Topographic maps
Click on a map to view its topography, its elevation and its terrain.
Sydney
Sydney's topography is characterized by a diverse landscape that seamlessly blends coastal features with inland plateaus. The city is divided into two primary regions: the relatively flat Cumberland Plain to the south and west of Sydney Harbour, and the elevated Hornsby Plateau to the north. The Cumberland…
Average elevation: 53 m
City of Melbourne
Melbourne's topography is characterized by a diverse landscape that transitions from flat coastal plains to rolling hills and mountainous regions. The city is situated at the northern end of Port Phillip Bay, where the terrain is predominantly flat, facilitating urban development. As one moves eastward, the…
Average elevation: 18 m
Victoria
Victoria, Australia, exhibits a remarkably varied topography shaped by the Great Dividing Range, which forms a west-to-east spine across the state. In the northeast, the Victorian Alps rise to the state’s highest point, Mount Bogong at 1,986 meters, amid deep valleys and snow-capped ridges, while westward,…
Average elevation: 179 m
Perth
Perth, the capital of Western Australia, is situated on the Swan Coastal Plain, a flat expanse of sandy soil nestled between the Indian Ocean to the west and the Darling Scarp to the east. The Darling Scarp, also known as the Darling Range, is a low escarpment that extends north–south, marking a distinct…
Average elevation: 26 m
Australia
Australia's topography is characterized by vast, low-lying plains interspersed with notable highland regions. The Western Plateau, encompassing much of the continent's interior, is a flat expanse punctuated by isolated ranges such as the MacDonnell and Musgrave Ranges, as well as iconic formations like Uluru.…
Average elevation: 35 m
Queensland
Queensland's topography is characterized by a diverse landscape that includes coastal plains, mountain ranges, plateaus, and expansive inland areas. The Great Dividing Range runs parallel to the state's eastern coast, forming a series of mountain ranges, plateaus, and upland areas. This range influences the…
Average elevation: 122 m
Western Australia
Because the only mountain-building since then has been of the Stirling Range with the rifting from Antarctica, the land is extremely eroded and ancient, with no part of the state above 1,245 metres (4,085 ft) AHD (at Mount Meharry in the Hamersley Range of the Pilbara region). Most of the state is a low…
Average elevation: 194 m
Adelaide
Australia > South Australia > Adelaide
Adelaide is north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, on the Adelaide Plains between the Gulf St Vincent and the low-lying Mount Lofty Ranges. The city stretches 20 km (12 mi) from the coast to the foothills, and 90 km (56 mi) from Gawler at its northern extent to Sellicks Beach in the south. According to the Regional…
Average elevation: 148 m
Tasmania
The most mountainous region is the Central Highlands area, which covers most of the central western parts of the state. The Midlands located in the central east, is fairly flat, and is predominantly used for agriculture, although farming activity is scattered throughout the state. Tasmania's tallest mountain…
Average elevation: 220 m
Melbourne
Melbourne is also prone to isolated convective showers forming when a cold pool crosses the state, especially if there is considerable daytime heating. These showers are often heavy and can include hail, squalls, and significant drops in temperature, but they often pass through very quickly with a rapid…
Average elevation: 185 m
Canberra
Australia > District of Canberra Central
The area chosen for the capital had been inhabited by Indigenous Australians for up to 21,000 years, with the principal group being the Ngunnawal people. European settlement commenced in the first half of the 19th century, as evidenced by surviving landmarks such as St John's Anglican Church and Blundells…
Average elevation: 638 m
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs roughly parallel to the east coast of Australia and forms the…
Average elevation: 117 m
Sydney
Phillip had been given no instructions for urban development, but in July 1788 submitted a plan for the new town at Sydney Cove. It included a wide central avenue, a permanent Government House, law courts, hospital and other public buildings, but no provision for warehouses, shops, or other commercial…
Average elevation: 32 m
New South Wales
New South Wales (NSW), located on Australia's eastern seaboard, boasts a diverse topography that significantly influences its landscapes and ecosystems. The state's eastern edge is dominated by a narrow coastal plain, featuring regions such as the Illawarra and Shoalhaven near Nowra, characterized by rolling…
Average elevation: 154 m
Melbourne
Melbourne is also prone to isolated convective showers forming when a cold pool crosses the state, especially if there is considerable daytime heating. These showers are often heavy and can include hail, squalls, and significant drops in temperature, but they often pass through very quickly with a rapid…
Average elevation: 49 m
Ballarat
Ballarat has a moderate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) with four distinct seasons. Its elevation, ranging between 400 and 630 metres (1,310 and 2,070 feet) above sea level, causes its mean monthly temperatures to tend to be on average 3 to 5 °C (5 to 9 °F) below those of Melbourne,…
Average elevation: 470 m
Byron Bay
Byron Bay, located in northeastern New South Wales, Australia, is characterized by diverse topography shaped by its geological history. The town is part of the erosion caldera of the ancient Tweed Volcano, which erupted approximately 23 million years ago, resulting in the rich volcanic soils that define the…
Average elevation: 7 m
Mount Coot-tha
Australia > Queensland > City of Brisbane
It is often claimed that Mount Coot-tha is the "highest point in Brisbane", but, as the elevations above show, the peak known as Mount Coot-tha is not even the highest peak of the mountain as a whole with both Constitution Hill and The Summit being higher. However, Mount Coot-tha has a lookout with unobscured…
Average elevation: 88 m
Toowoomba
The city occupies the edge of the range and the low ridges behind it. Two valleys run north from the southern boundary, each arising from springs either side of Middle Ridge near Spring Street at an altitude of around 680 m. These waterways, East Creek and West Creek, flow together just north of the CBD to…
Average elevation: 458 m
Cape York Peninsula
The tropical landscapes are among the most stable in the world. Long undisturbed by tectonic activity, the peninsula is an extremely eroded, almost level low plain dominated by meandering rivers and vast floodplains, with some very low hills rising to 800 m (2,600 ft) elevation in the McIlwraith Range on the…
Average elevation: 71 m
Blue Mountains
A sandstone plateau dominated by a landscape of endless eucalyptus forests, the Blue Mountains are located at the top of a 470-million-year-old quartzite. In the Permian period, a shallow sea covered the region, when rivers brought shales, siltstones and mudstones. Then during the Mesozoic period, rivers…
Average elevation: 566 m
City of Brisbane
Brisbane's topography is characterized by a series of hills and ranges that define its landscape. The city is situated on a low-lying floodplain, with the Brisbane River meandering through its heart, creating a winding course with many steep curves from the southwest to its mouth at Moreton Bay in the east.…
Average elevation: 71 m
Brisbane River
The RAAF also perform a practice session in the days preceding the event, serving as an opportunity to both practice beforehand and also promote Riverfire. One of the most popular RAAF aircraft to perform at Riverfire was the F-111 which was known for performing a 'dump-and-burn' above the city. The final…
Average elevation: 235 m
Mount Kuring-Gai
Australia > New South Wales > Sydney
Mount Kuring-gai is located approximately 7 km north of Hornsby. Its neighbouring suburbs are Berowra to the north, and Mount Colah to the south. Surrounded by bushland, it is bordered by Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park on the eastern side and by Berowra Valley Regional Park on the western side. There are…
Average elevation: 133 m
Lama Lama National Park (Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land)
Average elevation: 86 m
Three Hummock Island
The island is named after its three most prominent hills, North, Middle and South Hummock, the latter being the highest, with an elevation of 237 metres (778 ft) above mean sea level. From the mid-19th century until the mid-1970s, most of the island was subject to a pastoral lease, allowing farming and grazing…
Average elevation: 22 m
Orange
Orange is a city in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. It is 254 km (158 mi) west of the state capital, Sydney [206 km (128 mi) on a great circle], at an altitude of 862 metres (2,828 ft). Orange had an estimated urban population of 40,493 as of June 2018 making the city a significant…
Average elevation: 852 m
