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 Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...

town in the

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

of Piturie in the

Shire of Boulia The Shire of Boulia is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Central West Queensland, bordering the Northern Territory. Its administrative centre is in the town of Boulia, Queensland, Boulia.It covers an area of , and has exi ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia.

Geography

The town is located on the banks of the

Georgina River The Georgina River is the north-westernmost of the three major rivers of the Channel Country in Central West Queensland, that also flows through a portion of the Northern Territory, in central Australia. Part of the Lake Eyre basin, the Georg ...

Central West Queensland Central West Queensland (abbreviated CWQ) is a remote region in the Australian state of Queensland which covers 396,650.2 km2. The region lies to the north of South West Queensland and south of the Gulf Country. It has a population of appr ...

, north west of the state capital,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and south west of the regional centre of

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive mines in world history, based on co ...

. Urandangi is in the

Channel Country The Channel Country is a region of outback Australia mostly in the state of Queensland but also in parts of South Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales. The name comes from the numerous Braided river, intertwined rivulets that cro ...

. All watercourses in this area are part of the Lake Eyre drainage basin, 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 the east-central part of the Far North (South Australia), Far North region of South Australia, some 700 km (435 mi) north of Adelaide. It is the larg ...

. The predominant land use is

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

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 Western Queensland encompasses the three western regions in the Australian state of Queensland: * North West Queensland, often known as Gulf Country; * Central West Queensland; and * South West Queensland. History Karuwali (also known as ...

. Its traditional language region is the local government area of

, including Walgra Station and Wolga, from Roxborough Downs north to

Carandotta Station Carandotta Station, most commonly referred to as Carandotta but often spelled as Carrandotta, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Queensland, Australia. It is within the localities of Carrandotta, Queensland, Carrandotta ...

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 A stock route, also known as travelling stock route (TSR), is an authorised thoroughfare for the walking of domestic livestock such as sheep or cattle from one location to another in Australia. The stock routes across the country are colloquial ...

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. In March 2023, Urangangi was inundated with over of floodwater resulting in the evacuation of the entire town. Due to the extent of the damage, it is uncertain if the town will survive. In August 2023 and December 2024, the school was officially open but was not operating as there were no students enrolled.

Facilities

In 2023 prior to the floods, Urandangi's only major facility was the Urandangi Hotel (also known as the "Dangi Pub"). It was also the town's post office, grocery store, petrol station, and

Centrelink The Centrelink Master Program, or more commonly known as Centrelink, is a Services Australia master program of the Australian Government. It delivers a range of government payments and services for retirees, the unemployed, families, carer ...

office.

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). In 2022, the school had an enrolment of 12 students. There are no secondary schools in Urandangi. The nearest secondary school is in

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 and ...

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 school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

would be options.

References

External links

* * *
Dean Saffron photographs of Urandangi

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...

{{authority control Towns in Queensland Populated places established in 1885 Shire of Boulia