Yorke Peninsula

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Yorke Peninsula
South Australia

The town of Ardrossan, located in Yorke Peninsula
Population: ~ 25,000
Established: 1840s
LGA:
State District: Goyder
Federal Division: Grey
Website: http://www.yorkepeninsula.com.au/
Yorke Peninsula is in South Australia, and should not be confused with Cape York Peninsula, in Queensland.

The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located north-west and west of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St. Vincent on the east. It has geographic coordinates of 34°21′S, 137°37′E. The peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to the southeast by Investigator Strait.

Before white settlement around 1840, Yorke Peninsula was the home to the Narungga people. Today the descendants of these people still live on Yorke Peninsula, supported by the Narungga Aboriginal Progress Association in Maitland, and in the community at Point Pearce near the northern end of Gulf Saint Vincent.

Principal towns include the Copper Triangle towns of Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo; farming centres of Maitland, Minlaton and Yorketown; and the port of Ardrossan. A number of smaller coastal towns are popular destinations for fishing and holidays, particularly from Adelaide. The south-western tip is occupied by Innes National Park.

Yorke Peninsula is a major producer of grain, particularly barley. Historically this has been sent out by sea because there are no rail services. Most coastal towns on the peninsula have substantial jetties. In the past these were used by ketches, schooners, and later steamships, to collect the grain in bags, and deliver fertiliser and other supplies. As roads in the region improved, and freight-handling techniques changed from bags to bulk, this became obsolete. A deep-water port was opened in 1970 near the south-eastern tip at Port Giles to export grain in bulk), and almost all the other ports ceased to be used for freight in the 1950s and 1960s. The only other ports with bulk-handling facilities are Wallaroo at the north-western side, and Ardrossan at the top of Gulf Saint Vincent, also used to ship dolomite from a nearby mine for OneSteel. Maitland has a grain-receiving depot operated by AWB, serviced only by road.

[edit] Physiography

The area is also known as the Yorke Horst, which is distinct physiographic section of the larger South Australian Shatter Belt province, which in turn is part of the larger West Australian Shield physiographic division.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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