Port Hedland

Port Hedland
Climate diagram
	Temperature in ° C , precipitation in mm
	Source: WMO ; wetterkontor.de

Port Hedland

Iron ore train arriving in Port Hedland, pulled by 3 pairs of locomotives

State :	Australia Australia
State :	Western Australia

Coordinates :	20 ° 18 ′ S , 118 ° 38 ′ E Coordinates: 20 ° 18 ′ S , 118 ° 38 ′ E-20.3 118.63333333333 8
Height :	8 m
Area :	11,844 km²

Residents :	13,828 (2016)
Population density :	1.2 inhabitants per km²

Time zone :	AWST (UTC + 8)
Postal code :	6721

LGA :	Town of Port Hedland
Website :	www.porthedland.wa.gov.au

Port Hedland

[[Category: Place in Western Australia ]]

Port Hedland is one of the largest cities in the Australian state of Western Australia with around 13,800 inhabitants . The port of Port Hedland , through which mainly iron ore is exported, is one of the largest ports for bulk cargo in the world.

history

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the region was inhabited by people from the Kariyarra tribe, who called the place Marapikurrinya , which roughly means "pointing hand" and indicates the outline of the bay.

In 1863 Peter Hedland, the captain of the Mystery , reached the place where the city was later to be founded. The bay, initially called Mangrove Harbor , was renamed in his honor.

climate

Port Hedland's climate is hot all year round and exceptionally harsh. Temperatures reach an extreme 47 ° C in January and a very warm 25 ° C in July. Annual rainfall (almost exclusively between December and June) brings an average of 300 mm of rain, but these values fluctuate from year to year due to unpredictable cyclones . To illustrate, in 1942 it fell 1040 mm, in 1944 it only fell 28 mm, and it did not rain in the city for more than 300 days.

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Port Hedland

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C )	36.3	36.1	36.8	35.1	30.4	27.5	27.0	29.0	32.3	34.5	36.0	36.5	O	33.1
Min. Temperature (° C)	25.4	25.3	24.4	21.3	17.2	14.1	12.2	13.1	15.3	18.2	21.1	23.9	O	19.3

Precipitation ( mm )	59.6	98.0	43.0	23.7	30.2	20.9	10.5	5.6	0.9	1.0	2.8	19.6	Σ	315.8

Rainy days ( d )	4.8	7.2	4.1	1.9	3.3	2.8	2.0	1.2	0.7	0.7	0.5	1.9	Σ	31.1

Humidity ( % )	63	66	60	53	51	52	49	48	48	51	53	58	O	54.3

Source: WMO ; wetterkontor.de

economy

Iron ore mines and port

The city is the most important transshipment point for iron ore in the Pilbara region, which is delivered by rail via three different lines and shipped via the port of Port Hedland . The volume of exported iron ore has increased steadily since the beginning in 1966. The port's annual handling volume in the 2015/16 financial year was 454.2 million tons (for comparison, see the list of the world's largest ports ). After further expansion, the port will be the world's largest export port for bulk goods from 2017.

Also, the natural gas on the coast is an important source of income. ( see also: Nextgen Darwin – Port Hedland )

Cattle and sheep breeding used to play a major role in the region, but this source of income has declined and is no longer too important. Today only two percent of the goods sold are not iron ore.

tourism

A natural phenomenon that takes place at very specific times is the so-called stairway to the moon , which is caused by a specific constellation of moonlight and the tides.

traffic

Port Hedland has an airport (IATA: PHE, ICAO: YPPD) with national and international connections.

Port Hedland is connected to the long-distance bus network; the city of Perth , about 1,660 kilometers away by road , can be reached several times a week in about 22 to 26 hours. Driving time to Darwin is approximately 31 hours.

Port Hedland Internment Camp for Boat Refugees

In May 1991 the Port Hedland Immigration Reception and Processing Center was founded to intern boat refugees , mainly from Cambodia , in immigration detention in accordance with Australia's new migration and asylum policy . Port Hedland was considered a suitable place for such an internment camp because of its great distance from the major cities. There was also an international airport that would allow deportations if necessary. The internment camp was originally designed for 820 asylum seekers . The internment camp was operated by a private service company on behalf of the Howard government in the late 1990s . There were many protests, escape attempts and suicide attempts by the prisoners. In 2004 the camp was closed due to falling numbers of asylum seekers.

There were also unexplained deaths, such as the case of Mohammed Saleh , who died in solitary confinement in the detention center in June 2001. The Australian daily The Australian reported that the death remained unsolved due to alleged cover-ups. The cover-up was attributed to both the private security company Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) and the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA). ACM operated several Australian internment camps as a private company on behalf of the above-mentioned department.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics : Port Hedland (Urban Center / Locality) ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2020.

↑ Town of Port Hedland - History ( engl. ) Archived from the original on 10 December 2006. Information: The archive link is automatically inserted and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 20, 2011. @1@ 2

↑ ^a ^b ^c Patrick Zoll: A beating heart made of iron ore . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . August 16, 2016, p. 27 ( article on NZZ Online ).

↑ Record annual throughput for 2015/16. In: Pilbara Ports Authority. July 11, 2016, accessed on August 16, 2016 .

^ Port Hedland International Airport

↑ AUSTRALIAN BUS AND TRAIN JOURNEY PLANNER - LOCATION DETAILS ( engl. ) Accessed 20 August 2011.

↑ Port Hedland Detention Center '' , o. A.,. on the Shire of Port Hedland. Retrieved April 4, 2017

^ A deadly shock to our system , October 12, 2002, on The Australian (source from elisabethwynhausen.com). Retrieved April 4, 2017

[1] Australian Bureau of Statistics : Port Hedland (Urban Center / Locality) ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2020.