Karratha Tourism, WA Australia
Karratha Tourism, Tourist places in Karratha, Sightseeing, Karratha Travel Guide, Holiday Packages, weekend getaways, places near Karratha, reviews, map and trips
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Karratha Fast Facts
- State: WA
- District:
- Famous for/as: Cable Beach
- Population: 16,476(2011)
- Language: english
- Best Season:
- Weather:
- Clothing:
- Local Transport:
- Pincode: 6714
- STDCode: 08
Karratha, Australia Overview
Karratha is a town adjoining the port of Dampier in the Pilbara region of Western Australia which was developed from the 1960s to accommodate the processing and exportation workforce of the Hamersley Iron mining company and, in the 1980s, the petroleum and liquefied natural gas operations of the North West Shelf Venture. The town's name comes from the cattle station from which land was reclaimed for the development. Karratha in the local Aboriginal language means 'God's own country' or 'Sacred Earth' . The town is the seat of government of the Shire of Roebourne.
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Karratha, Australia History
'Karratha' translates as the 'good country' , in one of the thirty distinct local Aboriginal languages of the Pilbara region. So we can only imagine that the fertile lands and azure seas have made for a great place to live for at least 30,000 years.
Europeans saw the potential of the fertile country when Dr Baynton and Harry Whittal-Venn first started grazing sheep at Karratha Station in 1866. The Karratha Station only operated until 1879, but grazing dominated the economy of the Pilbara area for the next 100 years.
Pearling briefly enlivened the nearby town of Cossak at the end of the 19th century and a small gold rush also had some effect.
However, Karratha's significant history begins in the 1960s with the removal of Commonwealth restrictions on the export of iron ore in response to a growth in world demand. To cater for the accommodation needs of Hamersley Iron, the Western Australian state government entered into a joint housing project in 1968-9.
Karratha quickly grew beyond the reputation of a company town status and is now the largest centre in the Pilbara.