Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, S.C. The land is mostly flat and about half of the area is used for grazing

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

. The relatively undisturbed

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...

-wooded savannahs,

tropical rainforests Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equa ...

and other types of habitat are now recognised and preserved for their global environmental significance. Although much of the peninsula remains pristine, with a diverse repertoire of endemic

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

and fauna, some of its wildlife may be threatened by industry and overgrazing as well as

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

and weeds.Mackey, B. G., Nix, H., & Hitchcock, P. (2001). The natural heritage significance of Cape York Peninsula. Retrieved 15 January 2008, fro
epa.qld.gov.au
. The northernmost point of the peninsula is Cape York (). The land has been occupied by a number of

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

peoples for tens of thousands of years. In 1606, Dutch sailor

Willem Janszoon Willem Janszoon (; ), sometimes abbreviated to Willem Jansz., was a Dutch navigator and colonial governor. Janszoon served in the Dutch East Indies in the periods 16031611 and 16121616, including as governor of Fort Henricus on the island of S ...

on board the ''

Duyfken ''Duyfken'' (; Little Dove), also in the form ''Duifje'' or spelled ''Duifken'' or ''Duijfken'', was a small ship built in the Dutch Republic. She was a fast, lightly armed ship probably intended for shallow water, small valuable cargoes, bri ...

'' was the first European to land in Australia, reaching the Cape York Peninsula.

History

European exploration

StateLibQld 1 193451 Commemorative stone for Edmund B

In February 1606, Dutch navigator

landed near the site of what is now Weipa, on the western shore of Cape York Peninsula. This was the first recorded landing of a European in Australia, and it also marked the first reported contact between European and Aboriginal Australian people.

Edmund Kennedy Edmund Besley Court Kennedy J. P. (5 September 1818 – December 1848) was an explorer in Australia in the mid nineteenth century. He was the Assistant-Surveyor of New South Wales, working with Sir Thomas Mitchell. Kennedy explored the interio ...

was the first European explorer to attempt an overland expedition of Cape York Peninsula. He had been second-in-command to Thomas Livingstone Mitchell in 1846 when the

Barcoo River The Barcoo River in western Queensland, Australia rises on the northern slopes of the Warrego Range, flows in a south-westerly direction and unites with the Thomson River to form Cooper Creek. The first European to see the river was Thomas ...

was encountered. The aim was to establish a route to the tip of the peninsula, where Sydney businessmen were attempting development of a port for trade with the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around ...

. The expedition set out from Rockingham Bay near the present town of Cardwell in May 1848, and it turned out to be one of the great disasters of Australian exploration. Of the thirteen men who set out, only three survived. The others died of fever or starvation, or were speared by hostile Aboriginal people. Kennedy died of spear wounds almost within sight of his destination in December 1848. The only survivor to complete the journey was Jackey Jackey, an Aboriginal man from

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. He led a rescue party to the other two who had been unable to continue. The tip of the peninsula (Cape York) was finally reached by Europeans in 1864 when the brothers Francis Lascelles (Frank) and Alexander William Jardine, along with eight companions, drove a mob of cattle from Rockhampton to the new settlement of Somerset (on Cape York) where the Jardines' father was commander. En route they lost most of their horses, many of their stores and fought pitched battles with Aboriginal people, finally arriving in March 1865.

First contact

The first known contact between European and Aboriginal people occurred on the west coast of the peninsula in 1606, but it was not settled by Europeans until the 19th century when fishing communities, then stations and later mining towns were established. European settlement led to the displacement of Aboriginal communities and the arrival of

Torres Strait Islanders Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often groupe ...

on the mainland.

Geography and geology

The west coast borders the Gulf of Carpentaria and the east coast borders the Coral Sea. The peninsula is bordered by water on three sides (north, east and west). There is no clear demarcation to the south, although the official boundary in the Cape York Peninsula Heritage Act 2007 of Queensland runs along at about 16°S latitude. Cape Flattery Cape York Peninsula

At the peninsula's widest point, it is from the

Bloomfield River The Bloomfield River is a river located in the Wet Tropics of Far North Queensland, Australia, noted for its Bloomfield River cod fish species, found only in the river. Course and features The river rises in the Great Dividing Range below Zi ...

in the southeast, across to the west coast just south of the aboriginal community of

Kowanyama Kowanyama is a town and coastal locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Kowanyama, Queensland, Australia. It is the site of the former Mitchell River Mission, founded in 1916, after the nearby Trubanamen Mission (established not far away on Tops ...

. It is some from the southern border of Cook Shire, to the tip of Cape York. At the tip of the peninsula lies Cape York, the northernmost point on the Australian mainland. It was named by

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

James Cook on 21 August 1770 in honour of

Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany, (Edward Augustus;In ''The London Gazette'', the Prince is called simply 'Prince Edward'16 November 1756George III of the United Kingdom, who had died three years earlier: 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

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...

ing

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

s and vast

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

s, with some very low hills rising to elevation in the McIlwraith Range on the eastern side around Coen. The backbone of Cape York Peninsula is the peninsula ridge, part of Australia's Great Dividing Range. This mountain range is made up of ancient (1.5 billion-year-old) Precambrian and Palaeozoic rocks.Frith, D.W., Frith, C.B. (1995). Cape York Peninsula: A Natural History. Chatswood: Reed Books Australia. Reprinted with amendments in 2006. . To the east and west of the peninsula ridge lie the Carpentaria and Laura Basins, respectively, themselves made up of ancient

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...

sediments. There are several outstanding landforms on the peninsula: the large expanses of undisturbed dunefields at the eastern coast around Shelburne Bay and Cape Bedford-Cape Flattery, the huge piles of black

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

boulders at Kalkajaka National Park and

Cape Melville Cape Melville is a headland on the eastern coast of the Cape York Peninsula in Australia. To its west lies Princess Charlotte Bay. It is part of the Cape Melville National Park. Cape Melville was named Stoney Cape in 1815 by Lieutenant Charles ...

, and the limestone karsts around Palmerston in the peninsula's far south.

Soil

The soils are remarkably infertile even compared to other areas of Australia, being almost entirely laterised and in most cases so old and weathered that very little development is apparent today (classified in USDA soil taxonomy as orthents). It is because of this extraordinary soil poverty that the region is so thinly settled: the soils are so unworkable and unresponsive to

fertiliser A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

s that attempts to grow commercial crops have usually failed.

Climate

The climate on Cape York Peninsula is tropical and

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

al, with a heavy monsoon season from November to April, during which time the forest becomes almost uninhabitable, and a dry season from May to October. The temperature is warm to hot, with a cooler climate in higher areas. The mean annual temperatures range from at higher elevations to on the lowlands in the drier southwest. Temperatures over and below are rare. Annual rainfall is high, ranging from over in the Iron Range and north of Weipa to about at the southern border. Almost all this rain falls between November and April, and only on the eastern slopes of the Iron Range is the median rainfall between June and September above . Between January and March, however, the median monthly rainfall ranges from about in the south to over in the north and on the Iron Range.

Rivers

Jardine-river-cape-york-queensland-australia

The Peninsula Ridge forms the drainage divide between the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Coral Sea. To the west, a series of large, winding river systems including the Mitchell, Staaten, Coleman, Holroyd, Archer, Watson, Wenlock, Ducie and Jardine catchments empty their waters into the Gulf of Carpentaria. During the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

, those rivers are reduced to a series of waterholes and sandy beds. Yet, with the arrival of torrential rains in the

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

, they swell to mighty waterways, spreading across extensive floodplains and coastal wetlands and giving life to a vast array of freshwater and wetland species. On the Eastern slopes, the shorter, faster-flowing Jacky Jacky Creek, Olive, Pascoe, Lockhart, Stewart, Jeannie and Endeavour Rivers flow towards the Coral Sea, providing important freshwater and nutrients to the healthiest section of the Great Barrier Reef. On their way, those wild, undisturbed rivers are lined with dense rainforests, sand dunes or mangroves. Crossing the Wenlock River

The floodplains of the Laura Basin, which are protected in the Rinyirru and Jack River National Parks, are crossed by the Morehead, Hann, North Kennedy, Laura, Jack and Normanby Rivers. The Peninsula's river catchments are noted for their exceptional

hydrological Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...

integrity. With little disturbance on both water flows and vegetation cover throughout entire catchments, Cape York Peninsula has been identified as one of the few places where tropical water cycles remain essentially intact. Cape York Peninsula contributes as much as a quarter of Australia's surface runoff. Indeed, with only about 2.7 percent of Australia's land area it produces more run-off than all of Australia south of the

Tropic of Capricorn The Tropic of Capricorn (or the Southern Tropic) is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point at the December (or southern) solstice. It is thus the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. It also reac ...

. Tapping those heavy tropical rainfalls, the peninsula's rivers are also of particular importance for replenishing central Australia's Great Artesian Basin. The Queensland Government is currently poised to protect 13 of Cape York Peninsula's wild rivers under the Wild Rivers Act 2005.Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel. (2005). Wild Rivers Act 2005. Retrieved 23 March 2008, fro
legislation.qld.gov.au
.

Geological history

The peninsula is formed from the northern part of the Great Dividing Range, folded during the Carboniferous period some 300 million years ago, when Australia collided with what is now parts of South America and New Zealand. The range has experienced significant erosion since. Around 40 million years ago, the Indo-Australian tectonic plate began to split apart from the ancient

supercontinent In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass. However, some geologists use a different definition, "a grouping of formerly dispersed continents", which leav ...

Gondwana. As it collided with the Pacific Plate on its northward journey, the high mountain ranges of central

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

emerged around 5 million years ago. In the lee of this collision zone, the ancient rock formations of what is now Cape York Peninsula remained largely undisturbed. Throughout the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

epoch Australia and New Guinea were alternately land-linked and separated by water. During periods of

glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate be ...

and resulting low sea levels, Cape York Peninsula provided a low-lying land link. Another link existed between Arnhem Land and New Guinea, at times enclosing an enormous freshwater lake (Lake Carpentaria) in the centre of what is now the Gulf of Carpentaria. Australia and New Guinea remained connected in this way until the shallow Torres Strait was last flooded around 8,000 years ago.

People and culture today

Today the peninsula has a population of only about 18,000, of which a large percentage (~60%) are

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

and

.Woinarski, J., Mackey, B., Nix, H., Traill, B. (2007). The nature of northern Australia: Natural values, ecological processes and future prospects. Canberra: ANU E press.Cape York Peninsula Development Association. Homepage. Accessed 23 April 2008
cypda.com.au
. The administrative and commercial centre for much of Cape York Peninsula is Cooktown, located in its far southeastern corner while the peninsula's largest settlement is the mining town Weipa on the Gulf of Carpentaria. The remainder is extremely sparsely populated, with about half the population living in very small settlements and cattle ranches. Along the peninsula developmental road, there are small service centres at Lakeland, Laura and Coen. About offshore north of the tip of Cape York, there is a sizeable service centre on nearby

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...

. Aboriginal communities are at

Hopevale Hope Vale (also known as Hopevale) is a town within the Aboriginal Shire of Hope Vale and a coastal locality split between the Aboriginal Shire of Hope Vale and the Shire of Cook, both in Queensland, Australia. It is an Aboriginal community. I ...

, Pormpuraaw, Kowanyama, Aurukun, Lockhart River, Napranum, Mapoon,

Injinoo The Injinoo were an Indigenous Australian people of the Cape York Peninsula, and their name now applies to a tribal aggregation of remnants of various tribes of the Cape York Peninsula. Country The traditional lands of the Injinoo Community ext ...

, New Mapoon and Umagico. Torres Strait Islander communities on the mainland are at

Bamaga Bamaga ( , ) is a small town and locality about from the northern tip of Cape York in the north of Queensland, Australia. It is within the Northern Peninsula Area Region. It is one of the northernmost settlements in continental Australia and i ...

and

Seisia Seisia is a coastal town and a locality in the Northern Peninsula Area Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Seisia had a population of 260 people. Geography Seisia is the area north of New Mapoon and west of Bamaga on Cape York Peninsula. ...

. A completely sealed inland road links Cairns and the Atherton Tableland to Lakeland and Cooktown. The road north of Lakeland Downs to the tip of the peninsula is sometimes cut after heavy rains during the wet season (roughly December to May). The peninsula is a popular tourist destination in the dry season for camping, hiking, bird watching and fishing enthusiasts. Many people make the adventurous, but rewarding, drive to the tip of Cape York, the northernmost point of mainland Australia. Some of the world's most extensive and ancient Aboriginal rock painting galleries surround the town of Laura, some of which are available for public viewing. There is also a new interpretive centre from which information on the rock art and local culture is available and tours can be arranged.

Indigenous languages and peoples

Over 30 Aboriginal languages are spoken on Cape York Peninsula, including

Linngithigh Linngithigh (Liningitij) is an extinct Paman language formerly spoken on the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, Australia, by the Linngithigh people Linngithigh (Liningitij) is an extinct Paman language formerly spoken on the Cape York Pen ...

, Umpila, Wik Mungkan, Wik-Me'nh, Wik-Ngathan, Kugu Nganhcara, Guugu Yalandji, Guugu Yimithirr,

Kuuk Thaayorre Kuuk Thaayorre (Thayore) is a Paman language spoken in the settlement Pormpuraaw on the western part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia by the Thaayorre people. As of 2006, 250 of the 350 ethnic Thaayorre speak the language. It ...

and a multitude of

Australian Aboriginal sign languages Many Australian Aboriginal cultures have or traditionally had a manually coded language, a signed counterpart of their oral language. This appears to be connected with various speech taboos between certain kin or at particular times, such as ...

. Some of these languages are being acquired by children or are spoken by all generations in remote communities. Most Wik languages are being quickly absorbed by Wik-Mungkan, which seems to be the only aboriginal language on the peninsula that is developing very quickly, as it is the second language of the Wikalkan, Wik-Ngathana, and Wikngenchera. Djagaraga (also known as Yadhaigana, Dyagaraga and Yagulleone) is an Australian Aboriginal language from the tip of Cape York. The language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council. Traditionally the language was spoken on Eastern Cape York particularly in the localities of

Albany Island Albany Island or Pabaju is an island off the north-eastern coast of Cape York Peninsula in the Adolphus Channel and part of the Manar Group of islands of Queensland, Australia. It is within the locality of Somerset in the Shire of Torres. G ...

and Mount Adolphus Island.

(also known as Winda Winda and Linginiti) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Linngithigh people. The Linngithigh language region includes landscape within the local government boundaries of the Cook Shire Council: Western Cape York, Winda Winda Creek,

Mission River The Mission River is a river located in Texas, in the United States of America. It is formed by the confluence of Blanco and Medio creeks in central Refugio County (at 28°19' N, 97°19' W) and runs southeast, past Refugio, for to its mout ...

, and

Archer River The Archer River is a river located on the Cape York Peninsula, Far North Queensland, Australia. Course and features The headwaters of the river rise in the McIlwraith Range and it flows west, traversing tropical savanna plains and wetlands, ...

. Luthigh (also known as Lotiga, Tepiti and Uradhi, see also Uradhi related languages) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Luthigh people. The traditional language area for Luthigh includes landscape within the local government boundaries of the

Cook Shire The Shire of Cook (The Shire) is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland. It covers an area ...

: Eastern Cape York,

Ducie River The Ducie River is a river located on the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia. Formed by the confluence of the Palm Creek and South Palm Creek, the headwaters of the Ducie River drain the Richardson Range, part of the Great ...

, Northern Peninsula, New Mapoon,

, and Cowal Creek. Teppathiggi (also known Tepithiki and Teyepathiggi) is an Australian Aboriginal language of Western Cape York, Middle Dulcie River, Lower Batavia River,

, and Mapoon. The language region includes areas within the local government boundaries of Cook Shire Council.

Thaynakwith Awngthim is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language formerly spoken in Cape York in Queensland, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian contine ...

(also known as Awngthim, Tainikuit and Winduwinda) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Western Cape York in the Weipa area taking in Albatross Bay and

. The language region includes areas within the local government boundaries of Weipa Town Council and

. Uradhi (also known as Anggamudi, Ankamuti, Atampaya, Bawtjathi, and Lotiga) is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Western Cape York Peninsula. The traditional language region includes north of Mapoon and Duyfken Point and east of the coast strip to the north of Port Musgrave (Angkamuthi country) incorporating the mouth of the

, the lower reaches of the Dulhunty River and the upper reaches of the Skardon River in the north. Following the displacement of Indigenous people by British settlement, it was also spoken in the

Northern Peninsula Area Region The Northern Peninsula Area Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia, covering areas on the northwestern coast of Cape York Peninsula. It was created in March 2008 out of three Aboriginal Shires and two autonomous Isl ...

including the communities of New Mapoon,

and Cowal Creek. Yir Yiront (also known as Yiront, Jirjoront, Yir-yiront, and Kokomindjan) is an Australian Aboriginal language. Its traditional language region is in Western Cape York within the local government areas of

Aboriginal Shire of Kowanyama The Aboriginal Shire of Kowanyama is a special local government area which is located on western Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. It is managed under a Deed of Grant in Trust under the ''Local Government (Community Government Areas) ...

and

Shire of Cook The Shire of Cook (The Shire) is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland. It covers an area ...

, in the catchments of the

Coleman River Coleman River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 26, 2011 stream that is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, mostly within Rabun County, Georgia. It is one of ...

and Mitchell River. Following the removal of Aboriginal people from their traditional lands, it is also spoken in Pormpuraaw and

. Kuuku Ya'u (also known as Gugu Yau, Yao, Ya'o, Koko Ya'o and Koka-yao) is an Australian Aboriginal language. The traditional language area of Kuuku Ya'u includes landscape within the local government boundaries of the

: Eastern Cape York, Uu'ungun south to Claudie River and hinterland.

(also known as Koko-Daiyuri, Kuku Yak, Thayorre, and used as a generic name for several related languages/dialects) is an Australian Aboriginal Language spoken on Western Cape York Peninsula, particularly in the area around Pormpuraaw ( Edward River). The Thaayorre language region includes the landscape within Pormpuraaw Community Council and the Cook Shire Council. Kugu Yi'anh is a language of Cape York. The traditional language area of Kugu Yi'anh includes areas within Cape York. Kugu Nganhcara (also known as Wik, Wiknantjara, Wik Nganychara, Wik Ngencherr) is a traditional language of the area which includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the

. Kugu Muminh (also known as Kuku-Muminh) is one of the traditional languages which includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the

. Kunjen (also known as Koko Wanggara, Ngundjan and Olkola) is a language of Western Cape York. The Kunjen language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of

Community Council and Cook Shire Council.

Native title claims

On 25 November 2021, of land on the eastern side of the peninsula were handed back to the Kuuku Ya'u and Uutaalnganu peoples, in a

native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...

claim that was lodged seven years prior. The landmark ruling was delivered by Justice Debra Mortimer of the Federal Court of Australia, sitting at the Supreme Court of Queensland in Cairns. In December 2022 the Federal Court recognised the native title claims for the Kaurareg, Kulkalgal, Kemer Kemer Meriam, Ankamuthi and Gudang Yadhaykenu Peoples.

Ecology

Flora

Cape York Peninsula supports a complex mosaic of intact tropical rainforests, tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannahs, shrublands, heath lands, wetlands, wild rivers and

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

swamps. The savannah woodlands consist typically of a tall dense grass layer and varying densities of trees, predominantly

eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', '' Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

of which the most common is Darwin stringybark ('' Eucalyptus tetrodonta''). These various habitats are home to about 3300 species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s and almost the entire area of Cape York Peninsula (99.6%) still retains its native vegetation and is little fragmented.Neldner, V.J., Clarkson, J.R. (1994). Vegetation Survey of Cape York Peninsula. Cape York Peninsula Land Use Study (CYPLUS). Office of the Co-ordinator General and Department of Environment and Heritage, Government of Queensland: Brisbane. Although abundant and fully functioning on the peninsula, tropical savannahs are now rare and highly degraded in other parts of the world. Cape York Peninsula also contains one of the highest rates of

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

in Australia, with more than 260 endemic plant species found so far. Therefore, parts of the peninsula have been noted for their exceptionally high wilderness quality.Abrahams, H., Mulvaney, M., Glasco, D., Bugg, A. (1995). Areas of Conservation Significance on Cape York Peninsula. Cape York Peninsula Land Use Strategy. Office of the Co-ordinator General of Queensland, Australian Heritage Commission. Accessed 15 January 2008, fro
environment.gov.au
. Pitcher-plant-cape-york-australia

The flora of the peninsula includes original Gondwanan species, plants that have emerged since the breakup of Gondwana and species from

Indomalaya The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia. Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Indi ...

and from across the Torres Strait in New Guinea with the most variety being found in the rainforest areas. Most of the Cape York Peninsula is drier than nearby New Guinea which limits the rainforest plants of that island from migrating across to Australia. >>Insert table with numbers for different plants--> Tropical rainforests cover an area of , or 5.6 percent of the total land area of Cape York Peninsula.Cofinas, M., Creighton, C. (2001). Australian Native Vegetation Assessment. National Land and Water Resources Audit. Accessed 20 April 2008, fro
anra.gov.au
. Rainforests depend on some level of rainfall throughout the long dry season, climatic conditions that are mostly found on the eastern slopes of the peninsula's coastal ranges. Being almost exclusively untouched, old-growth forests and supporting a disproportionately high biodiversity including flora of Gondwanan and New Guinean origin, the rainforests are of high conservation significance. The largest contiguous rainforest area on the peninsula occurs in the McIllwraith Range-

Iron Range The term Iron Range refers collectively or individually to a number of elongated iron-ore mining districts around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. Much of the ore-bearing region lies alongside the range of granite hills formed by ...

area. The Gondwanan flora of this area includes

Araucariaceae Araucariaceae – also known as araucarians – is an extremely ancient family of coniferous trees. The family achieved its maximum diversity during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and the early Cenozoic, when it was distributed almost worldw ...

and Podocarpaceae conifers and ''

Arthrochilus ''Arthrochilus'', commonly called elbow orchids, is a genus of about fifteen species of flowering plants from the orchid family (Orchidaceae) and is found in Australia and New Guinea. The flowers are pollinated by male thynnid wasps which attem ...

'', '' Corybas'', and '' Calochilus'' orchids. In all, this rainforest contains at least 1000 different plants, including 100 rare or threatened species, and 16% of Australia's orchid species. On poor, dry soils tropical heathlands can be found. Northeast Cape York Peninsula supports Australia's largest areas of this highly diverse ecosystem. The extensive wetlands on Cape York Peninsula are "among the largest, richest and most diverse in Australia". 19 wetlands of national significance have been identified, mostly on the large floodplains and in coastal areas. Important wetlands include the Apudthama Complex, Rinyirru systems and the estuaries of the great rivers of the western plains. Many of these wetlands come into existence only during the wet season and support rare or uncommon plant communities. The peninsula's coastal areas and river estuaries are lined with

forests of kwila and other trees. Australia's largest mangrove forest can be found at Newcastle Bay.

Fauna

The peninsula harbours an extraordinary

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

, with more than 700

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...

land animal species of which 40 are endemic. As a result, from its geological history, "the flora and fauna of Cape York Peninsula are a complex mixture of Gondwanan relics, Australian isolationists and Asian or New Guinean invaders" (p. 41). Birds of the peninsula include buff-breasted buttonquail (''Turnix olivii''),

golden-shouldered parrot The golden-shouldered parrot (''Psephotellus chrysopterygius''), also known as the alwal, is a rare bird of southern Cape York Peninsula, in Queensland, Australia. A small parrot related to the more common red-rumped parrot (''Psephotus haematon ...

(''Psephotus chrysopterygius''), lovely fairywren (''Malurus amabilis''), white-streaked honeyeater (''Trichodere cockerelli''), and yellow-spotted honeyeater (''Meliphaga notata'') while some such as

pied oystercatcher The pied oystercatcher (''Haematopus longirostris'') is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird native to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. The similar South Island pied oystercatcher (''H. finschi'') occurs in New Zealand. ...

are found in other parts of Australia but have important populations on the peninsula. The peninsula is also home to the eastern brown snake, one of the world's most venomous snakes. Mammals include the rodent Cape York melomys, related to the extinct Bramble Cay melomys, which was found only on Bramble Cay in the Torres Strait and confirmed extinct in 2016. The rainforests of the Kutini-Payamu National Park support species that are also found in New Guinea, including the

eclectus parrot The eclectus parrot (''Eclectus roratus'') is a parrot native to the Solomon Islands, Sumba, New Guinea and nearby islands, northeastern Australia, and the Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is unusual in the parrot family for its extreme sexual dimor ...

and southern common cuscus. Other rainforest fauna includes 200 species of butterfly including 11 endemic butterflies one of which is the huge green birdwing, the green tree python and the

northern quoll The northern quoll (''Dasyurus hallucatus''), also known as the northern native cat, the North Australian native cat or the satanellus is a carnivorous marsupial native to Australia. Taxonomy The northern quoll is a member of the family Das ...

, a forest

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a ...

that is now severely depleted from eating the introduced poisonous

cane toad The cane toad (''Rhinella marina''), also known as the giant neotropical toad or marine toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad native to South and mainland Central America, but which has been introduced to various islands throughout Oceania ...

s. The riverbanks of the lowlands are home to specific wildlife of their own while the rivers including the Jardine,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

, Olive, Holroyd and the Wenlock are rich in fish. The wetlands and coastal mangroves are noted for their importance as a fish nursery and crocodile habitat, providing important drought refuge and finally the Great Barrier Reef lies off the east coast and is an important marine habitat. >>Insert table with numbers for different biota elements ( mammals, birds, fish, insects, etc.)--> >>insert info for more key species (e.g. termites, Saltwater Crocodile, Palm Cockatoo)-->

Threats and preservation

Cattle station leases occupy about 57% of the total area, mostly located in central and eastern Cape York Peninsula. Indigenous land comprises about 20%, with the entire West coast being held under

. The remainder is mostly declared as National Park and managed by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. Land uses include broad-acre pastoralism, bauxite and

silica sand Sand casting, also known as sand molded casting, is a metal casting process characterized by using sand as the mold material. The term "sand casting" can also refer to an object produced via the sand casting process. Sand castings are produced i ...

mining, nature reserves, tourism and fishing. There are extensive deposits of bauxite along the west or Gulf of Carpentaria coast. Weipa is the centre for mining.Australian Government. Australian Natural Resource Atlas. Accessed 20 April 2008
anra.gov.au
. Much has been damaged by

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature res ...

, mining, poorly controlled fires and feral pigs,

s, weeds, and other introduced speciesanra.gov.au
but Cape York Peninsula remains fairly unspoilt with intact and healthy river systems and no recorded plant or animal extinction since European settlement. The "Cape York Peninsula Land Use Strategy" study was commissioned by the Australian government in 1990 to create plans to protect the wilderness and a nomination for World Natural Heritage is currently being considered by the Queensland and Australian Federal governments.Valentine, Peter S. (2006). Compiling a case for World Heritage on Cape York Peninsula. Retrieved 7 February 2008, from
epa.qld.gov.au
. Major national parks include the

Apudthama National Park The Apudthama National Park (formerly Jardine River National Park) is a national park in Queensland, Australia, northwest of Brisbane and about northwest of Cairns, on the tip of Cape York Peninsula. The park and reserves encompass the traditi ...

in the far north, Oyala Thumotang National Park near

Aurukun Aurukun is a town and coastal locality in the Shire of Aurukun and the Shire of Cook in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is an Indigenous community. In the , the locality of Aurukun had a population of 1,269 people. Geography Aurukun is ...

, and Rinyirru National Park in the southeast of the bioregion.

Transport

There are two roads passing north–south through Cape York Peninsula to Cape York: the Peninsula Developmental Road (PDR) and the Northern Peninsula Road (also called Bamaga Road and Telegraph Road). Bamaga Road now bypasses the overland telegraph line (OTL) track, which is often referred to as the tele track. The tele track was used for construction and maintenance of the OTL until it was superseded by first microwave relay towers and then by fibre optic cables, and is now used by

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer cas ...

vehicle enthusiasts in the dry season. Many crossings, such as the bridge over the Wenlock near Moreton station, have been upgraded; however, many fords remain. The roads are unsealed and in places are difficult to traverse. They are considered suitable for four-wheel-drive vehicles only and also considered only suitable to be driven in the dry season. In 1986, Cape York became the proposed site of a

spaceport A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport'', and even more so ''cosmodrome'', has traditionally been used for sites capable ...

, which a consortium of companies, the Cape York Space Agency, promoted with support from the federal government. In 1992, investor support failed, and in 2017, legal ownership of of land required was returned to the

Wuthathi The Wuthathi, also known as the Mutjati, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Queensland. Anthropologist Norman Tindale distinguished the Mutjati from the Otati, whereas AIATSIS treats the two ethnonyms as variants related to th ...

, Kuku Yau and Northern Kaanju people. The development, which was heavily supported by Queensland premier

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005), known as Joh Bjelke-Petersen, was a conservative Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, during ...

. would have included a new town, tourist resorts, an airport and a harbour.

Footnotes

References

* Holmes, John. 2011.
Contesting the Future of Cape York Peninsula
''

Australian Geographer ''Australian Geographer'' (''The Australian Geographer'' until 1975) is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Geographical Society of New South Wales since August 1928. Covering all aspects of Australian geography, it is cur ...

, Vol, 42, No. 1. * Hough, Richard. 1994. ''Captain James Cook: a biography''. Hodder and Stroughton, London. . * Pike, Glenville. 1979. ''Queen of the North: A Pictorial History of Cooktown and Cape York Peninsula''. G. Pike. . * Moon, Ron & Viv. 2003. ''Cape York: An Adventurer's Guide''. 9th edition. Moon Adventure Publications, Pearcedale, Victoria. * Moore, David R. 1979. ''Islanders and Aborigines at Cape York: An ethnographic reconstruction based on the 1848-1850 ' Rattlesnake' Journals of O. W. Brierly and information he obtained from Barbara Thompson''. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. Canberra. (hbk); 0-85575-082-0 (pbk). USA edition (hbk); 0-391-00948-6 (pbk). * Pohlner, Peter. 1986. ''Gangaurru''. Hopevale Mission Board, Milton, Queensland. * Trezise, P.J. 1969. ''Quinkan Country: Adventures in Search of Aboriginal Cave Paintings in Cape York''. A.H. & A.W. Reed, Sydney. * Trezise, Percy. 1973. ''Last Days of a Wilderness''. William Collins (Aust) Ltd., Brisbane. . * Trezise, P.J. 1993. ''Dream Road: A Journey of Discovery.'' Allen & Unwin, St. Leonards, Sydney. * Haviland, John B. with Hart, Roger. 1998. ''Old Man Fog and the Last Aborigines of Barrow Point''. Crawford House Publishing, Bathurst. * Premier's Department (prepared by Connell Wagner). 1989. ''Cape York Peninsula Resource Analysis''. Cairns. (1989). . * Roth, W.E. 1897. ''The Queensland Aborigines''. 3 Vols. Reprint: Facsimile Edition, Hesperian Press, Victoria Park, W.A., 1984. * Ryan, Michelle and Burwell, Colin, eds. 2000. ''Wildlife of Tropical North Queensland: Cooktown to Mackay''. Queensland Museum, Brisbane. (set of 3 vols). * Scarth-Johnson, Vera. 2000. ''National Treasures: Flowering plants of Cooktown and Northern Australia''. Vera Scarth-Johnson Gallery Association, Cooktown. (pbk); Limited Edition - Leather Bound. * Sutton, Peter (ed). ''Languages of Cape York: Papers presented to a Symposium organised by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies''. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra. (1976). * Wallace, Lennie. 2000. ''Nomads of the 19th Century Queensland Goldfields''. Central Queensland University Press, Rockhampton. * Wallace, Lennie. 2003. ''Cape York Peninsula: A History of Unlauded Heroes 1845-2003''. Central Queensland University Press, Rockhampton. * Wynter, Jo and John Hill. 1991. ''Cape York Peninsula: Pathways to Community Economic Development''. The Final Report of The Community Economic Development Projects Cook Shire. Cook Shire Council.

Bibliography

* McIvor, Roy (2010). ''Cockatoo: My Life in Cape York. Stories and Art''. Roy McIvor. Magabala Books. Broome, Western Australia. . {{Authority control Peninsulas of Queensland IBRA regions Landforms of Far North Queensland Arafura Sea Physiographic provinces Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Extreme points of Australia