Eyre Peninsula

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Eyre Peninsula

Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of Landform that is nearly surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus. Word origin: Latin paeninsula : paene, almost + insula, island....
in South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a States and territories of Australia of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories....
. It is bounded on the east by Spencer Gulf

Spencer Gulf

The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost of two large inlets on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight....
, the west by the Great Australian Bight

Great Australian Bight

File:Great Australian Bight map.pngThe Great Australian Bight is a large bight , or open bay located off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia....
, and the north by the Gawler Ranges

Gawler Ranges

The Gawler Ranges are a range of mountains in South Australia to the north of Eyre Peninsula. The Eyre Highway skirts the south of the ranges....
. It is named after explorer Edward John Eyre

Edward John Eyre

Edward John Eyre was an England land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, and a controversial Governor of Jamaica.South Australia's Lake Eyre, Eyre Peninsula, Eyre Creek, South Australia, Eyre Highway , and the Eyre Hotel in Whyalla are named in his honour, as are the villages of Eyreton and West Eyreton in Canterb...
who explored some of it in 1839-1841. The coastline was first explored by Matthew Flinders

Matthew Flinders

Captain Matthew Flinders, Royal Navy was one of the most successful navigators and cartography of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent....
in 1801-1802.

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Encyclopedia

Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula

Peninsula

South Australia

Spencer Gulf

Great Australian Bight

Gawler Ranges

The Gawler Ranges are a range of mountains in South Australia to the north of Eyre Peninsula. The Eyre Highway skirts the south of the ranges....
. It is named after explorer Edward John Eyre

Edward John Eyre

Matthew Flinders

Nicolas Baudin

Nicolas-Thomas Baudin was a France explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer.Baudin was born in Saint-Martin-de-R? on the Ile de R?....
at around the same time.

Overview

The peninsula was explored by a party led by John Charles Darke

John Charles Darke

John Charles Darke was an Australian colonist and explorer, the son of John Darke of Hereford and Elizabeth Darke. In 1823 he departed England with his uncles Edward Davy Wedge and John Helder Wedge for Van Diemen?s Land ....
in 1844, who was killed by local aborigines on the return to Port Lincoln.

The main towns are Port Lincoln

Port Lincoln, South Australia

Port Lincoln is a city in the Australian states and territories of Australia of South Australia. It is a coastal city situated on the Boston Bay, South Australia at the southern extremity of the Eyre Peninsula....
on the southern point, Whyalla

Whyalla, South Australia

Whyalla is the third most populous city in South Australia after Adelaide and Mount Gambier, South Australia. It is a seaport located on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia....
and Port Augusta at the north east, and Ceduna

Ceduna, South Australia

Ceduna is a small town in the West Coast region of South Australia. It is situated in the northwest corner of Eyre Peninsula, west of the junction of the Flinders Highway, South Australia and Eyre Highways around 786 km northwest of the capital Adelaide....
at the northwest. They are connected by the Eyre Highway

Eyre Highway

Sorry, no overview for this topic
across the inland edge, and the Flinders Highway

Flinders Highway, South Australia

Flinders Highway connects the South Australian towns of Ceduna, South Australia and Port Lincoln, South Australia, a distance of 410 kilometres....
and Lincoln Highway

Lincoln Highway (Australia)

Lincoln Highway links Port Augusta, South Australia and Port Lincoln, South Australia, both located in South Australia, a distance of 327 kilometres....
along the west and east coasts.

The major industry is farming - cereal crops, sheep

Sheep

#REDIRECT Domestic sheep...
, and cattle

Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
in the drier north and more water-intensive activities such as dairy farming

Dairy farming

Dairy farming is a class of agriculture, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale....
and a growing wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage often made of fermentation grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients....
industry in the south. Many coastal towns have commercial fishing, in particular Port Lincoln, had a large tuna

Tuna

Tuna are several species of ocean-dwelling fish in the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tunas are fast swimmers?they have been clocked at 70 km/h ?and include several species that are warm-blooded....
-fishing fleet, which is gradually being converted to fish farming

Fish farming

Fish farming is the principal form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. It involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food....
in bays along the coast.

There is a commercial nephrite

Nephrite

Nephrite is a variety of the calcium and magnesium-rich amphibole mineral actinolite . The chemical formula for nephrite is calcium25silicon8oxygen222....
jade

Jade

Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
mine near Cowell

Cowell, South Australia

Cowell is a coastal town on Franklin Harbour on the eastern side of the Eyre Peninsula, in South Australia on the Lincoln Highway 111 km south from the major town of Whyalla, South Australia....
. Iron ore

Iron ore

Iron ores are Rock and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in colour from dark grey, bright yellow, deep purple, to rusty red....
is mined in the hills near Iron Knob inland from Whyalla, to where it is transported by rail for smelting

Smelting

Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores....
.

National Parks located on the Eyre peninsula include Lincoln National Park

Lincoln National Park

Lincoln is a national park in South Australia , 249 km west of Adelaide, Australia. It occupies the Jussieu Peninsula and a number of nearby islands....
, Coffin Bay National Park

Coffin Bay National Park

Coffin Bay is a national park in on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia , 301 km west of Adelaide, Australia, and 46 km west of Port Lincoln, South Australia....
, Gawler Ranges National Park

Gawler Ranges National Park

Gawler Ranges is a national park in South Australia , 350km north-west of Adelaide.See also* Protected areas of South Australia...
, and several conservation parks and reserves like Acraman Creek Conservation Park

Acraman Creek Conservation Park

Acraman Creek Conservation Park is located on the northern side of Streaky Bay on the western side of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, about half way between Ceduna, South Australia and Streaky Bay, South Australia townships....
.

In January 2005, the Eyre Peninsula was the site of bushfires

Eyre Peninsula bushfire

In January 2005, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, was the scene of a devastating bushfire in which nine people were killed and at least 113 injured. It was one of Australia?s worst bushfires since the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983....
killing 9 people.

Transport

The peninsular is served by the isolated narrow gauge

Narrow gauge

A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of or less....
Eyre Peninsula Railway

Eyre Peninsula Railway

The Eyre Peninsula Railway is a railway on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. The system is isolated from the rest of the South Australian railway network....
.

Physiography

The area is also known as the Eyre Coastal Plain, of which it is a distinct physiographic section of the larger Eucla Basin

Eucla Basin

The Eucla Basin is an artesian depression located in Western Australia and South Australia. The onshore-offshore depression covers approximately 1,141,000 km? and slopes southward to an open bay known as the Great Australian Bight....
province, which in turn is part of the larger West Australian Shield

Australian Shield

The Australian Shield, also called the Western Australian Shield or Western Plateau, occupies more than half of the continent of Australia. It occupies the portion of Australia west of a line running north-south roughly from the eastern shore of Arnhem Land on the Bay or Gulf of Carpentaria to the Eyre Peninsula in the state of South Austral...
division.

Eyre Peninsula

Overview

Transport

Physiography

External links