The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine
regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
, on the north by the
Timor Sea, on the south by the
Great Sandy and
Tanami deserts in the region of the
Pilbara, and on the east by the
Northern Territory.
The region was named in 1879 by government surveyor
Alexander Forrest after
Secretary of State for the Colonies John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley.
History
The Kimberley was one of the earliest settled parts of Australia, with the first humans landing about 65,000 years ago. They created a complex culture that developed over thousands of years.
Yam (''
Dioscorea hastifolia'')
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...
was developed, and rock art suggests that this was where some of the earliest
boomerangs were invented. The worship of
Wandjina deities was most common in this region, and a complex theology dealing with the transmigration of souls was part of the local people's religious philosophy.
In 1837, with expedition support from the
Royal Geographical Society of
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
, Lieutenants
George Grey
Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, ...
and Franklin Lushington and 12 men sailed on the schooner ''Lynher'' from
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
, South Africa. They reached Hanover Bay on 2 December 1837. The exploring party started inland on 19 January 1838. Leaders and men were totally inexperienced, their progress was delayed by flooded country, and they abandoned many stores along the way. The party was constantly split up although they had to contend with large numbers of hostile Aboriginals. On 11 February, Grey was speared and became critically ill but, after two weeks, continued the exploration. The party found and named the
Gairdner River, the
Glenelg River, the Stephen and Whately ranges and
Mount Lyell before returning to Hanover Bay in April. There they were picked up by and ''Lynher'' and taken to
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...
to recuperate.
In 1879, Western Australian government surveyor
Alexander Forrest led a party of seven from the west coast at Beagle Bay to
Katherine, Northern Territory. Forrest explored and named the Kimberley district, the
Margaret and
Ord rivers and the King Leopold Ranges (now the
Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges), and located well watered pastoral lands along the
Fitzroy and Ord rivers.
[''The Australian Encyclopaedia,'' Vol. V, The Grolier Society, Sydney] He subsequently set himself up as a land agent specialising in the Kimberley during a period to 1883 when over of land were taken up as pastoral leaseholds in the region.
In 1881, Philip Saunders and Adam Johns, in the face of great difficulties and dangers, found gold in various parts of the Kimberley. Early in 1881, the first five graziers, who called themselves the Murray Squatting Company, took up behind Beagle Bay and named it
Yeeda Station.
In 1883 they were the first men to shear sheep in the southern Kimberley. Additional Anglo-European settlement occurred in 1885, when ranchers drove cattle across Australia from the eastern states in search of good
pasture lands. After gold was discovered around
Halls Creek, many other erstwhile Europeans miners arrived rapidly.
In the 1890s, the area was the site of an armed insurrection of indigenous people led by
Jandamarra, a
Bunuba
The ''Bunuba'' (also known as Bunaba, Punapa, Punuba) are a group of Indigenous Australians and are one of the traditional owners of the southern West Kimberley, in Western Australia. Many now live in and around the town of Fitzroy Crossing. ...
warrior.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, when Australia was among the nations at war with the Axis powers, the Japanese invaded the nation with only a small reconnaissance party in the Kimberley on 19 January 1944; they were investigating reports that the Allies were building large bases in the region. Four Japanese officers were on board a small fishing boat. They investigated the
York Sound region for a day and a night before returning to
Kupang in
Timor on 20 January. After returning to Japan in February, the junior officer, who had commanded the party, suggested using 200 Japanese prison inmates to launch a
guerrilla campaign in Australia. No superior adopted his suggestion, and the officer was posted to other duties.
Demographics
The 2011 estimated permanent population of the Kimberley was 34,794 but it rises dramatically during winter when it attracts a seasonal population. On Census night in 2011 (9 August), it was 50,113. The population is fairly evenly distributed, with only three towns having populations in excess of 2,000:
Broome (12,766),
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
(3,261), and
Kununurra (4,573). Approximately 40% of the region's population is of
Aboriginal descent.
Urban centres and localities
Indigenous languages
The Kimberley has been noted as a region of great linguistic diversity, rivalled in Australia only by the
Top End. Depending on the geographical boundaries of the Kimberley, and the definition of what constitutes a "
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
" (as opposed to a "
dialect"), about 50-60
Aboriginal languages were once spoken in this region. The vast majority of these do not belong to the family of
Pama-Nyungan languages. Four endemic, primary
language families are recognized within the core Kimberley region:
*
Nyulnyulan languages, including languages spoken on the
Dampier Peninsula and along the Fitzroy River
*
Bunuban languages
The Bunuban languages (or Bunaban) are a small family of Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in northern Australia. The family consists of two languages, Bunuba and Gooniyandi, which are related to each other to about the same degree that E ...
, including languages spoken in the Fitzroy River Basin
*
Worrorran languages, including languages spoken in the northern Kimberley, north of
King Sound, up to
Wyndham
*
Jarrakan languages, including languages spoken along the Ord River, from
Halls Creek up to Wyndham and
Kununurra.
Pama-Nyungan languages spoken in and around the Kimberley region include the
Marrngu languages (such as
Karajarri and
Nyangumarta, the
Ngumpin languages (such as
Walmajarri
The Walmadjari (Walmajarri) people, also known as Tjiwaling and Wanaseka, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Name
The two names reflect different Walmadjari preferences. Their western bands accept ...
and
Jaru), the
Yapa languages (such as
Warlpiri) and the
Western Desert languages (including
Wangkajunga and
Kukatja). Non-Pama-Nyungan languages spoken around the Kimberleys (but speakers of which today live within the Kimberley) include the
Daly language Murrinh-Patha and
Western Mirndi language Jaminjung.
Presently, many indigenous languages are no longer spoken on a daily basis. In addition to
Australian English, post-contact languages spoken in the Kimberley include
Aboriginal English,
Kriol,
Pidgin English and the Malay-based
Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin
Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin is a pidgin that sprang up in Broome, Western Australia in the early 20th century to facilitate communication between the various groups working in the pearl hunting, pearling industry there—Japanese people, Jap ...
(not spoken on a daily basis any more).
Politics
At the federal level, the Kimberley is represented by the member for
Durack. At state level, the
Kimberley electorate takes in all of the region and its towns.
The Kimberley region consists of the
local government areas
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, province, division, or territory.
The phra ...
of
Broome,
Derby-West Kimberley,
Halls Creek and
Wyndham-East Kimberley.
Art
Rock art in the Kimberley is some of the oldest in Australia and could date back 40,000 years. The best known examples of rock art from the Kimberley are
Wandjina and
Gwion Gwion. The earliest form of Kimberley rock art was hand stencils, and rock art continued up to the 1960s when Wandjina were still being repainted.
Some of Australia's best known indigenous artists came from the Kimberley. These artists painted in a style unique to this area, a style initially associated with the Krill Krill ceremony but later known as the Kimberley Art Movement. These artists include
Rover Thomas, Jaminji
Paddy Bedford and
Queenie McKenzie
Queenie McKenzie (Nakarra) (formerly Oakes, or Mingmarriya) (c. 1915 – 16 November 1998) was an Aboriginal Australian artist. She was born on Old Texas Station, on the western bank of the Ord River in the East Kimberley.
Early life
M ...
.
Art and culture still flourishes today, with many contemporary artists being supported by the
Mowanjum Aboriginal Arts and Cultural centre.
Geography
The Kimberley is an area of , which is about three times the size of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, twice the size of
Victoria, or just slightly smaller than
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
.
The Kimberley consists of the ancient, steep-sided mountain ranges of northwestern Australia cut through with sandstone and limestone gorges and steep ridges, from which the extreme monsoonal climate has removed much of the soil. The southern end of the Kimberley beyond the
Dampier Peninsula is flatter with dry tropical grassland and is used for cattle ranching. In parts of the Kimberley, such as the valleys of the
Ord and
Fitzroy Rivers in the south, the soils are relatively usable
cracking clays, whilst elsewhere they are
lateritic Orthent
Orthents are soils defined in USDA soil taxonomy as entisols that lack due to either steep slopes or parent materials that contain no permanent weatherable minerals (such as ironstone).
Typically, Orthents are exceedingly shallow soils. They ar ...
s. Although none of the mountains reach even , there is so much steep land as to make much of the region difficult to traverse, especially during the wet season, when even sealed roads are often flooded. The coast is typically steep cliffs in the north but flatter in the south, all subject to high tides.
Climate
The Kimberley has a tropical
monsoon climate. The region receives about 90% of its rainfall during the short wet season, from November to April, when
cyclones are common (especially around Broome) and the rivers flood. The annual rainfall is highest in the northwest, where
Kalumburu and
the Mitchell Plateau average per year, and lowest in the southeast where it is around . In the dry season, from May to October, south easterly breezes bring sunny days and cool nights.
Climate change since 1967 has led to large increases of as much as per year in annual rainfall over the whole region. A recent study suggests Asian
pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, th ...
may be a key contributory factor to this increased rainfall. In 1997 and 2000, the region received especially heavy rains, leading to record flooding of the Fitzroy and other rivers.
The Kimberley is one of the hottest parts of Australia, with the average annual mean temperature around , and with mean maximum temperatures almost always above , even in July. The hottest part of the year is November before the rains break, when temperatures frequently reach above on the coast and well over inland. Mean minimum temperatures in July range from around in the south to along the coast, whilst in November and December they are generally around . Record high temperatures range from around , while record lows are around , although some parts of the central Kimberly plateau can drop below during the dry season.
The Aboriginal people of the Kimberley recognise
six traditional seasons based on meteorological events, as well as on observations of flora and fauna.
Geology
During the
Devonian period, a barrier reef system formed before a subsequent drop in sea levels over the Kimberley. This reef system was similar to the
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, A ...
and is still visible today in the form of the
Napier Range and the
Ningbing Range. Some of the features are
Tunnel Creek,
Windjana Gorge and
Geikie Gorge
Geikie Gorge (known locally as Darngku) is a feature of the Napier Range and is located within the grounds of Danggu Gorge National Park (formerly, Geikie Gorge National Park), from Fitzroy Crossing, northeast of Perth and east of Broome in ...
.
This area is also known as the Kimberley Block physiographic province, of which it is part of the larger
West Australian Shield division. This province contains the
Wunaamin-Miliwundi Range,
Durack Range,
Leveque Rise,
Browse Depression, and
Londonderry Rise physiographic sections.
Coastline
In
Bureau of Meteorology weather reports the "North Kimberley Coast" is the WA border to Kuri Bay section of the coast, while the "West Kimberley Coast" is from Kuri Bay to Wallal Downs. Significant sections of the coastline between Broome and Wyndham have no means of road access, and boat or helicopter are the only means. Due to the isolation, a number of tourist operations on the coastline have been called "wilderness" locations.
Ecology
The rugged and varied sandstone landscape is home to a distinctive mixture of wildlife, which has been thoroughly mapped and described by the
Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management. There are habitats similar to the Kimberley across the border in the
Northern Territory, including the valleys of the
Victoria and
Daly Rivers but these have been less carefully studied.
Flora
Much of the Kimberley is chiefly covered in open
savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground ...
woodland dominated by low
bloodwood and
boab
''Adansonia gregorii'', commonly known as the boab and also known by a number of other names, is a tree in the family Malvaceae, endemic to the northern regions of Western Australia and the Northern Territory of Australia.
Names
The specific ...
trees (''
Adansonia gregorii'') with
Darwin stringybark and
Darwin woollybutt
''Eucalyptus miniata'', commonly known as the Darwin woollybutt or woolewoorrng, is a species of medium-sized to tall tree that is endemic to northern Australia. It has rough, fibrous, brownish bark on the trunk, smooth greyish bark above. Adul ...
eucalyptus in the wetter areas. The red sandy soil of the
Dampier Peninsula in the south is known for its characteristic
pindan wooded grassland, while in the more fertile areas like the
Ord Valley, the trees are found in grasslands of ''
Chrysopogon
''Chrysopogon'' is a genus of tropical and subtropical plants in the grass family. They are widespread across Eurasia, Africa, Australia, southeastern North America, and various islands.
Species
Source:
Formerly included
Source:
Resea ...
'', ''
Aristida'', ''
Dichanthium'' and ''
Xerochloa
''Xerochloa'' is a genus of Australian and Southeast Asian plants in the grass family.
; Species
* ''Xerochloa barbata'' R.Br. - Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland
* ''Xerochloa imberbis'' R.Br. - rice grass - Thailand, Java, Wes ...
'' (rice grass) in the wetter valleys. The banks of the
Ord,
Fitzroy River and other rivers are home to a greater variety of vegetation, while in sheltered gorges of the high rainfall north there are patches of
tropical dry broadleaf forest, called
monsoon forests, deciduous vine forest or vine thicket in Australia (often mistakenly called "dry rainforest"), which were unknown to science until 1965, and are one of the most floristically rich parts of Australia outside the Wet Tropics and southwestern WA. There are also areas of
mangrove in river estuaries where the coast is flatter.
Flora regions
In 1979, Beard identified four phytogeographic districts within the Northern Botanical Province:
* Gardner District (Ga) in the north (and further divided into the West Gardner (WGa), Central Gardner (CGa) and East Gardner (EGa))
* Fitzgerald District (Fi) in the centre
* Dampier (Da) and Hall (Ha) Districts in the south
Fauna
Animals found here include the huge
saltwater crocodile
The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia. It has been l ...
and a rich variety of
birds such as the
channel-billed cuckoo
The channel-billed cuckoo (''Scythrops novaehollandiae'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Scythrops''.Payne (2005), p. 380. The species is the largest brood parasite in the world, and the largest ...
,
Pacific koel,
purple-crowned fairywren and the
bowerbird. The sandstone gorges of north Kimberley are an important refuge for a particularly rich collection of endemic species including some that have disappeared from the flatter areas, including the purple-crowned fairywren, the endangered
Gouldian finch and a large number of
amphibians:
flat-headed frog,
cave-dwelling frog,
magnificent tree frog,
Derby toadlet,
small toadlet,
fat toadlet, the unconfirmed
marbled toadlet,
Mjoberg's toadlet,
mole toadlet and
stonemason's toadlet. Mammals that have declined especially in the flatlands include the
bilby,
northern quoll,
pale field rat,
golden-backed tree-rat, and
golden bandicoot.
Megabats such as the
black flying fox
The black flying fox or black fruit bat (''Pteropus alecto'') is a bat in the family Pteropodidae. It is among the largest bats in the world, but is considerably smaller than the largest species in its genus, ''Pteropus''. The black flying fox ...
es and
little red flying foxes are common and perform important
pollination
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an Stamen, anther of a plant to the stigma (botany), stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by Anemophily, wind. Pollinating agents can ...
and
seed dispersal work for many species of native trees and shrubs.
A species of endemic
gecko, ''
Gehyra kimberleyi'', is named after the Kimberley region.
The gorges of central Kimberley are known for their
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
s and for their large colonies of bats, including
Windjana,
Tunnel Creek, and
Geikie Gorge
Geikie Gorge (known locally as Darngku) is a feature of the Napier Range and is located within the grounds of Danggu Gorge National Park (formerly, Geikie Gorge National Park), from Fitzroy Crossing, northeast of Perth and east of Broome in ...
s.
Lake Argyle and other wetlands of the Ord and the Kimberley are important habitats while there are important populations of
shorebird
245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots
Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...
s in the Ord estuary,
Eighty-mile Beach and
Roebuck Bay
Roebuck Bay is a bay on the coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Its entrance is bounded in the north by the town of Broome, and in the south by Bush Point and Sandy Point. It is named after , the ship captained by Willia ...
, which has been described as "one of the most important stop-over areas for shorebirds in Australia and globally". Finally there are a number of rocky islands off the north coast that are home to
seabirds and
turtles.
Threats and preservation
Little of the Kimberley has been subject to wholesale clearance other than particularly fertile parts of the Ord Valley (and areas of Kimberley-type habitat across in the Daly River basin in the Northern Territory) but the pastureland in the southern areas has been affected by 100 years of livestock grazing and other threats including introduced weeds (such as
cocklebur
''Xanthium'' (cocklebur) is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Heliantheae within the family Asteraceae, native to the Americas and eastern Asia and some parts of south Asia .
Description
Cockleburs are coarse, herbaceous annual plants ...
,
parkinsonia,
bellyache bush and
castor oil plant), feral cats and changes to traditional Aboriginal
fire regimes (the way grassland is burnt and allowed to renew). However, the remote sandstone areas to the north have valuable original habitats in good condition providing shelter for much wildlife.
The largest protected areas are the
Prince Regent National Park
Prince Regent National Park, formerly the Prince Regent Nature Reserve, is a protected area in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. In 1978 the area was nominated as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.
Land
The national park covers a tota ...
and the
Drysdale River National Park along with
Gregory National Park and
Keep River National Park across in the Northern Territory, which preserves similar habitats. (Keep River's nearest town is
Kununurra in the Kimberley.)
The Kimberley is a popular tourist destination, with areas such as the
Bungle Bungle Range
The Bungle Bungle Range is a major landform and the main feature of the Purnululu National Park, situated in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Formation
The distinctive beehive-shaped towers are made up of sandstones and conglomera ...
, the
Gibb River Road,
Lake Argyle,
El Questro Station,
Mornington Sanctuary
Mornington Sanctuary, formerly Mornington Station, is a nature reserve in the Kimberley region of north-west Western Australia. It contains the Mornington Wilderness Camp and is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC ...
,
Horizontal Falls
The Horizontal Falls, or Horizontal Waterfalls, nicknamed the "Horries" and known as Garaanngaddim by the local Indigenous people, are an unusual natural phenomenon on the coast of the Kimberley region in Western Australia, where tidal flows c ...
and
Cape Leveque
Cape Leveque is at the northernmost tip of the Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Cape Leveque is (via the Cape Leveque Road) north of Broome, and is remote with few facilities. Nevertheless, the Cape's sandy beach ...
. The Gibb River Road and the road into the Bungle Bungles can at times be accessed in a
two-wheel drive car, although one can access many additional areas in a
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 ca ...
vehicle.
Other parks in the region include
Geikie Gorge National Park,
Mirima National Park,
Mitchell River National Park,
Point Coulomb National Park,
Purnululu National Park,
Tunnel Creek National Park,
Windjana Gorge National Park and
Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater National Park. In 2012 the Western Australian government announced the creation of the 7,062 square kilometre Camden Sound Marine Park with a further three to come.
Visitors to the area should be aware that the area can be subject to controlled burns at any time of year. In September 2011, a fire burned five people, two severely, who had been competing in the Kimberley Ultramarathon, an endurance
cross country footrace.
Save the Kimberley campaign
The Wilderness Society has led a campaign to protest a proposal to industrialize the
James Price Point area of Broome. The
Woodside
Woodside may refer to:
Places and buildings Australia
* Woodside, South Australia, a town
* Woodside, Victoria, a town
Canada
* Woodside National Historic Site, the boyhood home of William Lyon Mackenzie King
*Woodside, Nova Scotia, a neighbo ...
corporation, with the additional involvement of
BHP Billiton and the Australian government, has sought to build a gas industrial complex, and those in opposition believe that such a development threatens the region. The campaign has received support from public figures such as
John Butler, Clare Bowditch,
Missy Higgins and former leader of the Australian Greens,
Bob Brown.
On 5 October 2012, a concert was held at
Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia, to raise awareness of the campaign; the protest event attracted approximately 6,000 people.
On 24 February 2013, an estimated 20,000 people gathered for a charity concert
in
Fremantle, Western Australia to raise awareness and funds to help protect the Kimberley, with performances from
Ball Park Music
Ball Park Music are an Australian five-piece indie rock band from Brisbane, who formed in 2008. The band consists of Sam Cromack, Jennifer Boyce, Paul Furness, Dean Hanson and Daniel Hanson. Their debut studio album '' Happiness and Surroundin ...
, Missy Higgins, and John Butler.
Economy
The Kimberley region has a diverse regional economy. Mining, construction, tourism, retail, agriculture, and pearling are major contributors to the region's economic output.
The town of
Broome has a flourishing
pearling industry, which operates around the Kimberley coast. Some of the major farmers are Paspaley Pearls, Clipper Pearls, Broome Pearls and the Willie Creek Pearl Farm.
One third of the world's annual production of
diamonds
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
is mined at the
Argyle and the
Ellendale diamond mines.
Oil is extracted from the
Blina oil field and
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...
is expected to be taken from offshore sources soon.
Zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
and
lead were mined at the Pillara and Cadjebut mines near Fitzroy Crossing, with nickel still being mined at Sallay Mallay near Halls Creek.
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
is the nearest export base for shipping these metals.
Traditionally, the economy depended on
pastoral leases
A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands.
Australia
Pastoral leas ...
, with most of the region covered by the leases.
More recently agriculture has been focused on the
Ord River Irrigation Area near
Kununurra. Irrigation was also trialled in the West Kimberley by way of the now defunct
Camballin Irrigation Scheme
The Camballin Irrigation Scheme consisted of the Fitzroy River Barrage (Western Australia), Fitzroy River Barrage, the Seventeen Mile Dam, Company Pump, numerous irrigation channels, a seventeen kilometre levee bank, silos for grain storage which ...
. There are also fruit growers in Broome and in other areas in the West Kimberley. Beef cattle are grown in the Kimberley and exported live. Wyndham features the last remaining meatworks in the Kimberley - there were formerly works at Broome and Derby but financial constraints have caused these to be closed.
Barramundi are bred in
Lake Argyle, and Broome features a fully equipped Aquaculture Park near the port; tenants include Paspaley Pearls and Broome
TAFE. The Kimberley also has a thriving fishing industry.
Some of Australia's most prominent indigenous artists and art centres are in or adjacent to the Kimberley region. Artists such as
Paddy Bedford and
Freddie Timms
Freddy Timms (1946, Bedford Downs Station – 2017) was an Australian indigenous artist from the Kimberley region.
Life and art
Timms commenced painting on canvas in the 1990s at Turkey Creek / Warmun in the Kimberley region of Western Austral ...
have an international profile, and there are a number of Aboriginal-owned and controlled art centres and companies that assist artists, arrange exhibitions and sell works. The art centres in the region are also organized through the Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists. Issues have been raised regarding the exploitation of indigenous artists by businesses and individuals, including in the Kimberley, which were canvassed in an
Australian Senate parliamentary committee report.
Tourism is expected to remain one of the Kimberley region's major growth industries. Averaged across 2010, 2011, and 2012, there were 292,600 domestic and international visitors to the Kimberley annually.
[
]
See also
* List of pastoral leases in Western Australia
* Kimberley-Perth Canal
* Kimberley Plan
References
;General
*
External links
*
Kimberley Development Commission
Kununurra Historical Society Inc. Archive, Library, Museum & Research for links to history images of the Kimberley
{{coord, -16, 126, display=title
Regions of Western Australia
Physiographic provinces
Drainage basins of Australia