Territory of Australia

Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory is a territory of Australia. It covers about 2,350 km² (907 mi²), the 8th largest of the 8 states and territories in Natural Earth’s file for Australia, and 90% of the size of Luxembourg. About 482,000 people live there (Wikidata, 2024).

In area0.90×the size ofLuxembourg2,610 km² In people1.05×as many people asBrunei459,000

20 km

Luxembourg
Australian Capital Territory

Facts

Area, measured	2,350 km²907 mi²
Official area	2,360 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure
Share of Australia	less than 0.1%of the area of the 8 states and territories
Rank by area	8th of 8states and territories of Australia
Population	482,000Wikidata, 2024
Density	205 people per km²
Capital	Canberra
Latitude range	36°S to 35°S
Type	TerritoryAU-ACT

What the numbers say about Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory covers less than 0.1% of the area of Australia and ranks 7th of 8 by population, against 8th by area.
It would take 3,274 states and territories the size of Australian Capital Territory to cover Australia.
The largest, Western Australia, is 1,076× the size of Australian Capital Territory, the smallest of the 8.
Closest in size within Australia: Tasmania (Australia) (68,100 km², 29.0×) and Victoria (228,000 km², 97.0×).
Counted as a country, Australian Capital Territory would be larger than 59 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 181st by area, between Luxembourg (2,610 km²) and Mauritius (2,000 km²).
With 482,000 people it would rank 174th of 238 by population.
Australian Capital Territory has 205 people per km², about the density of Nepal, which has 198 per km².
That makes Australian Capital Territory the most densely populated of the 8 states and territories, 57.6× the average for Australia (3.6 per km²).
Australian Capital Territory has 1,055× the density of Northern Territory, the least crowded of the 8: 205 against 0.2 people per km².
On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 35°S is drawn about 1.5× too large in area, so Australian Capital Territory looks bigger there than it is.
Laid out flat, Australian Capital Territory stretches about 87 km north to south and 57 km east to west.
Wikidata's official figure of 2,360 km² agrees with our measured area of 2,350 km², to within 2%.
Australian Capital Territory is small enough that Natural Earth draws it from only 52 points. Take its shape as a sketch and the official figure as the firmer number.

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.

United StatesAreaRhode Island83% · 2,830 km² PeopleWyoming84% · 577,000 (2020)
IndiaAreaGoa69% · 3,420 km² PeopleDadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu82% · 586,000 (2011)
GermanyAreaSaarland89% · 2,650 km² PeopleBremen69% · 693,000 (2022)
FranceAreaRéunion (France)0.91× · 2,580 km² PeopleGuadeloupe1.26× · 384,000 (2022)
ItalyAreaAosta Valley71% · 3,300 km² PeopleBasilicata86% · 563,000 (2019)
SpainAreanone within 2×PeopleCantabria81% · 592,000 (2024)
JapanAreaKanagawa0.99× · 2,380 km² PeopleTottori88% · 550,000 (2021)
BrazilAreanone within 2×PeopleRoraima76% · 637,000 (2022)
CanadaAreanone within 2×PeopleNewfoundland and Labrador0.94× · 511,000 (2021)
MexicoAreaTlaxcala61% · 3,870 km² PeopleBaja California Sur76% · 637,000 (2010)
ThailandAreaChai Nat0.95× · 2,480 km² PeoplePhetchaburi1.00× · 482,000 (2020)

Where Australian Capital Territory sits in Australia

All 8 drawn on one equal-area map, so sizes are comparable. Select another to open it.

Ranked within Australia

All 8 states and territories of Australia, matched to countries

Compare Australian Capital Territory

Sources and method

Outline: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
Official figures: Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
Population: Wikidata, 2024. Australia’s units share the 2024 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
Matching: Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
Data built: 2026-11-12

Full method