Kununurra, Western Australia
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| Kununurra Western Australia |
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 Location of Kununurra in Western Australia (red) |
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| Population: | 4,788 | ||||||
| Established: | 1960s | ||||||
| Postcode: | 6743 | ||||||
| Elevation: | 47 m | ||||||
| Location: | |||||||
| LGA: | Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley | ||||||
| State District: | Kimberley | ||||||
| Federal Division: | Kalgoorlie | ||||||
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Kununurra (; post code: 6743) is a town in far northern Western Australia located at the eastern side of the Kimberley Region close to the border with the Northern Territory. It is the largest Western Australian town north of Broome, with 4,800 inhabitants, many of whom are Indigenous Australians.
"Kununurra" comes from the Miriwoong language and means "river". Lake Argyle, Australia's largest artificial lake, over 100 km² in size, is 72 km from the town. The town is relatively new and was gazetted in the late 1950s, at the time that the Ord River Irrigation scheme was set up.
The scheme involved damming the Ord River and building a diversion dam 50km downstream so that the waters can be directed to irrigate about 750 km² of land. By 1966 there were 31 farms on the Ord River plains. By 1972 the second stage of the scheme was completed with the opening of the Lake Argyle Dam.
The town also has a 'Celebrity Tree Park' with many trees planted by famous people including Rolf Harris.
[edit] Nearby attractions
[edit] External link
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- Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
- Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
- Kununurra
- walkabout in Kununurra
