Mapoon Shire

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Shire of Mapoon
Mapoon LGA Qld.png
Location of the Mapoon Shire in Queensland
structure
State : Australia Australia
State : Flag of Queensland.svg Queensland
Administrative headquarters: Mapoon
Dates and numbers
Area : 537.1  km²
Residents : 310 (2016)
Population density : 0.6 inhabitants per km²
Website: www.mapoon.com

Coordinates: 11 ° 21 '  S , 142 ° 20'  O The Mapoon Aboriginal Shire is a local government area (LGA) in the Australian state of Queensland . The area is 537 km² and has about 300 inhabitants.

geography

The Shire is located on the west coast of the Cape York Peninsula in the north of the state on the Gulf of Carpentaria about 500 km west of Cairns and 1830 km north of the capital Brisbane . It consists of two non-contiguous parts, a strip along the coast in the mouth of the Wenlock and Ducie Rivers and an inland area in the headwaters of the Wenlock.

Almost all residents live in the settlement of Mapoon in the northwest of the LGA at the mouth of the Wenlock River.

history

In 1891, the Mapoon Mission was founded at Port Musgrave at the mouth of the Wenlock River to take in the Aborigines who had been displaced by whites through the settlement of the Cape York Peninsula . Up to 1500 indigenous people lived there and there was agriculture and cattle breeding. After the Second World War, bauxite was discovered in the region and large parts of the land were leased to mining companies. The mission closed in 1962. The Aborigines resisted the closure but were nevertheless distributed to a new settlement New Mapoon in the north and Weipa in the south. It was not until 1974 that some families were able to return to the land provided. In 1989 the natives finally got the land around Mapoon officially back and in 2002 the Mapoon Shire was given to them for local self-government.

administration

The Mapoon Council has five members. The Mayor and four other Councilors are elected by all residents of the Shire. The LGA is not divided into electoral districts.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics : Mapoon (S) ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2020.