Portal:Queensland/Selected article/3

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Palm Island, also known by the Aboriginal name Bukaman, is a tropical island with a resident community of about 2,000 people. The settlement is named variously Palm Island, the Mission, Palm Island Settlement or Palm Community. The island is situated 65 kilometres north-west of Townsville, on the east coast of Queensland, Australia 800 kilometres north of the Tropic of Capricorn. It is the main island of the Greater Palm group, and consists of small bays, sandy beaches and steep forested mountains rising to a peak of 548 metres. Neighbouring islands outside the Palm group include Rattlesnake Island and Magnetic Island.

Palm Island is often termed a classic "tropical paradise" given its natural endowments, but it has had a troubled history since the European settlement of Australia. For much of the twentieth century it was used by the Queensland Government as a settlement for Aboriginals considered guilty of such infractions as being "disruptive", being pregnant to a white man or being born with "mixed blood".