Urandangi (formerly also spelled Urandangie) is an

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

town in the

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

of Piturie in the

Shire of Boulia The Shire of Boulia is a local government area in Central West Queensland, bordering the Northern Territory. Its administrative centre is in the town of Boulia.It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity since 1887. The ...

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 , established_ ...

, Australia.

Geography

The town is located on the banks of the Georgina River in Central West Queensland, north west of the state capital,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and south west of the regional centre of Mount Isa. Urandangi is in the Channel Country. All watercourses in this area are part of the

Lake Eyre drainage basin The Lake Eyre basin ( ) is a drainage basin that covers just under one-sixth of all Australia. It is the largest endorheic basin in Australia and amongst the largest in the world, covering about , including much of inland Queensland, large port ...

, and most will dry up before their water reaches

Lake Eyre Lake Eyre ( ), officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in east-central Far North South Australia, some north of Adelaide. The shallow lake is the depocentre of the vast endorheic Lake Eyre basin, and contains the ...

. The predominant land use is

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

on native vegetation. The Marmanya Aboriginal community is located in Urandangi.

History

'' Waluwarra'' (also known as ''Warluwarra'', ''Walugara'', and ''Walukara'') is an Australian Aboriginal language of Western Queensland. Its traditional language region is the local government area of

, including Walgra Station and Wolga, from Roxborough Downs north to Carandotta Station and Urandangi on the Georgina River, on Moonah Creek to Rochedale, south-east of Pituri Creek. An unnamed township was established 2 August 1883. On 12 December 1884, it was officially named Urandangi. The name is believed to be derived Aboriginal words, ''uranda-ngie'', meaning ''much gidyea''. The township was a centre for travellers and drovers where a stock route crossed the Georgina River. By 1920 Urandangi had a pub, two stores, post office, police station and a dance hall. Urandangie Provisional School opened circa 1898. On 1 January 1909 it became Urandangie State School. It closed circa 1910, but reopened on 30 January 1922. It closed circa 1933. On 11 April 1994 Urandangi State School (slightly different spelling) opened.

Facilities

Today, Urandangi's only major facility is the Urandangi Hotel (also known as the "Dangi Pub").

Education

Urandangi State School is a government primary (Early Childhood-6) school for boys and girls on the Urandangi North Road (). It had only 8 students enrolled in 2015. In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 8 students with 2 teachers and 2 non-teaching staff (1 full-time equivalent). There are no secondary schools in Urandangi. The nearest secondary school is in Mount Isa but too far for a daily commute. The

Spinifex State College Spinifex State College is a public, co-educational, day and boarding school located in Mount Isa, Queensland. It first opened in 2003. History Prior to 2003 Mount Isa was serviced by two state secondary schools. Mount Isa State High School a ...

in Mount Isa offers boarding facilities. Other boarding schools or

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

would be options.

References

External links

Urandangi as seen in 2001
National Library of Australia * * How a determined pub owner transformed Urandangi into a peaceful patch of country Queensland https://amp.abc.net.au/article/100757266 {{authority control Towns in Queensland Populated places established in 1885 Shire of Boulia