Source: Bureau of Meteorology, Australia, data: 1992–2002, 1870–1992
Dalby is a city in Queensland , Australia . It is located about 210 kilometers west of the capital Brisbane and 85 kilometers northwest of Toowoomba . The city has about 12,000 inhabitants and is the seat of the Dalby Regional Council.
Dalby was first settled in the 1840s when the first explorers explored the area and took possession of the land. In 1844, the famous explorer Ludwig Leichhardt was one of the visitors to the settlement. In 1853 the settlement received the status of a city and its name. The name was chosen by Samuel Perry, apparently based on the city of the same name on the Isle of Man .
Dalby is at the intersection of several major highways. The Warrego Highway continues from Roma in the west to Toowoomba in the southeast. The Moonie Highway comes from St. George and the Bunya Highway from Kingaroy in the northeast. Dalby received a rail link to Ipswich in 1868 and is still connected to the Queensland Rail network today .
Dalby is centrally located in an agricultural area. Wheat and cotton are grown on a large scale, but livestock farming is also widespread. Lately there has been an economic reorientation towards mining and power generation. A large coal-fired power station is being built west of Dalby and several coal mines are being developed in the immediate vicinity. In addition, several production facilities for natural gas are being built. In Dalby itself, the first plant in Australia to produce bioethanol as fuel is built.
