Gulf Country Information & Gulf Country Links at HealthHaven.com

Gulf Country
	Gulf Country; Queensland, Northern Territory
	; North West Queensland is also referred to as the Gulf Country
Area:	186000 km² (71,815.0 sq mi)
LGA:	Burke, Carpentaria, Flinders, Richmond, Cloncurry, McKinlay, Mount Isa
State District:	Electoral district of Mount Isa
Federal Division:	Division of Kennedy

Terrain around Lawn Hill crater

The Gulf Country is the name given to the region surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory. The region is also called the Gulf Savannah. To the west is Arnhem Land and the Top End of the Northern Territory. To the east is the Cape York Peninsula and the Far North Queensland region.

The region covers an area of 186,000 km² (72,000 sq mi).^[1] The landscape is generally flat and low-lying tropical savannah. The main land uses in the region are beef cattle and mining.

[edit] Climate

The climate is hot and humid with two seasons per year. The dry season lasts from about April until November and is characterized by very dry southeast to east winds, generated by migratory winter high pressure systems to the south. The wet season lasts from December to March and is characterised by humid northerly monsoonal airflows. This wet season can be very erratic: at Burketown, which is typical of the region, the rainfall of various wet seasons has ranged from as little as 150 millimetres (5.9 in) to as much as 2,000 millimetres (79 in). If the wet season is at all strong, low-lying areas are flooded and even the few sealed roads are cut. The Gulf is also a breeding ground for cyclones during the period between November and April.

In many other parts of Australia, there are dramatic climatic transitions over fairly short distances. The Great Dividing Range, which parallels the entire east and south-east coast, is responsible for the typical pattern of a well-watered coastal strip, a fairly narrow band of mountains, and then a vast, inward-draining plain that receives little rainfall. In the Gulf Country, however, there are no mountains to restrict rainfall to the coastal band and the transition from the profuse tropical growth of the seaside areas to the arid scrubs of central Australia is gradual.

In September and October the Morning Glory Cloud appears in the Southern Gulf. The best vantage point to see this phenomenon is in the Burketown area shortly after dawn.

[edit] History

The first known European explorer to visit the region was the Dutch Willem Janszoon (whose name is also written as Jansz) in his 1606 voyage. His fellow countryman Jan Carstenszoon (or Carstensz) visited in 1623 and named the gulf in honour of Pieter de Carpentier, at that time the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Abel Tasman also explored the coast in 1644. The region was later explored and charted by Matthew Flinders in 1802 and 1803.

The first overland explorer in the area was the Prussian Ludwig Leichhardt who traversed the area in 1844 and 1845. He was followed by Augustus Gregory of the North Australian Expedition in 1856, and then Burke and Wills in 1861. John McKinlay, Frederick Walker and William Landsborough lead separate search parties into the Gulf looking for Burke and Wills in 1861 and 1862.

As pastoralists settled in the area there were significant clashes with local aboriginal populations. Historian Tony Roberts has described the nature of massacres and violent encounters in the Gulf Country in his book titled Frontier Justice.^[2]

[edit] Features

The main settlements in the region include the city of Mount Isa and the towns of Doomadgee, Cloncurry, Camooweal, Kowanyama, Karumba, Normanton and Burketown. The port at Karumba is one of Australia's main live cattle exporting ports.^[3] Mount Isa is known for its rich mineral deposits.

The region is crossed by the Savannah Way highway. Some of the western expanses of the Gulf Country are protected within the Boodjamulla National Park. Also located here are the World Heritage fossil finds at Riversleigh. Other parks in the region include Camooweal Caves National Park and Staaten River National Park. Lawn Hill crater, an impact crater with a ring of limestone hills, is also located in the Gulf Country.