Geraldton (Australia)

Geraldton
State :  Australia State : Western Australia Founded : 1850
Coordinates : 28 ° 46 ′  S , 114 ° 36 ′  E Coordinates: 28 ° 46 ′  S , 114 ° 36 ′  E Area : 189  km²
Residents : 31,982 (2016) Population density : 169 inhabitants per km²
Time zone : AWST (UTC + 8)
LGA : City of Greater Geraldton Website : www.cgg.wa.gov.au
Geraldton

Geraldton is a city in Western Australia , about 424 kilometers north of Perth . With around 32,000 inhabitants (2016) Geraldton is the fifth largest city in Western Australia. It is an important fishing, sheep breeding, open pit, wheat and tourism center. Geraldton is also an important port.

history

The St. Francis Xavier Cathedral

The first European to explore this area was George Gray in 1839. Ten years later, the explorer Augustus Gregory traveled through the region. He found a first gold vein on the Murchison River . The mine that was subsequently opened was named Geraldine after Governor Charles Fitzgerald . The city of Geraldton was founded in 1850.

In 1922, Western Australian Airways opened Australia's first regular airline in Geraldton . The destination was Derby .

Attractions

Memorial in Geraldton

In 1916 construction began on St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, which had not been completed by 1938.

A memorial to the victims of the HMAS Sydney was erected on a hill with a remarkable view of the city . The memorial consists, among other things, of a large, partially permeable metal dome, a statue of a waiting woman looking out over the sea and a water installation sunk into the ground. The light cruiser disappeared with its entire crew northwest of Geraldton after a battle in World War II with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran and its wreck was only discovered on March 16, 2008 north of Geraldton.

climate

Geraldton has dry, warm summer months and a mild winter. The climate is determined on the one hand by the humid air due to the location by the sea and on the other hand by the dry winds from the outback .

Geraldton
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     5.8   32 18th     12   33 19th     17th   31 18th     25th   28 15th     73   24 13     105   21st 11     95   20th 9     65   20th 9     32   22nd 9     20th   24 11     9.8   27 14th     5.7   29 16 Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: Bureau of Meteorology, Australia, data: 1941–2002

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Geraldton Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 31.7 32.6 30.8 27.6 23.8 20.7 19.5 20.0 22.0 24.4 27.0 29.4 O 25.8 Min. Temperature (° C) 18.3 19.1 17.9 15.4 12.8 10.9 9.4 8.9 9.2 10.9 13.8 16.3 O 13.5 Precipitation ( mm ) 5.8 11.8 17.1 25.4 72.6 104.9 95.1 65.1 32.4 19.9 9.8 5.7 Σ 465.6 Rainy days ( d ) 1.7 2.3 2.9 6.0 10.1 13.8 14.7 12.6 9.7 7.0 4.0 2.2 Σ 87 Source: Bureau of Meteorology, Australia, data: 1941–2002

Surroundings

North of Geraldton is Northampton , as well as the Hutt River Province , which has been claiming an independent state since its self-proclaimed separation from Western Australia in 1969. The islands of the Houtman Abrolhos Archipelago are 60 km west of Geraldton. The region is famous, among other things, for the wreck of the Batavia ship from 1629 . A wind farm was completed in 2005, 25 km south of Geraldton near Walkaway. It consists of 54 wind turbines, each 80 meters high, each with a nominal output of 1.8 megawatts.

Near the city is a station of the Echelon spy system , the Australian Defense Satellite Communications Station .

On a headland west of Geraldton is the Moore Point Lighthouse , the largest all-metal lighthouse in the country.

sons and daughters of the town

• Edith Cowan (1861–1932), social reformer, child and women's rights activist
• Justin Norris (* 1980), Australian swimmer
• Todd Pearson (born 1977), Australian swimmer
• Randolph Stow (1935-2010), Australian writer

Web links

Commons : Geraldton, Western Australia  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official site of the city
• AUSTRALIEN-INFO.DE: Description of the city, the surrounding area and its sights

Individual evidence

1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics : Geraldton (Urban Center / Locality) ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
2. ↑ HMAS Sydney II Memorial Geraldton WA , Official Site of the Memorial
3. ^ Bureau of Meteorology, Australia: Klimainformationen Geraldton. World Meteorological Organization, accessed April 6, 2012 .