Traditional Owners

The original inhabitants of the Perth Metropolitan Area were the Noongar Aboriginal people.

Settlement history

European settlement of the area dates from 1829 when the Swan River Colony was established by the British Government, with land used largely for sheep grazing and wheat growing. Several townships were established in the mid 1800s. Land then became used mainly for market gardening, timber-cutting, quarrying, dairy farming and orcharding. Population was minimal until the 1880s, with growth during the late 1800s and early 1900s spurred by the discovery of gold in Western Australia, the construction of railway lines and the subdivision of land. Significant residential and industrial development occurred from the post-war years, aided by immigration and the construction of public housing. Rapid growth took place in most areas from the 1960s into the 1980s, although the inner city population declined during this period. The population continued to increase steadily from the 1990s. Growth is expected to continue.

Land use

The Perth Metropolitan Area encompasses residential, rural-residential and rural areas, with some commercial, industrial and maritime land use. The Perth Metropolitan Area encompasses a total land area of over 6,300 square kilometres. Much of the rural land is used for orcharding, grazing, market gardening, hobby farming, quarrying and forestry, with some viticulture.

Transport

The Perth Metropolitan Area is served by the Graham Farmer, Kwinana and Mitchell Freeways, the Albany, Brookton, Canning, Forrest, Great Eastern, Great Northern, Great Southern, Leach, Reid, Roe, South Western, Stirling, Tonkin and West Coast Highways, Perth Airport, Jandakot Airport, the Port of Fremantle and numerous trains, buses and ferries.

Major features

• Major features of the Perth Metropolitan Area include the Perth CBD,
• numerous shopping centres,
• various National Parks (Avon Valley,
• Gooseberry Hill,
• Greenmount,
• John Forrest,
• Kalamunda,
• Lesmurdie Falls,
• Neerabup,
• Serpentine,
• Walyunga,
• Yalgorup and Yanchep),
• Shoalwater Islands Marine Park,
• Shoalwater Islands,
• Rottnest Island,
• North Metropolitan TAFE,
• South Metropolitan TAFE,
• Curtin University,
• Edith Cowan University,
• Murdoch University,
• The University of Notre Dame Australia,
• The University of Western Australia,
• Western Australian Institute of Sport,
• Australian Institute for University Studies,
• Fremantle Hospital,
• King Edward Memorial Hospital,
• Perth Children’s Hospital,
• Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre,
• Royal Perth Hospital,
• Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital,
• South Perth Hospital,
• Peel Health Campus,
• Cockburn Power Station,
• Kwinana Alumina Refinery,
• Pinjarra Alumina Refinery,
• BP Oil Kwinana Refinery,
• Casuarina Prison,
• HMAS Stirling,
• Pearce RAAF Base,
• Irwing and Campbell Barracks,
• Palmer Barracks,
• The Perth Mint,
• Perth Observatory,
• Perth Zoo,
• Scitech Discovery Centre,
• The Aquarium of Western Australia,
• Hyde Park,
• Kings Park,
• Optus Stadium,
• The WACA Ground,
• numerous lakes,
• dams and reservoirs (including Canning Reservoir,
• Churchman Brook Reservoir,
• Forrestdale Lake,
• Lake Cooloongup,
• Lake Joondalup,
• Lake Walyungup,
• Mundaring Weir,
• Serpentine Dam,
• Thomsons Lake,
• Victoria Reservoir and Wungong Reservoir),
• The Indian Ocean,
• The Swan River,
• several state forests,
• various beaches and numerous wineries.

Included areas