The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative

regions of Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is divided into regions according to a number of systems. The most common system is the WA Government division of the state into regions for economic development purposes, which comprises nine defined regions; however, t ...

. It is located in the northwest 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 ...

, and 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 phrase i ...

of Carnarvon,

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of town ...

Shark Bay Shark Bay (Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the ...

and

Upper Gascoyne The Shire of Upper Gascoyne is a local government area in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, inland from Carnarvon and about north of the state capital, Perth. The Shire has an area of , much of which is uninhabited land or sparsely ve ...

. The Gascoyne has about of Indian Ocean coastline; extends inland about ; and has an area of , Estimated resident population, 30 June 2019. including islands.

Population

The Gascoyne has the lowest population of any region of Western Australia, with about 9,277 people. The majority of residents are non-Aboriginal people born in Australia (74%). Just over half live in Carnarvon (4,426) where Aboriginal residents account for 18% of the population. Other centres are

, Denham,

Gascoyne Junction The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gasco ...

and Coral Bay.

Climate

The Gascoyne has a moderate arid tropical, climate. It is generally warm all year round, with mean maximum daily temperatures ranging from in July to in January. The region receives about 320 days of sunshine per year. Annual rainfall is low and variable, averaging about , most of which occurs as a result of cyclonic activity. Because of the semi-arid climate, most of the Gascoyne is covered in scrub, primarily spinifex and mulga, with very little tree cover.

Economy

Horticulture is the major industry of the Gascoyne region. Bananas, tomatoes, grapefruit, mangoes, table grapes and a range of vegetable products are grown along the Gascoyne River. Climatic advantages enable the growers to meet out-of-season demand both locally and in export markets. Fishing is also a major industry with prawn, scallop, crab and wet line fishing operations based in Carnarvon and Exmouth. In the mining sector, salt and gypsum are mined at Lake MacLeod, north of Carnarvon. Tourism is an important industry, due to the warm dry climate and the long coastline, which includes the Ningaloo Reef and the Shark Bay World Heritage Site. The pastoral industry was historically important but is no longer a major contributor to the economy. It represents the region's main land use: in 1994 84% of the Gascoyne's land area was covered by

pastoral lease 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 lease ...

History

Before its discovery by Europeans, the Gascoyne had been home to Indigenous Australians for thousands of years. The first known European to land in the region was Dirk Hartog in 1616; other early visitors include

Willem Jansz 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 So ...

, William Dampier, Nicolas Baudin, and Phillip King. In September 1834 the presence of pearl shell and

guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...

were noted by Thomas Hunt of the

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

''Monkey'', while searching for the wreck of the barque ''Mercury''.

became the site of

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 first pearling industry when production of mother-of-pearl began in January 1850. In 1839, George Grey explored the area and named the Gascoyne River after Captain John Gascoyne RN, son of Bamber Gascoyne, a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty. Captain Gascoyne was a committee member of the London-based ''Western Australian Missionary Society'' and a member of the ''London Association for the Protection of the Interests of the Colony''. In 1858

Francis Gregory Francis Hoyt Gregory (October 9, 1789 – October 4, 1866) was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812 through to the Civil War, serving then as a rear admiral. Early life Gregory was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the son of M ...

explored the region and subsequently publicized it as highly suitable to pastoralism. Settlement began in the 1860s, and the town of Carnarvon was gazetted in 1883. By 1880 the area was home to approximately 20,000 sheep on a number of sheep stations in the area. In 2021, 4 year old girl

Cleo Smith Cleo Smith, a four-year-old Australian girl, disappeared on 16 October 2021 from a campsite in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia (WA). Police allege that she was child abduction, abducted by a 36-year-old man from Carnarvon, Western Aus ...

was abducted and later found in Carnarvon.

2010 floods

December 2010 Gascoyne River flood The 2010 Gascoyne River flood was regarded as the most severe flood to take place along the Gascoyne River in Western Australia on record. Triggered by record-breaking rainfall, amounting to over 6,000 percent of the monthly mean, and respect ...

References

External links

Gascoyne Development Commission
{{coord, -22, 115, display=title Regions of Western Australia