State of Australia
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of Australia. It covers about 802,000 km² (310,000 mi²), the 5th largest of the 8 states and territories in Natural Earth’s file for Australia, and about the same size as Mozambique. About 8.5 million people live there (Wikidata, 2024).
200 km
- New South Wales
- Mozambique
Facts
| Area, measured | 802,000 km²310,000 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 801,000 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| Share of Australia | 10%of the area of the 8 states and territories |
| Rank by area | 5th of 8states and territories of Australia |
| Population | 8.5 millionWikidata, 2024 |
| Density | 11 people per km² |
| Capital | Sydney |
| Latitude range | 38°S to 28°S |
| Type | StateAU-NSW |
What the numbers say about New South Wales
- New South Wales covers 10% of the area of Australia and ranks 1st of 8 by population, against 5th by area.
- It would take 9.59 states and territories the size of New South Wales to cover Australia.
- The largest, Western Australia, is 3.15× the size of New South Wales; the smallest, Australian Capital Territory, is 0.3% of it.
- Closest in size within Australia: South Australia (984,000 km², 1.23×) and Northern Territory (1,348,000 km², 1.68×).
- Counted as a country, New South Wales would be larger than 204 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 36th by area, between Namibia (823,000 km²) and Mozambique (788,000 km²).
- With 8.5 million people it would rank 100th of 238 by population.
- New South Wales has 11 people per km², about the density of Bolivia, which has 11 per km².
- That makes New South Wales the 3rd most densely populated of the 8 states and territories, 3.00× the average for Australia (3.6 per km²).
- On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 32°S is drawn about 1.4× too large in area, so New South Wales looks bigger there than it is.
- Laid out flat, New South Wales stretches about 1,030 km north to south and 1,230 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 801,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 802,000 km², to within 2%.
About the same size 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.
- ChinaAreaQinghai1.12× · 714,000 km²PeopleHainan85% · 10.1 million (2020)
- United StatesAreaTexas1.17× · 685,000 km²PeopleVirginia0.99× · 8.6 million (2020)
- IndiaAreanone within 2×PeopleUttarakhand85% · 10.1 million (2011)
- GermanyAreanone within 2×PeopleLower Saxony1.08× · 7.9 million (2022)
- FranceAreanone within 2×PeopleAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes1.05× · 8.2 million (2022)
- ItalyAreanone within 2×PeopleLombardy85% · 10.1 million (2019)
- SpainAreanone within 2×PeopleAndalusia0.99× · 8.6 million (2024)
- JapanAreanone within 2×PeopleOsaka0.97× · 8.8 million (2021)
- BrazilAreaMato Grosso89% · 903,000 km²PeopleCeará0.97× · 8.8 million (2022)
- CanadaAreaBritish Columbia85% · 946,000 km²PeopleQuebec1.01× · 8.5 million (2021)
- MexicoAreanone within 2×PeopleMexico City0.96× · 8.9 million (2015)
- ThailandAreanone within 2×PeopleBangkok1.51× · 5.7 million (2018)
Where New South Wales sits in Australia
All 8 drawn on one equal-area map, so sizes are comparable. Select another to open it.
Compare New South Wales
- Quebec vs New South Wales
- New South Wales vs Mozambique
- Namibia vs New South Wales
- New South Wales vs Turkey
- Pakistan vs New South Wales
- New South Wales vs Honduras
- New South Wales vs Austria
- New South Wales vs Switzerland
- New South Wales vs Ukraine
- British Columbia vs New South Wales
- New South Wales vs Qinghai
- Mato Grosso vs New South Wales
- New South Wales vs Texas
- New South Wales vs Virginia
- New South Wales vs Andalusia
- New South Wales vs Alberta
- New South Wales vs Manitoba
- New South Wales vs Saskatchewan
- New South Wales vs Minas Gerais
- New South Wales vs Bahia
- New South Wales vs Sichuan
- New South Wales vs Yukon
- New South Wales vs Heilongjiang
Share this outline
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