Australia Through History: Who Ruled Its Lands

The land of today's Australia appears on 39 historical border maps from 500 BC to today. Over that time it was held, in whole or in part, by 7 different states, among them Australia, Western Australia (UK), Northern Territory (UK), South Australia (UK), New South Wales.

Australia

Explore the history of Australia in the interactive map

Compare 1000 with today · Australia as a state on the map

Who ruled the land of Australia, map by map

Share of sample points inside today's borders held by each state on each map. Areas with no organised state on the map are left out.

Historic cities in Australia

• Sydney
• Melbourne
• Perth
• Hobart

Famous people of Australia

Battles and historic sites

Landmarks

• Sydney Opera HouseStanding · 1973

Questions

Which empires and states ruled the territory of Australia?

On the border maps from 500 BC to today, the largest shares of the territory of modern Australia belonged to Australia, Western Australia (UK), Northern Territory (UK), South Australia (UK), New South Wales, New South Wales (UK), along with 1 other states.

What was Australia part of in 1900?

On the border map for 1900, most of the territory of today's Australia lay within Western Australia (UK).

Further reading

• History of Australia in Encyclopaedia Britannica
• History of Australia on Wikipedia

Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.