Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory

Groote Eylandt, which is Dutch meaning 'big island' or 'large island', is a low lying island with an average height above sea level of only 15 metres, it is is approximately 50 km from east to west and 60 km from north to south with a total area of approximately 2 260 sq. km. Its vegetation is typical tropical savannah woodland with a mixture of mangroves on the coast, paperbark, stringy-bark and pandanus.
Location: 630 km from Darwin by air, it lies off the east coast of Arnhem Land in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Origin of name: Dutch navigators Willem van Coolsteerdt and J Carstenszoon had sailed the vessels Arnhem and Pera, along the west coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria in May 1623. Charts resulting from the voyage marked the island as Speult's Island. Abel Tasman explored the Arnhem Land coast in 1644 and marked it on his map as Groote Eylandt, which means Great Island. It is presumed this was intended to be read as descriptive rather than the island's actual name.
Brief history: For thousands of years the island has been the home of Aborigines who have lived a simple hunter gatherer existence. The first recorded sighting by Europeans of the island occurred in May 1823 when little known Dutch navigator Willem van Coolsteerdt sailed the vessel, Arnhem, along the west coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria and named it Speult's Island. Another Dutchman, Abel Tasman, explored the Arnhem Land coast in 1644 and marked it on his map as Groote Eylandt. In 1803, while circumnavigating Australia, Matthew Flinders travelled around the island. Indonesian fishermen had been coming to the island for centuries to fish and catch beche-de-mer (trepang). This practice was officially stopped by the Australian government in 1907 though it still occurs today.
Groote Eylandt's first Aboriginal mission was established at Emerald River in 1921 by the Anglican Church Missionary Society. It was moved to Angurugu in 1943 after the RAAF took over the Emerald River airstrip as part of Australia's northern defence. The mission continued until 1979 when the community became a self-governing Aboriginal Town Council. Another settlement at Umbakumba (Port Langdon) on the north-east coast was established in 1938 and it soon became a Qantas flying boat base.
In 1960 negotiations began with BHP to mine the island's considerable manganese deposits near Angurugu. In 1966 the first shipment of manganese ore left the island bound for a processing works at Bell Bay near George Town, Tasmania. The island produces over 2 million tonnes of manganese each year, which represents about 10 percent of the world's total production.
Natural features: Port Langdon; Cape Beatrice; South Point; Tasman Point; Winchelsea Island; Gulf of Carpentaria
Built features: settlements of Angurugu, Alyangula and Umbakumba.