Strange Maps

June 3, 2007

130 - A Ten-State Australia

Filed under: 19th Century Map, Australia., Non-Fictional, Political, Proposed — strangemaps @

715px-australia_1838.jpg

The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901. Its constitution provides for the creation of new states, also by subdividing extisting ones. Several proposals have been made to alter Australia’s composition, yet no change has been made since the act of Federation in 1901: Australia still consists of 6 states and two mainland territories (Northern and Capital).

This map, dated 1838, shows an earlier proposal for the subdivision of Australia into 10 states. It was published by the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society in London, and accompanied an article entitled Considerations on the Political Geography and Geographical Nomenclature of Australia. In it, the following divisions were proposed:

• Dampieria: North-western Australia
• Victoria: South-western Australia (far from the present-day state in the South-east)
• Tasmania: part of present-day Western Australia and Northern Territory (not the present-day island/state)
• Nuytsland: near the Nullarbor Plain
• Carpentaria: south of the Gulf of Carpentaria
• Torresia: Northern Queensland
• Cooksland: near Brisbane, in New South Wales and Queensland
• Guelphia: present-day Victoria, most of New South Wales, part of Southern Australia
• Van Diemen’s Land: what is now Tasmania

That strange blob of land south of the Victoria/Nuytsland coast? That’s Portugal and Spain, lifted from their spot between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, twisted around and dropped here, for size comparison purposes.

Map found here on wikipedia.

34 Comments »

  1. Great old map of OZ! Fantastic information found there.

    It looks like it was a near invasion from Spain.

    There was a story on the Sunrise morning show (4/june/07) about turning Queensland (North East State) into two states to better manage and resource the top end of the state. Very good point as that area is where a great deal of mining Coal and other minerals, Sugar cane, the Great Barrier Reef, and 1/2 of the water (rain) that lands on Australia.

    The gentleman Bob Kettering (Apologies if the Surname is wrong), had some very valid points, but the stupid hosts ridiculed him and their only argument was “…then there’ll be more politicians” (Arrogant Ignorance is the worst!) they didn’t have any good questions, nor did they listen and give respect to the speaker. I was disgusted.

    Comment by regan — June 3, 2007 @

  2. What a great way to celebrate WA’s Foundation Day.

    Comment by Dion — June 4, 2007 @

  3. Thank you — two Oz maps today, feel spoilt ;)

    Comment by peoplesgeography — June 4, 2007 @

  4. Dampieria - for Wm. Dampier, pirate/explorer/scientist, I’m sure. Great stuff!

    Comment by dr.hypercube — June 4, 2007 @

  5. wow & thanx for all this

    slightly strange even of yourself

    indeed be multiple & fructify

    have you seen these other strangenesses
    http://flourish.org/upsidedownmap/
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/boundarypointpoint/

    Comment by aletheia kallos — June 4, 2007 @

  6. Had this come through, “Guelphia” would have been the richest state of the federation by far, which would have been a source of even more tension than the current arrangements :) Interesting to see how things could have worked out differently!

    Comment by karan — June 4, 2007 @

  7. Iberia is in it’s correct latitude (albeit in the S hemisphere). So Aus is in a similar latitude to North Africa.

    Comment by John Adams — June 4, 2007 @

  8. Thanks, all!

    @ John Adams:
    Yes, that must be why they chose the Iberian peninsula. Didn’t see that - thanks.

    Comment by strangemaps — June 4, 2007 @

  9. Strange switching about of Tasmania, Van Diemens Land and Victoria etc
    Speculation is easy when a land is empty (of Europeans)

    Comment by lordhutton — June 4, 2007 @

  10. Obviously designed by some-one who knew the size of Australia but not much of the geography. Nuytsland might be equal sized with the others, but it population today would be mid 5 figures, and there’s not much else there either.

    Comment by DancingFool — June 5, 2007 @

  11. Thank you for the note on Iberia’s placement. I was two seconds from finding a current map to figure out how I never knew such a large island existed.

    Comment by Matt — June 6, 2007 @

  12. What a *GREAT* idea for a blog! Getting a lot of traffic too, and well-deserved. Such a nice counterpoint to all the blather about Paris Hilton and co…

    Comment by almostgotit — June 6, 2007 @

  13. OK, I love the blog, but I’m going to be horibly horrible pedantic and point out that Guelphia is made up of Victoria, New South Wales and part of South Australia - there’s no such state as “Southern Australia”.

    OK, rant over :)

    Comment by Purple Wyrm — June 7, 2007 @

  14. Just a little rabbit trail, but what kind of mess would it be to really redraw the lines of the states like that? Seems like the municipal governments would not be so happy about a proposal like that.

    Comment by Jay Wollmann — June 8, 2007 @

  15. Fascinating stuff…

    Karan,

    Isn’t Western Australia the richest state?

    Comment by JD — June 10, 2007 @

  16. Sure WA is the state with the greatest mineral resources, but I reckon the Sydney/Melbourne and environs areas (Guelfia on the map)are where the population, industry, banking, infrastructure, and housing resources are concentrated.

    So it would be true to say [needs your best Oz-accent] “Guelfia is wealthier”.

    Comment by Alan C — June 13, 2007 @

  17. Correct me if I’m wrong - but I’m pretty sure WA has the highest number of millionaires…(in OZ or world? dunno!)

    Comment by Chefleur — June 14, 2007 @

  18. WA’s wealth is directly related to mineral booms in the mining sector. In the 60s, again in the 80s, and again as we speak, when a boom happens WA is the wealthiest state in Australia by far. In the off times WA drops down to about third. Just my 2c!

    Comment by Wampus — June 15, 2007 @

  19. Great site! I’m a South-Western Guelphian and now know how to be parochial and archæic in the one sentence!

    Comment by Dave Bath — June 15, 2007 @

  20. Regan (June 3, 2007) - You were probably listening to Bob Katter, Independent MP, probably the most sensible politician in Australia. That’s why you don’t hear of him much…neither neo-liberal nor neo-conservative, so both ABC and Murdoch ignore him.

    Wonderful site - I am glad I have returned after a break of several months.

    Comment by Robert — June 16, 2007 @

  21. [...] Mon 18 Jun 2007 Origins Posted by mrlynch under australia , links , history  A rather venturesome political division of Australia into ten states, from 1838. [...]

    Pingback by Origins « Nannygoat Hill — June 18, 2007 @

  22. [...] 130 - A Ten-State Australia « strange maps spain? (tags: maps history australia) [...]

    Pingback by links for 2007-06-19 « ryan lerch — June 19, 2007 @

  23. Not only does the map show the relative size of Spain & Portugal, but it is placed in the correct, though inverted, latitude. This gives an interesting illustration of how much nearer the Equator is Australia than Europe. Even Tasmania is no farther South than Northern Spain is north.

    Comment by Phil Smith — June 27, 2007 @

  24. [...] I found this article (above), which was proposed in 1838 to split the new Australia into 10 states.  In any even, an [...]

    Pingback by Strange Maps « Curious Perversions in the UK — June 27, 2007 @

  25. I was born in Madrid, Spain, and now live in South Australia. The climate is very similar.

    Yes, the size comparison is very interesting.

    Comment by John Morales — June 27, 2007 @

  26. Leaves out the New State movement for the New England tableland which has been popping on and off the radar since the 1930’s

    Comment by ginkgo — June 28, 2007 @

  27. You missed out my part of Australia, Flindersville in your list of proposed states. Don’t worry, that is normal.

    Comment by Colin Campbell — June 30, 2007 @

  28. [...] One proposal that never quite made it. This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2007 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Quickhit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [...]

    Pingback by Exasperated Calculator » Blog Archive » Ten states for Australia? — July 17, 2007 @

  29. Your description is not accurate at all.
    The Northern Territory and Federal Capital Territory (renamed in 1938) were created in 1911, the Jervis Bay Territory added to the FCT in 1915, and the Northern Territory briefly split into North Australia and Central Australia (1927-1931).

    Comment by Benjamin — August 15, 2007 @

  30. Estimated populations of the 10 proposed Australian states in 2007:

    1. Dampieria - 0.1 million
    2. Victoria - 2.0 million
    3. Tasmania - 0.2 million
    4. Nuytsland - a few thousand
    5. Carpentaria - 0.1 million
    6. Flindersland - 1.4 million
    7. Torresia - 0.7 million
    8. Cooksland - 4.2 million
    9. Guelphia - 11.8 million
    10. Van Diemen’s Land - 0.5 million

    Comment by Nudge — September 5, 2007 @

  31. Stinks!

    Comment by Me — October 18, 2007 @

  32. thanks for telling me about the country of austrilia. i am 10 years old.

    Comment by Rosie faavae — December 8, 2007 @

  33. [...] Wikipedia:Proposal for New Australian State [via Strange Maps] [...]

    Pingback by We live in Guelphia | Melbourne Metblogs — March 9, 2008 @

  34. wow & thanx for all this

    Comment by Ugg Boots Australia — April 26, 2008 @

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