Western Australia is Australia's largest state in terms of area and the state covers the majority of the Western mainland. It is bordered by South Australia and the Northern Territory. Settlement in Western Australia started with the establishment of a military outpost in Albany in 1826, but the colonial headquarters was later moved to Perth. Western Australia shares many characteristics with other Australian states, like South Australia, WA was not established as a penal colony, however, like Victoria, WA saw its first population surge as a result of a gold discovery. The discovery was made in the 1890's in the central and southern outback. Mining still plays an important part in the Western Australian economy and the large deposit of gold, iron, alumina and nickel means that Western Australia has the largest per capita output of all the Australian states. In fact, close to 40% of Australia's export revenues are derived from commodities mined in Western Australia. Take advantage of cheap car hire in Perth or cheap car rental in Broome and use these destinations as a base to explore Western Australia.