ALBANY, a municipal town in the county of Plantagenet, on Princess Royal harbour, itself an interior basin of King George sound, on the most southerly stretch of the coast, and towards the south-west corner of West Australia. The coast-line, here largely composed of granite, has sunk in recent geological times, giving rise to magnificent inlets which, however, wave action has to some extent already modified by erosion and the deposition of sand. First occupied in 1826, it was later (1889) connected by rail with the existing West Australian railway system and ultimately be came the southern terminus of the Great Southern railway. Al bany is 352m. distant from Perth by rail. Its fine and equable climate (mean annual temp.: 58.6° ; mean annual rainfall : c. 3o") and its scenery brought it into prominence as a summer and health resort, and for long it was the port of arrival and departyre for the mail steamers. A coaling station, importing Newcastle (N.S.W.) coal was established; and industries began to rise and flourish. The development of the ports of Fremantle and Bun bury; the substitution of locally mined (Collie) coal for imported coal; the loss of economic hinterland through the development of the State railway system, and the loss of passenger traffic owing to the completion of the west-east trans-continental line have se verely affected Albany which is at present suffering a decline; but with the development of the promising south-western region of the State it can hardly fail to progress.