Cairns Gimuy (Yidiny) Queensland
Cairns CBD Cairns City Library Cairns Regional Gallery Esplanade Cairns Marina and Lagoon
Cairns
Coordinates	16°55′S 145°47′E / 16.92°S 145.78°E / -16.92; 145.78 (Cairns (town centre))
Population	153,181 (2021)[1] (15th)
• Density	602.36/km2 (1,560.11/sq mi)
Established	1876
Postcode(s)	4870
Elevation	7 m (23 ft)
Area	254.3 km2 (98.2 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10:00)
Location	68 km (42 mi) SSE of Port Douglas 347 km (216 mi) NNW of Townsville 1,064 km (661 mi) NW of Rockhampton 1,695 km (1,053 mi) NNW of Brisbane
LGA(s)	Cairns Region
County	Nares
State electorate(s)	Cairns Barron River Mulgrave
Federal division(s)	Leichhardt Kennedy
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 29.4 °C 85 °F 21.0 °C 70 °F 1,981.5 mm 78 in

Cairns (/kɛərnz/ ^ⓘ;^{[note 1]} Yidiny: Gimuy) is a city in Queensland, Australia,^[4] on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the 2021 census, Cairns had a population of 153,181 people.^[1]

The city was founded in 1876 and named after Sir William Wellington Cairns, following the discovery of gold in the Hodgkinson river.^[5] During World War II, the city became a staging ground for the Allied Forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea. By the late 20th century the city had become a centre of international tourism. In the early 21st century, it has developed into a major metropolitan city.

The economy of Cairns is based primarily on tourism, healthcare and education, along with a major capacity in aviation, marine and defence industries.^[6] The city has a gross regional product at about $11.4 billion as of 2023.^[7] The city is served by Cairns International Airport, the seventh busiest airport in Australia. Cairns also has a major cruise ship industry servicing both domestic and international markets, with terminals at Cairns Seaport and Cairns Wharf Complex.

Cairns is a major tourist destination, with access to two UNESCO world heritage sites; the Daintree Rainforest as part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland, and the Great Barrier Reef, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

History

Prior to British settlement, the Cairns area was inhabited by the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji people,^[8][9] who still claim their native title rights.^[10] Yidinji (also known as Yidinj, Yidiny, and Idindji) is an Australian Aboriginal language. Its traditional language region is within the local government areas of Cairns Region and Tablelands Region, in such localities as Cairns, Gordonvale, and the Mulgrave River, and the southern part of the Atherton Tableland including Atherton and Kairi. The area in which the city is located is known in the local Yidiny language as Gimuy,^[8] and the clan who inhabited the region before colonisation are the Gimuy-walubarra clan.^[9]

From 1770 to the early 1870s the area was known to the British simply as Trinity Bay. The arrival of beche de mer fishermen from the late 1860s saw the first European presence in the area. On the site of the modern-day Cairns foreshore, there was a large native well which was used by these fishermen. A violent confrontation occurred in 1872 between local Yidinji people and Phillip Garland, a beche de mer fisherman, over the use of this well. The area from this date was subsequently called Battle Camp.^[11]

In 1876, hastened by the need to export gold mined from the Hodgkinson goldfields on the tablelands to the west, closer investigation by several official expeditions established its potential for development into a port. Brinsley G. Sheridan surveyed the area and selected a place further up Trinity Inlet known to the diggers as Smith's Landing for a settlement which he renamed Thornton.^[12][13] However, after Native Police officers Alexander Douglas-Douglas and Robert Arthur Johnstone opened a new track from the goldfields to Battle Camp, this more coastal site became preferable.^[14] The area was named Cairns in late 1876 in honour of the then Governor of Queensland, William Cairns.^[5] The site was predominantly mangrove swamps and sand ridges. Labourers gradually cleared the swamps, and the sand ridges were filled with dried mud, sawdust from local sawmills, and ballast from a quarry at Edge Hill.

Throughout the late 19th century, Cairns prospered from the settlement of Chinese immigrants who helped develop the region's agriculture.^[15]

The Cairns Parish of the Roman Catholic Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown (now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns) was established in 1884.^[16]

Debris from the construction of a railway to Herberton on the Atherton Tableland, a project which started in 1886, was also used. The railway opened up land later used for agriculture on the lowlands (sugar cane, corn, rice, bananas, pineapples), and for fruit and dairy production on the Tableland. The success of local agriculture helped establish Cairns as a port, and the creation of a harbour board in 1906 supported its robust economic future.^[17][18]

The Wharf Estate Cairns went on sale in Brisbane via auction on 19 February 1889 by John Macnamara & Co. Land Auctioneers. The land was part of the place known as the Railway Reserve. The sale was described by the Auctioneers as the 'largest ever yet held in Northern Queensland'.^[19][20][21]

On 25 April 1926 (ANZAC Day), the Cairns Sailors and Soldiers War Memorial was unveiled by Alexander Frederick Draper, the mayor of the City of Cairns.^[22][23]

During World War II, the Allied Forces used Cairns as a staging base for operations in the Pacific,^[24] with United States Army Air Forces and Royal Australian Air Force operational bases (now the airport), as well as a major military seaplane base, Naval Base Cairns, in Trinity Inlet, and United States Navy and Royal Australian Navy bases near the current wharf. Combat missions were flown out of Cairns in support of the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942. Edmonton and White Rock south of Cairns were major military supply areas and U.S. Paratroopers trained at Gordonvale and the Goldsborough Valley. A Special Forces training base was established at the old "Fairview" homestead on Munro's Hill, Mooroobool. This base was officially known as the Z Experimental Station, but referred to informally as "The House on the Hill".^[25]

After World War II, Cairns gradually developed into a centre for tourism. The opening of the Cairns International Airport in 1984 helped establish the city as a desirable destination for international tourism particularly from the emerging Japanese market.^[26]

Demographics

In the 2016 census, the urban area of Cairns had a population of 144,730 people.^[27]

In the 2021 census, the urban area of Cairns had a population of 153,181 people.^[1]

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 9.7% of the population.^[1]
• 68.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 4.0%, New Zealand 2.9%, Papua New Guinea 1.5%, Philippines 1.3% and India 1.2%.^[1]
• 76.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Japanese 1.5%, Nepali 0.7%, Mandarin 0.7%, Punjabi 0.6%, and Creole languages 0.6%.^[1]
• The most common responses for religion were No Religion 41.9%, Catholic 19.7%, Not stated 10.1%, Anglican 9.8%, other Christian 2.8%.^[1]

Geography

Cairns is located on the east coast of Cape York Peninsula on a coastal strip between the Coral Sea and the Great Dividing Range.^[28] The northern part of the city is located on Trinity Bay and the city centre is located on Trinity Inlet. To the south of the Trinity Inlet lies the Aboriginal community of Yarrabah. Some of the city's suburbs are located on flood plains. The Mulgrave River and Barron River flow within the greater Cairns area but not through the Cairns CBD. The city's centre foreshore is located on a mud flat.

Urban layout

Cairns is a provincial city, with a linear urban layout that runs from the south at Edmonton to the north at Ellis Beach. The city is approximately 52 km (32 mi) from north to south; it has experienced a recent urban sprawl, with suburbs occupying land once used for sugar cane farming.

The Northern Beaches consist of a number of beach communities extending north along the coast. In general, each beach suburb is at the end of a spur road extending from the Captain Cook Highway. From south to north, these are Machans Beach, Holloways Beach, Yorkeys Knob, Trinity Park, Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, and Ellis Beach.

The suburb of Smithfield is inland against the mountains of the Great Dividing Range, between Yorkeys Knob and Trinity Park. It serves as the main hub for the Northern Beaches, with a modern shopping arcade, called Smithfield Shopping Centre.

South of Smithfield and inland from the Northern Beaches along the edge of the Barron River flood plain are the suburbs of Caravonica, Kamerunga, Freshwater, and Stratford. This area is sometimes referred to as Freshwater Valley, though it is actually the lower part of Redlynch Valley; further up the valley are the suburbs of Redlynch, on the western side of Redlynch Valley, and Brinsmead on the eastern side. Stratford, Freshwater, and Brinsmead are separated from Cairns city by Mount Whitfield (elevation 365 m (1,198 ft)) and Whitfield Range. Crystal Cascades and Copperlode Falls Dam are also behind this range. (Kuranda, a town on the Barron River on the western side of the Macalister Range, forms part of the Cairns economic catchment but is in the Tablelands local government area and is not part of the Cairns urban area.)

The city centre of Cairns is adjacent to the suburbs of Cairns North, and Parramatta Park, Bungalow, Portsmith, and close to Westcourt, Manunda, Manoora, Edge Hill, Whitfield, Kanimbla, City View, Mooroobool, Earlville, Woree and Bayview Heights. The small suburb of Aeroglen is pressed between Mount Whitfield and the airport, on the Captain Cook Highway between Cairns North and Stratford.

Southside Cairns, situated in a narrow area between Trinity Inlet to the east and Lamb Range to the west, includes the suburbs of White Rock, Mount Sheridan, Bentley Park and Edmonton. The townships of Goldsborough, Little Mulgrave, and Aloomba are near Gordonvale, on the Mulgrave River. This area is serviced by the Bruce Highway. Several other small towns and communities within Cairns's jurisdiction are sparsely located along the Bruce Highway, the furthest being Bramston Beach, 81 km (50 mi) south of the Cairns CBD; the largest of these townships is Babinda, about 60 km (37 mi) from the city.

Climate

Cairns experiences a tropical climate, specifically a tropical monsoon climate (Am) under the Köppen climate classification.^[29][30] A wet season with heavy monsoonal downpours runs from November to May, with a relatively dry season from June to October, though light showers occur during this period.^[31] Cairns's mean annual rainfall is just under 2,000 millimetres (79 in), although monthly totals in the wet season from December to April can exceed 1,000 mm (39 in), with the highest monthly rainfall being recorded in January 1981, when over 1,417.4 mm (55.80 in) of rain fell.^[32] In contrast, as little as 721 millimetres or 28.39 inches fell in the record dry calendar year of 2002.

Cairns has hot, humid summers and very warm winters.^[31] Mean maximum temperatures vary from 26.2 °C (79.2 °F) in July to 31.7 °C (89.1 °F) in January. Monsoonal activity during the wet season occasionally causes major flooding of the Barron and Mulgrave Rivers, cutting off-road and rail access to the city. Cairns has 97.0 clear days, annually. Dewpoint in the wet season (summer) averages at 23 °C (73 °F). The average temperature of the sea ranges from 23.8 °C (74.8 °F) in July to 29.4 °C (84.9 °F) in January.^[33]