Adelaide.
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. Perth is divided into 30 local government areas, comprising over 350 suburbs. The metropolitan contours span from Two Rocks in the north to Singleton in the south, and 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.
Perth is home to many parkland areas and nature reserves, the most-visited being Kings Park and Botanic Garden, one of the world's largest inner-city parks. Other popular natural features include Cottesloe Beach and Rottnest Island. Notable heritage buildings and cultural sites include Perth Mint, WA Museum Boola Bardip and the World Heritage-listed Fremantle Prison. All five of Western Australia's universities are based in Perth. The city is served by Fremantle Harbour and Perth Airport.
Toponymy 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, George Murray. 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". 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".
Similarly to the English name Perth, the Noongar name is sometimes used to denote the Perth central business district area, the City of Perth local government area, or the capital city Perth in general. Use of this term has gained traction in the arts, by Tourism Western Australia (the statutory authority responsible for promoting Western Australia as a tourist destination), the University of Western Australia, Curtin University, the City of Perth, journalists for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and National Geographic, and has been promoted by state politicians such as Roger Cook and two of his ministers, deputy premier Rita Saffioti and John Carey. The name was initially recorded by Robert Menli Lyon as Boorlo in 1833, which was interpreted as "Perth, properly Point Fraser" (a location in what was established in 1954 as East Perth), with the area around Point Fraser traditionally known to the Whadjuk Noongar people as .
History
Prehistory
Archaeological evidence attests to human habitation in the Perth area for at least 48,000 years; according to Noongar tradition, they have occupied the area since "time immemorial". Noongar country encompasses the south-west 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.
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 in their language), also sometimes called the Bibbulmun.
On 19 September 2006, the Federal Court of Australia ruled in the case of Bennell v State of Western Australia FCA 1243 that Noongar native title persisted over Perth metropolitan area. 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. 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. 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.
European exploration
In 1619 the Dutch explorer Frederick de Houtman, sailing in the VOC ship Dordrecht, with Councillor of the Indies Jacob Dedel in the VOC ship Amsterdam, sighted the Australian coast near present-day Perth, which they called Dedelsland. Many more boats followed in the ensuing years (an estimated 54 European ships prior to 1770 from a range of nations).
On 10 January 1697, Dutch Captain Willem de Vlamingh conducted the first documented exploration of the present-day Perth region. His crew initially explored the area on foot, leading them to what is now central Perth. Vlamingh's expedition also ventured far up the Swan River, in search of native inhabitants. They named the river , a reference to the black swans prevalent in the region. After Vlamingh's expedition, 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.
Swan River Colony
Despite the Colony of New South Wales establishing a convict-supported settlement at King George's Sound (called Frederick Town, renamed to Albany upon becoming part of Western Australia) on the south coast of the continent in 1826, responding to rumours of potential French annexation, Perth marked the first comprehensive European settlement in the western portion of the continent 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.
On 4 June 1829, newly arriving British colonists had their first view of the mainland. Captain James Stirling, aboard , noted that the site was "as beautiful as anything of this kind I had ever witnessed". 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. 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), the execution without trial of Whadjuk elder Midgegooroo, the killing of his son Yagan in 1833, and the Pinjarra massacre in 1834.
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.
Convict era and gold rushes
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. Over the next eighteen years, 9,721 convicts arrived in Western Australia aboard 43 ships, outnumbering the approximately 7,300 free settlers.
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:'Western Australia. (From the Argyle's Special Correspondent) IV-Perth' (1870, March 18). The Perth Gazette and West Australian Times, p. 3.
With the discovery of gold at Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie in the late 19th century, Western Australia experienced a mining boom. 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.Abjorensen, Norman; Docherty, James C. Historical Dictionary of Australia. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. , p. 292.
Federation and beyond
After a referendum in 1900, Western Australia joined the Federation of Australia in 1901, and "became a founding state of Australia". 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.
In 1927, Indigenous people were prohibited from entering large swathes of Perth under penalty of imprisonment, a ban that lasted until 1954.