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Eyre Peninsula
The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north.
Earlier called Eyre's Peninsula, it was named after explorer Edward John Eyre, who explored parts of the peninsula in 1839–41. The coastline was first charted by the expeditions of Matthew Flinders in 1801–02 and French explorer Nicolas Baudin around the same time. Flinders also named the nearby Yorke's Peninsula and Spencer's Gulph on the same voyage.
The peninsula's economy is primarily agricultural, with growing aquaculture, mining, and tourism sectors. The main towns are Port Lincoln in the south, Whyalla and Port Augusta in the northeast, and Ceduna in the northwest. Port Lincoln (Galinyala in Barngarla), Whyalla and Port Augusta (Goordnada) are part of the Barngarla Aboriginal country. Ceduna is within Wirangu country.
The peninsula was named after explorer Edward John Eyre on 7 November 1839 by George Gawler, the second Governor of South Australia.
The peninsula's coastline boundary was defined in 1839 as "Spencer's Gulf in its whole length, to the southern ocean from Cape Catastrophe to the western point of Denial Bay." Its northern boundary was described in 1978 as follows: "no official boundary [has] ever [been] proclaimed but the common sense choice would be to draw a straight line from Yorkey Crossing to the northernmost point of Denial Bay."
As at 30 June 2010, the peninsula had a population of 58,700 people. The peninsula is home to 3.6% of South Australia's population. An estimated 2,500 people, 4.4% of the population, is indigenous.
The major industry is farming — cereal crops, sheep, and cattle in the drier north, and more water-intensive activities such as dairy farming and a growing wine industry in the south. Many coastal towns have commercial fishing fleets, the largest at Port Lincoln. The town has previously harbored a large tuna-fishing fleet, which is gradually transforming its practice to fish farming with the growth of sea cage aquaculture for tuna and yellowtail kingfish. Oyster farming was established in the 1980s and occurs in several sheltered bays, including Coffin Bay, Franklin Harbour (near Cowell in Spencer Gulf) and Smoky Bay off the west coast.
Since 1919, gypsum has been mined at Lake MacDonnell, the largest deposit of gypsum in the southern hemisphere, and is shipped from Thevenard. As of 2022[update], production is over 1 million tonnes per annum.
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Eyre Peninsula
The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north.
Earlier called Eyre's Peninsula, it was named after explorer Edward John Eyre, who explored parts of the peninsula in 1839–41. The coastline was first charted by the expeditions of Matthew Flinders in 1801–02 and French explorer Nicolas Baudin around the same time. Flinders also named the nearby Yorke's Peninsula and Spencer's Gulph on the same voyage.
The peninsula's economy is primarily agricultural, with growing aquaculture, mining, and tourism sectors. The main towns are Port Lincoln in the south, Whyalla and Port Augusta in the northeast, and Ceduna in the northwest. Port Lincoln (Galinyala in Barngarla), Whyalla and Port Augusta (Goordnada) are part of the Barngarla Aboriginal country. Ceduna is within Wirangu country.
The peninsula was named after explorer Edward John Eyre on 7 November 1839 by George Gawler, the second Governor of South Australia.
The peninsula's coastline boundary was defined in 1839 as "Spencer's Gulf in its whole length, to the southern ocean from Cape Catastrophe to the western point of Denial Bay." Its northern boundary was described in 1978 as follows: "no official boundary [has] ever [been] proclaimed but the common sense choice would be to draw a straight line from Yorkey Crossing to the northernmost point of Denial Bay."
As at 30 June 2010, the peninsula had a population of 58,700 people. The peninsula is home to 3.6% of South Australia's population. An estimated 2,500 people, 4.4% of the population, is indigenous.
The major industry is farming — cereal crops, sheep, and cattle in the drier north, and more water-intensive activities such as dairy farming and a growing wine industry in the south. Many coastal towns have commercial fishing fleets, the largest at Port Lincoln. The town has previously harbored a large tuna-fishing fleet, which is gradually transforming its practice to fish farming with the growth of sea cage aquaculture for tuna and yellowtail kingfish. Oyster farming was established in the 1980s and occurs in several sheltered bays, including Coffin Bay, Franklin Harbour (near Cowell in Spencer Gulf) and Smoky Bay off the west coast.
Since 1919, gypsum has been mined at Lake MacDonnell, the largest deposit of gypsum in the southern hemisphere, and is shipped from Thevenard. As of 2022[update], production is over 1 million tonnes per annum.