Geraldton

Geraldton is a coastal city in the Mid West region of Western Australia, located north of Perth.

At the 2011 census, Geraldton had a population of 35,749. Geraldton is the seat of government for the local government area (LGA), the City of Greater Geraldton, which also incorporates the town of Mullewa and large rural areas previously forming the shires of Greenough and Mullewa. The city is home to the Port of Geraldton, a major west coast seaport. Geraldton is an important service and logistics centre for regional mining, fishing, Western Rock Lobster, wheat, sheep and tourism industries. The Geraldton CSIRO facility provides support services to the Square Kilometre Array project located 315 km northeast of Geraldton. The Australian Army 2nd Division, 13th Brigade Reserve Response Force maintains a presence and depot in central Geraldton. Geraldton has a Sister City relationship with Zhejiang, China.

History

Aboriginal

Clear evidence has established indigenous people living on the West Coast of Australia for at least 40,000 years, though at present it is unclear when the first indigenous people may have originally explored and lived in and around Geraldton.