Kimberley region of Western Australia
The Kimberley is one of the nine
regions of Western Australia, consisting of the
local government areas of
Broome,
Derby-West Kimberley,
Halls Creek and
Wyndham-East Kimberley. It is located in the northern part of
Western Australia, bordered on the west by the
Indian Ocean, on the north by the
Timor Sea, on the south by the
Great Sandy and
Tanami Deserts, and on the east by the
Northern Territory. It covers an area of 424,517 km
2, which is about twice the size of
England.
The
population of the Kimberley is only about 38,000, but this figure is growing at a rate of 4.8% per year, around three times the state average. The population is fairly evenly distributed, with only three towns having populations in excess of 2,000:
Broome,
Derby and
Kununurra. About half of the region's population are of
Aboriginal descent.
The Kimberley has a tropical
monsoon climate. During the "wet season", from November to April, the region receives about 90% of its rainfall, and
cyclones are common especially around Broome. The annual rainfall, however, is highest in the northwest, where Kalumburu averages 1270mm (50 inches) per year, and lowest in the southeast where it is around 520mm (20 inches). In the "dry season", from May to October, south easterly breezes bring sunny days and cool nights. In the
Devonian, there was a barrier reef system in the Kimberley, similar to the
Great Barrier Reef.[
1]
The Kimberley was one of the earliest settled parts of
Australia, with the first arrivals landing about 40,000 years ago from the
islands of what is now
Indonesia. European settlement started around
1885, when
cattle were driven across
Australia from the eastern states in search of good
pasture lands. Many other Europeans arrived soon after, when
gold was discovered around
Halls Creek.
Other industries have included pearling,
diamond mining (including the
Argyle diamond mine which produces about one third of the world's diamonds),
agriculture (more recently centred on the
Ord River Irrigation Area near
Lake Argyle) and
tourism.
The Kimberley is a fairly popular tourist destination, with areas such as the
Bungle Bungle, the
Gibb River Road,
Lake Argyle,
El Questro Station,
Horizontal Falls and
Cape Levique.
The
Gibb River Road and the road into the
Bungle Bungle can be accessed in a
two-wheel drive car, although one can access many additional areas in a
four-wheel drive vehicle.
*
Kimberley Development Commission
