Joseph Bonaparte Gulf is a large body of water off the coast of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

and

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 part of the

Timor Sea The Timor Sea ( id, Laut Timor, pt, Mar de Timor, tet, Tasi Mane or ) is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the Arafura Sea, and to the south by Australia. The sea contains a number of reefs, ...

. It was named after

Joseph Bonaparte it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte , house = Bonaparte , father = Carlo Buonaparte , mother = Letizia Ramolino , birth_date = 7 January 1768 , birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...

, brother of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

and King of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

(1806-1808) and then

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

(1808-1813) by French explorer and naturalist

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. Biography Early career Born a comm ...

in 1803. It is also often referred to in Australia as the "Bonaparte Gulf".

Description

The

Keep River The Keep River is a river located in the Victoria Bonaparte bioregion of Western Australia and the Northern Territory in Australia. Location and features The river rises just south of the Newry Station homestead then flows in a northerly dir ...

and Victoria River drain into the gulf in the

, the former close to the Western Australia - Northern Territory border. The

Ord River The Ord River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river's catchment covers . The lower Ord River and the conjunction with Cambridge Gulf create the most northern estuarine environment in Western Australia. The Ord ...

Pentecost River Pentecost River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The Pentecost rises in the Durack Range and flows north through El Questro Station where it joins the Chamberlain River, then continues north crossing the Gibb River Ro ...

Durack River Durack River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river rises below the Durack Range then flows north, discharging into the west arm of Cambridge Gulf. There are 14 tributaries of the Durack, including Chapman River, ...

, King River and the

Forrest River The Forrest River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river rises just east of Pseudomys Hill in the Drysdale River National Park and flows in an easterly direction until discharging into the western arm of the Cambri ...

drain into the

Cambridge Gulf Cambridge Gulf is a gulf on the north coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Many rivers flow into the gulf, including the Ord River, Pentecost River, Durack River, King River and the Forrest River, making the environment an ...

, another gulf within the southern part of the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf. The

Legune (Joseph Bonaparte Bay) Important Bird Area The Legune (Joseph Bonaparte Bay) Important Bird Area comprises a low-lying, swampy, floodplain peninsula at the south-eastern end of the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf in the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia. The land is part of the Legune ...

lies at the south-eastern end of the gulf. The

Bonaparte Basin The Bonaparte Basin is a sedimentary basin in Western Australia and the Northern Territory of Australia. Its total area is approximately , most of which is offshore. The sedimentary basin emerges at the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and extends int ...

is a large sedimentary basin underlying the gulf and a large part of the

, deriving its name from the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, which has several producing and potential

oilfields A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

. The

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

of the areas around the gulf are the

Menhdheyangal The Menthe, occasionally called Menthajangal (Menhdheyangal), are an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian ...

people.

References

Web page
of ''www.tutiempo.net'' about the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf (in Spanish). {{Authority control Coastline of the Northern Territory Cambridge Gulf Kimberley coastline of Western Australia IMCRA meso-scale bioregions