Weipa, Queensland, Australia

The lounge area of Weipa Airport
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Weipa_airport_departure_lounge.JPG
Author: Anonymaus, David Hartman


Weipa is a town on the northern part of Queensland, Australia. Located on Cape York Peninsula, it is also the largest town on the Gulf of Carpentaria. As with many of the towns in this part of Queensland, Weipa exists due to discovery of a vast bauxite deposit in the area. Today the town has a population of around 3,000 people (2012 estimate).

Weipa began in 1898 as a Prebyterian Aboriginal mission outpost. Over the following century beginning in 1911, the Aborigine lived under a very restrictive legislation enacted by the state of Queensland. Every Aborigine and half-cast child is subjected to the control of the Protector, who has the right over the person, to punish him for any form of wrong doing and indiscipline.

When geologist Henry Evans discovered bauxite on the Aboriginal reserve land in 1955, the community was relocated while the Aboriginal reserve land given to the mining company. Today the bauxite mine in Weipa is still operating. The largest such mine in the world, it exports most of the ore to Japan.

Visiting Weipa

Qantas provides regular flights to Weipa from Cairns.

Places of Interest in Weipa

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Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.

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