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The Gulf of Carpentaria is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and bounded on the north by the Arafura Sea
Arafura Sea

The Arafura Sea lies west of the Pacific Ocean overlying the continental shelf between Australia and New Guinea. It is bordered by Torres Strait and through that the Coral Sea to the east, the Gulf of Carpentaria to the south, the Timor Sea to the west and the Banda Sea and Ceram Sea seas to the northwest....
 (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
). The northern boundary is generally defined as a line from Slade Point (the northwestern corner of Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland Queensland, Australia. This remote peninsula is one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth....
 in the northeast to Cape Arnhem (the easternmost point of Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land

The Arnhem Land Region is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500km from the territory capital Darwin, Northern Territory....
 in the west. At its mouth, the Gulf is 590 km wide, and further south even 675 km.






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The Gulf of Carpentaria is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and bounded on the north by the Arafura Sea
Arafura Sea

The Arafura Sea lies west of the Pacific Ocean overlying the continental shelf between Australia and New Guinea. It is bordered by Torres Strait and through that the Coral Sea to the east, the Gulf of Carpentaria to the south, the Timor Sea to the west and the Banda Sea and Ceram Sea seas to the northwest....
 (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
). The northern boundary is generally defined as a line from Slade Point (the northwestern corner of Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland Queensland, Australia. This remote peninsula is one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth....
 in the northeast to Cape Arnhem (the easternmost point of Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land

The Arnhem Land Region is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500km from the territory capital Darwin, Northern Territory....
 in the west. At its mouth, the Gulf is 590 km wide, and further south even 675 km. The north-south length exceeds 700 km. It covers a water area of about 300,000 kmē. The general depth is between 55 and 66 meters (30 and 36 fm) and does not exceed 82 meters (45 fm). In geological terms, the Gulf is young; it was dry land as recently as the last ice age
Ice age

The general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers....
.

The land bordering the Gulf is generally flat and low-lying. To the west is Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land

The Arnhem Land Region is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500km from the territory capital Darwin, Northern Territory....
 and the Top End
Top End

The Top End is the second northernmost point on the continent of Australia, behind the Cape York Peninsula. It covers a rather vaguely-defined area of perhaps 400,000 square kilometres bounded by sea on three sides , and by the almost waterless semi-arid interior of Australia to the south....
 of the Northern Territory
Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal states and territories of Australia of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions....
, and Groote Eylandt
Groote Eylandt

Groote Eylandt is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria in northeastern Australia. It is the homeland of, and is owned by, the Anindilyakwa people ....
, the largest island in the Gulf. To the east is the Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland Queensland, Australia. This remote peninsula is one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth....
. The area to the south (like the Cape York Peninsula, part of Queensland
Queensland

Queensland is a States and territories of Australia of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south....
) is known as the Gulf Country
Gulf Country

The Gulf Country is the name given to the region surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory....
 or simply "the Gulf."

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. Most of a year's rainfall is compressed into these months, and during this period, many low-lying areas are flooded. The Gulf is also a breeding ground for cyclone
Cyclone

In meteorology, a cyclone refers to an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth's rotation. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate counter clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth....
s 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
Great Dividing Range

The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the 4th longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan_Island,_Queensland off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through New South Wales, then into Victoria...
, 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.

The first known European explorer
European exploration of Australia

The European exploration of Australia encompasses several waves of seafarers and land explorers. Although Australia is often said to have been discovered by Royal Navy Lt....
 to visit the region was the Dutch Willem Janszoon
Willem Janszoon

Willem Janszoon , Netherlands navigator and colonial governor, is the first European known to have seen the coast of Australia. His name is sometimes abbreviated to Willem Jansz. ....
 (whose name is also written as Jansz) in his 1606 voyage
Janszoon voyage of 1606

Willem Janszoon made the first recorded European landing on the Australian continent in 1606, sailing from Bantam , Java in the Duyfken. As an employee of the Dutch East India Company, Janszoon had been instructed to explore the coast of New Guinea in search of economic opportunities....
. His fellow countryman Jan Carstenszoon
Jan Carstenszoon

Jan Carstenszoon was a Netherlands explorer, of whose life little is known.In 1623, he was commissioned by the Dutch East India Company to lead an expedition to the southern coast of New Guinea and beyond, to follow up the reports of land sighted further south in the 1606 voyages of Willem Janszoon in the Duyfken....
 (or Carstensz.) visited in 1623 and named the gulf in honor of Pieter de Carpentier
Pieter de Carpentier

Pieter de Carpentier was a Netherlands, or Flemings, administrator of the Dutch East India Company, and who served as Governor-General there from 1623–1627....
, at that time Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies

The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies represented the Netherlands rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949....
. Abel Tasman
Abel Tasman

Abel Janszoon Tasman , was a Netherlands sea explorer, exploration, and merchant.Tasman is best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the VOC ....
 also explored the coast in 1644. The region was later explored and charted 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 1802 and 1803.

In September and October the Morning Glory Cloud
Morning glory cloud

The Morning Glory cloud is a rare List of meteorological phenomena observed in Northern Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria. A Morning Glory cloud is a roll cloud that can be up to 1000 kilometers long, 1 to 2 kilometers high, and can move at speeds up to 60 kilometers per hour....
 appears in the Southern Gulf. The best vantage point to see this phenomenon is in the Burketown
Burketown, Queensland

File:Burketown-pub-gulf-savannah-queensland-australia.jpgBurketown is an isolated town located on the Gulf of Carpentaria in far north-western Queensland, Australia....
 area shortly after dawn.

Major rivers of the Gulf

  • Top End
    • Roper River
      Roper River

      The Roper River is one of the largest rivers in the Northern Territory, Australia, extending east for over 500 km to meet the sea in Limmen Bight on the Gulf of Carpentaria....
      • Wilton River
  • Gulf Country
    • Cox River
    • Calvert River
    • Leichhardt River
    • McArthur River
      McArthur River

      The McArthur River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia. It flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria. It has a long tidal estuary which extends inland to the town of Borroloola, Northern Territory....
    • Flinders River
      Flinders River

      TheFlinders River is the longest river in Queensland, Australia at about 840 km. The river rises in the Great Dividing Range northeast of Hughenden, Queensland and flows past Hughenden, Richmond, Queensland and Julia Creek, Queensland then northwest to the Gulf of Carpentaria near Karumba, Queensland and 2nd longest in Australia....
    • Norman River
      Norman River

      The Norman River is a river in Queensland, Australia. The river originates in the Gregory Range and flows 420 km northwest to the Gulf of Carpentaria....
    • Gilbert River
  • Cape York Peninsula
    • Smithburne River
    • Mitchell River
      • Alice River
    • Staaten River
      Staaten River

      The Staaten River is a river in the Cape York Peninsula, Australia that rises to the west of Cairns and empties into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Along the way, its waters overflow into intertwining lagoons that create an enormous wetland sanctuary for a vast array of unique wildlife and plants....
    • Mission River
    • Wenlock River
      Wenlock River

      The Wenlock River is a major river of the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia. It rises in the Great Dividing Range, flows north-west through tropical savanna plains and wetlands, and enters the Gulf of Carpentaria on the western side of the peninsula at Port Musgrave just north of Mapoon Aboriginal Mission Queensland....
    • Archer River
      Archer River

      The Archer River is a major river of the Cape York Peninsula, Far North Queensland, Australia. It rises in the McIlwraith Range, traverses tropical savanna plains and wetlands, flowing through Piccaninny Plains Sanctuary and Mungkan Kandju National Park, and enters the Gulf of Carpentaria on the western side of the peninsula near the town of...


Physiography

The Gulf is one of the distinct physiographic sections of the larger (and surrounding) Carpentaria Basin province, which in turn is part of the larger East Australian Basins physiographic division.

Pop Culture

The area around the Gulf of Carpentaria is a major ZAFT military base in the mecha
Mecha

Mecha, also known as meka or mechs, are walking vehicles controlled by a pilot, often appearing in science fiction or other genres involving a fantastic or futuristic element....
 anime series Gundam SEED.

External links

  • and video of the Gulf Region around Burketown