Curacoa Island (pron. KEWR-ə-sow) is one of the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

s in the Palm Islands group off the coast of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. The nearest island is Great Palm Island, after which the group is named. Curacoa Island is uninhabited. The Aboriginal name for this island is Noogoo Island. Along with nine of the other islands within the Palm Islands group, it falls under the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

of the

Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island The Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island is a special local government area of Queensland, Australia, managed by the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council under a Deed of Grant in Trust granted to the community on 27 October 1986. The local council w ...

. It was named after HMS ''Curacoa'', flagship of the Australia Station from 20 April 1863 until May 1866. The island was gazetted as an

Aboriginal reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th c ...

on 20 September 1941, along with neighbouring small islands, with the intention of extending

Palm Island Aboriginal Settlement Palm Island Aboriginal Settlement, later officially known as Director of Native Affairs Office, Palm Island and also known as Palm Island Aboriginal Reserve, Palm Island mission and Palm Island Dormitory, was an Aboriginal reserve and penal set ...

, but it was never used as such.

See also

References

Further reading