AussiePOD: Aussie Picture Of the Day

Australia consists of 6 states and 2 primary territories. One of the territories is the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which, like the District of Columbia, was set aside by the government to host the nation's capital, Canberra. The second one is the Northern Territory. In 1911, when the government set up the ACT, it also separated the Northern Territory (NT) from South Australia. (In 1926 the NT was temporarily divided into two territories, NT and Central Australia, but they were merged again in 1931.) Australia also has several other territories, including Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, the Coral Sea Islands, and the Australian Antarctic Territory. (We are only going to visit two states: New South Wales and Queensland.)

The key difference between states and territories is that the states originated as separate British colonies prior to Federation (in 1901). The Australian Parliament has powers to legislate in the territories that it does not possess in the states. (The 6 states and 2 primary territories all have representatives in the Parliament's two governing bodies: the Senate and the House of Representatives.)

Note that the Northern Territories and Western Australia have amazingly few people! (The US has 32.3 people per square kilometer; California has 83.9.) The few people who do live in NT are called "Territorians!"