DAMPIER, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

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A company town and port of Hamersley Iron Pty. Ltd. which operates mines at Tom Price and Paraburdoo 290 km to the east in the Hamersley Ranges.
Location: 1,545 km north of Perth on King Bay facing the islands of the Dampier Archipelago.
Origin of name: recalls British sea captain William Dampier, who visited and explored the coastal region in 1688 aboard Capt. Swan's Cygnet, returning in 1699 aboard Roebuck. His findings were published in two volumes which were the first descriptions about the Australian continent to be published.
Brief history: the town was created in the 1960s for workers at Hamersley Iron's bulk loading terminal on King Bay.
Natural features: Indian Ocean; Burrup Peninsula; King Bay; Dampier Archipelago (Mary Anne to Regnard Islands); Mackerel Islands; Lowendal Islands Nature Reserve; Monte Bello Islands; Barrow Island Nature reserve; Mungaroona Range Nature Reserve
Built features: iron ore loading terminal
Heritage features: Trial shipwreck, Trial Rocks, Dampier 'Climbing Men' Aboriginal art site (9 km north-east); Skew Valley, Kangaroo Valley, Hunter Valley, Happy Valley and Gum Tree Valley Aboriginal art sites; Burrup Peninsula Aboriginal art sites (17 km north-east)