What is Western Australia?
[[File:Western Australia in Australia.svg|thumb|right|200px|Western Australia]] [[File:Flag of Western Australia.svg|flag of Western Australia|200px|thumb]] [[File:Coat of arms of Western Australia.svg|thumb|Coat of arms of Western Australia|200px]] '''Western Australia''' is one of the eight [[state]]s and territories of [[Australia]]. It is the largest state in Australia, with about 33% of the land area of the mainland. It has a population of nearly three million people. Over 90% live in the south-west. Its capital city is [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth]]. WA is the second-largest country sub-division in the world, only exceeded by the [[Russia]]n [[Sakha Republic]]. Western Australia federated with the other British colonies in Australia in 1901. Today, Western Australia's economy is mainly [[mining]], [[oil]] and gas, [[Service sector|services]] and construction. The state produces 46% of Australia's exports.<ref>Curran, Enda 2012. Western Australia Plans Sovereign Wealth Fund. The [[Wall Street Journal]].</ref> Western Australia is the largest [[iron ore]] producer in the world.<ref>US Geological Survey. Minerals.usgs.gov. 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2016.</ref> Basically, the mountains in W.A. are made of iron ore which precipitated out of the ocean over three [[billion]] years ago when oxygen entered the atmosphere in large amounts. == Geography == Most of Western Australia (WA) is made of very ancient rocks from the [[Proterozoic]] [[era]]. These rocks include a great deal of [[iron ore]], which is exported to [[Japan]] and elsewhere. Other metals such as [[nickel]], [[copper]], [[lithium]] and [[gold]] are also found in the area. The area was connected to [[India]] and [[Africa]] in the [[Neoproterozoic]] era, and stayed connected until the break-up of [[Gondwana]] about 150 to 50 million years ago (mya). Unfortunately, the soils have low amounts of [[phosphorus]] and [[nitrogen]], and so are not very fertile. == History == === Before 1900 === In 1827, a captain in the British Navy, [[James Stirlin