Karratha is a city in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, adjoining the port of Dampier. It was established in 1968 to accommodate the processing and exportation workforce of the

Hamersley Iron Pilbara Iron is a wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational Rio Tinto Group, that manages assets for Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto, and Robe River Iron Associates, an unincorporated joint venture between Rio ...

mining company and, in the 1980s, the

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

and

liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...

operations of the

North West Shelf Venture The North West Shelf Venture, situated in the north-west of Western Australia, is Australia's largest resource development project. It involves the extraction of petroleum (mostly natural gas and condensate) at offshore production platforms, o ...

. As of June 2018, Karratha had an urban population of 16,708. The city's name comes from the

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

of the same name, which derives from a word in a local Aboriginal language meaning "good country" or "soft earth". The city is the seat of government of the

City of Karratha The City of Karratha is one of the four local government areas in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It covers an area of and had a population of about 21,500 as at the 2016 Census, most of which is located in its seat of government, the ...

, a

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 ...

covering the surrounding region.

Geography

Karratha, an isolated city, is located approximately north of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and west of

Port Hedland A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

on the

North West Coastal Highway North West Coastal Highway is a generally north-south Western Australian highway which links the coastal city of Geraldton with the town of Port Hedland. The road, constructed as a sealed two-lane single carriageway, travels through remote and ...

. It is at the south central end of

Nickol Bay Nickol Bay is a bay between the Burrup Peninsula and Dixon Island, on the Pilbara coast in Western Australia. Once alternatively spelled "Nicol Bay", it was named by John Septimus Roe for a sailor who was lost overboard during an expedition. ...

, which has had settlements on the bay since the 1860s. The city is roughly rectangular in layout and is located on flat land adjacent to Nickol Bay. Tidal salt flats and areas of mangrove separate the city from the sea. Immediately to the rear of the city (south) lies a line of low hills.

Climate

Karratha has a hot

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(BSh), that just avoids a hot

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(BWh)

classification Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes. It may also refer to: Business, organizat ...

. Temperatures are warm to hot all year round, with low rainfall, most of which falls in late summer due to the influence of

tropical cyclones A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Dependi ...

and the

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 oscil ...

, although there is a second rainfall peak in early winter as the northern edges of

cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface trough of low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropical cyclone (to the west in the Norther ...

s occasionally cause rain in the region. It is very rare for any rain to fall in the period from August to December. Winter temperatures rarely drop below 10 °C, while maximums stay in the mid to high 20s °C's and days are sunny with low humidity. Summers are very hot and usually dry although the erratic influence of the monsoon can cause periods of high humidity and

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

s. The record high temperature is 48.4 °C (119.1 °F), which was set 13 January 2022, while the record low is 6.9 °C (44.4 °F). The highest monthly rainfall on record was 348.8mm (13.7 in) in February 2011, owing to the passage of Tropical Cyclone Carlos and several other monsoonal lows over Karratha.

Population

In June 2018, there were 16,708 people in Karratha, a decline from the recent peak of 17,927 in 2013. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. According to the 2016 census: * 65.7% of people in Karratha were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were New Zealand 5.3%, Philippines 3.0%, England 2.9%, South Africa 1.5% and India 1.3%. * 76.2% of people in Karratha spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Tagalog 1.7%, Filipino 1.1%, Afrikaans 0.8% and Mandarin 0.7%. * The most common responses for religion were No Religion 35.3% and Catholic 22.0%. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, predominantly

Ngarluma The Ngarluma are an Indigenous Australian people of the western Pilbara area of northwest Australia. They are coastal dwellers of the area around Roebourne and Karratha. Not including Millstream. Language The Ngarluma language belongs to the ...

, make up 10.1% of the population. The Yinidbarndi,

Yaburara The Yapurarra or Jaburara, also rendered Yaburara, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional lands are in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and the Dampier Archipelago. Language The Jaburara language (Yaburarra) is thought to h ...

, Mardudhunera, and Woon-goo-tt-oo peoples have lived in the surrounding area for approximately 50,000 years.

Economy

Karratha's economic base includes the

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

operations of the

Rio Tinto Group Rio Tinto Group is an Anglo-Australian Multinational corporation, multinational company that is the world's second-largest metals and mining corporation (behind BHP). The company was founded in 1873 when of a group of investors purchased a mine ...

, sea-salt mining,

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...

export operations, North West Shelf

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 carbo ...

Project,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's largest natural resource development, the newest

Project called Pluto LNG which is situated adjacent the existing North West Shelf LNG facility and

Ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...

/Technical

Ammonium Nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is ...

production facility of

Yara International Yara International ASA is a Norwegian chemical company. It produces, distributes, and sells nitrogen-based mineral fertilizers and related industrial products. Its product line also includes phosphate and potash-based mineral fertilizers, as well ...

. Karratha came into being in 1968 due to the tremendous growth of the iron-ore industry and the need for a new regional centre caused by a shortage of land in Dampier. Karratha has the largest shopping centre in the Pilbara, Karratha City, which has major food and grocery retailers and department store chains. It was opened in 1986 as ''Karratha City'' and expanded in 2005. The centre also serves the neighbouring towns of Dampier, Wickham and Roebourne. There is also a smaller centre, ''Karratha Village'', which has health services including a pharmacy and medical and dental practices. The Karratha Health Campus is the hospital that services the greater City of Karratha local government area, newly opened in 2018.

Facilities

Education is provided through four public primary schools, one independent public school and one private primary school, one public and one private high school (

Karratha Senior High School Karratha Senior High School is a Comprehensive education, comprehensive Public school (government funded), public Mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary education#Australia, high day school, located in Karratha, Western Australia, Karrath ...

and St Luke's College), a

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...

centre with remote university facilities. A new state of the art library was opened in 2018, Karratha Public Library. A new hospital was opened in 2018, Karratha Health Campus. Red Earth Arts Precinct opened in 2018. This venue has a theatre that can also operate as an indoor cinema, outdoor cinema, rehearsal rooms and art spaces.

Karratha Airport Karratha Airport is an airport in Karratha, Western Australia, Karratha, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The airport is from Karratha and south of Dampier, Western Australia, Dampier. History At the beginning of the iron ore ind ...

has two passenger airlines servicing the city with regular schedules:

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

and

Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin Group, Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue ...

. The airport also serves as the hub of the Pilbara's light-aircraft and helicopter services, enabling contractors to access offshore destinations and other parts of the region. Cape Preston Aerodrome

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore sponta ...

is about 70 km south of town.

Annual festivals and events

Each year in August

Pilbara Iron Pilbara Iron is a wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational Rio Tinto Group, that manages assets for Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto, and Robe River Iron Associates, an unincorporated joint venture between Rio ...

Dampier Salt Dampier Salt is an Australian salt company located in Western Australia, with operations in Dampier, Port Hedland and Lake MacLeod, and headquarters in Perth. Since beginning operations at Dampier in 1972, the company has developed into o ...

, Woodside Petroleum Limited, and other smaller companies sponsor one of the largest festivals in the North West, over two days. The name ''FeNaClNG Festival'' is derived from Fe (iron), NaCl (salt) and NG (natural gas). Red Earth Arts Festival. Cossack Art Awards.

Suburbs

Karratha is composed of 9 main suburbs: Karratha City Centre, Bulgarra, Pegs Creek, Millars Well, Nickol, Nickol West, Baynton, Baynton West, Tambrey and one industrial area, known as both the LIA (Light Industrial Area) and KIE (Karratha Industrial Estate). Karratha's housing development continues, with new villages and suburbs being built. Baynton West is currently being developed. Also a new suburb going east of Bulgarra with an indigenous name, Mulataga has received council approval. There is current development of a second industrial estate: Gap Ridge which is west of the city, past the cemetery.

Media

Radio

Radio services available in Karratha: * Karratha FM 93.7 – "Today's Hot Country" (country music format) * ABC North West WA (6KP: 702 AM) – (Part of the

ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...

Network). *

ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five minute newscasts on the hour and news briefs at half-pas ...

(6PNN: 104.1 FM) *

ABC Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

(6ABCRN: 100.9 FM) – Speciality talk and music. * TAB Racing Radio – FM 101.7 *

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

(6JJJ: 103.3 FM) – Alternative music * Hit FM (106.5) – Top 40 Music *

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back to th ...

– Radio 6KA (102.5 FM) – Classic Hits / Adult Contemporary Music format aimed at 35 years + audience. * Ngaarda Radio (92.1) Indigenous radio station - Country Music / Indigenous Music and regional news.

Television

Television services available include: *The

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

(ABC) – ABC, ABC TV Plus/Kids, ABC Me, ABC News (digital channels) *The

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

(SBS) – SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World Movies, SBS Food, NITV (digital channels) *

GWN7 GWN7 was an Australian television network serving all of Western Australia outside metropolitan Perth. It launched on 10 March 1967 as ''BTW-3'' in Bunbury. It was an affiliate of the Seven Network and served one of the largest geographic tel ...

(Golden West Network), an affiliate station of the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Netwo ...

, an affiliate station of the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

* West Digital Television, an affiliate station of the

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

(provided jointly by Prime Television and WIN Television) The programming schedule is mainly the same as the Seven, Nine and Ten stations in Perth with variations for News bulletins, sport telecasts such as the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

and

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

, children's and lifestyle programs and

infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...

produces a 30-minute regional news program each weeknight (broadcast from Bunbury) with a newsroom based in the town, covering the surrounding areas.

Newspapers

The local newspaper is ''The Pilbara News'' (owned by

Seven West Media Seven West Media Limited is an ASX-listed media company and is Australia's largest diversified media business, with an extensive presence in broadcast television, print and online publishing. Seven Group Holdings Ltd (SGH), a company control ...

, publisher of ''The West Australian''). An independent local newspaper, which included classifieds, ''The Pilbara Echo'', closed in April 2014. Newspapers from Perth including ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'' and ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' are also available, as well as national newspapers such as ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' and ''

The Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...

''.

Sport

The North Pilbara Football League (NPFL) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

league with seven teams: Karratha Kats, Karratha Falcons, Dampier Sharks, Roebourne Magpies, Wickham Wolves, Port Hedland Rovers and South Hedland Swans. The Pilbara Rugby League has 6 teams: Karratha Stormers, Karratha Broncos, Karratha Roosters, Port Hedland Juniors, South Hedland Cougars and Wickham Wasps. Soccer has 5 teams: Bulgarra Glory, Karratha Snow Whites, Nickol, Dampier Red Dogs and Salt. West Pilbara Cricket Association has 6 teams: Karratha Kats,

Baynton Lions Baynton may refer to: Places * Baynton, Victoria * Baynton House, Coulston, Wiltshire, England *Baynton and Baynton West, suburbs of Karratha, Western Australia Karratha is a city in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, adjoining the port o ...

Rec Club REC or Rec is a shortening of Recording, the process of capturing data onto a storage medium. REC may also refer to: Educational institutes * Regional Engineering College, colleges of engineering and technology education in India * Rajalakshmi E ...

Dampier Taverners Dampier may refer to: * Dampier, Western Australia – a port in the Pilbara region * Division of Dampier, an electoral division in Western Australia from 1913 to 1922 * Dampier County, one of the 141 cadastral divisions of New South Wales in Austra ...

, Wickham Wallabies and Pegs Creek Crabs. Kats are the current champions and won the trophy against Baynton Lions (Baynton Lions is a new team competing first time in 15–16 season and reaching both 40-40 and 20-20 finals.)

References

External links

Map of Karratha
{{Authority control Port cities and towns of the Indian Ocean Port cities in Western Australia Mining towns in Western Australia City of Karratha