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This 'list of Australian cities' by population briefly explains the three different population figures given for Australian cities, and provides rankings for each.

Contents

Capital city Statistical Divisions and Statistical Districts by population

50 largest Urban Centres by population

25 largest Local Government Areas by population

See also

Notes and references

Capital city Statistical Divisions and Statistical Districts by population

Statistical Divisions (SDs) are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as areas under the unifying influence of one or more
major towns or cities. Each capital city forms its own Statistical Division, and in Australia the population of the SD is the most-often quoted figure for that city's population. Statistical Districts are defined as non-capital but predominantly urban areas. The Australian Government treats divisions and districts with more than 100,000 people as metropolitan.^[1]
Statistical Divisions are in bold, the rest are Statistical Districts.

'Rank'	'Statistical Division/District'	'June 2006 census result'
1	'Sydney', New South Wales	4,119,190
2	'Melbourne', Victoria	3,592,591
3	'Brisbane', Queensland	1,763,131
4	'Perth', Western Australia	1,445,078
5	'Adelaide', South Australia	1,105,839
6	Gold Coast-Tweed, Queensland/New South Wales	527,660
7	Newcastle, New South Wales	493,465
8	Canberra-Queanbeyan, Australian Capital Territory/New South Wales	368,129
★	'''Canberra', Australian Capital Territory''[2]	''323,056''
9	Sunshine Coast, Queensland	276,266
10	Wollongong, New South Wales	263,535
11	Greater 'Hobart', Tasmania	200,525
12	Geelong, Victoria	160,991
13	Townsville, Queensland	143,328
14	Cairns, Queensland	122,731
15	Toowoomba, Queensland	114,479
16	'Darwin', Northern Territory	105,991
17	Launceston, Tasmania	99,675
18	Coffs Harbour, New South Wales	97,425
19	Albury-Wodonga, New South Wales/Victoria	96,288
20	Ballarat, Victoria	85,197
21	Bendigo, Victoria	81,939
22	Burnie-Devonport, Tasmania	77,410
23	Latrobe Valley, Victoria (incl. Moe, Morwell, Traralgon)	73,476
24	Mackay, Queensland	72,847
25	Rockhampton, Queensland	68,835
26	Mandurah, Western Australia	67,787
27	Bundaberg, Queensland	59,768
28	Bunbury, Western Australia	54,968
29	Wagga Wagga, New South Wales	52,489
30	Hervey Bay, Queensland	48,157
31	Mildura, Victoria	46,035
32	Shepparton, Victoria	44,599
33	Gladstone, Queensland	42,903
34	Tamworth, New South Wales	42,499
35	Port Macquarie, New South Wales	39,506
36	Orange, New South Wales	35,338
37	Dubbo, New South Wales	34,319
38	Geraldton, Western Australia	31,553
39	Nowra-Bomaderry, New South Wales	30,955
40	Bathurst, New South Wales	30,744
41	Warrnambool, Victoria	30,392
42	Lismore, New South Wales	30,086
43	Kalgoorlie/Boulder, Western Australia	28,242

50 largest Urban Centres by population

Urban Centres are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as being a population cluster of 1,000 or more people. For statistical purposes, people living in Urban Centres are classified as urban. These figures represent the populations of the contiguous built-up areas of each city.
State and territory capitals are in bold.

25 largest Local Government Areas by population

Local Government Areas are the main units of local government in Australia. They may be termed cities, shires, councils or other names, but they all function similarly. Brisbane is the only capital city with one LGA covering a large part of its urban area.
In comparison with these figures, the populations of the other capitals are relatively small. Darwin has 66,291^[5], Melbourne 71,380^[5], Hobart 47,700^[5], Adelaide 16,660^[5], and Perth only 11,573^[5]. Most of these cities have suburban LGAs much larger than the central cities.

See also

★ List of cities in Australia

★ World largest cities

Notes and references

1.
2. Canberra is unique in having a Statistical District as well as a Statistical Division. The Statistical District is larger than the SD, and includes the neighbouring city of Queanbeyan in New South Wales in the population. Only the Statistical District is ranked here.
3.
4. Canberra is technically unincorporated and is not an LGA. All local-level functions are performed by the territory government.
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