Broome, Western Australia

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For other places and usages, see Broome.

Broome
Western Australia

Camels at Cable Beach

Population:

13,858

Established:

1880s

Postcode:

6725

Elevation:

19 m

Location:

2,100 km from Perth

LGA:

Shire of Broome

Federal Division:

Kalgoorlie

State District:

Kimberley

Max Temp	Min Temp	Rainfall
32.0 °C ^{90 °F}	21.1 °C ^{70 °F}	575.6 mm ^{22.7 in}

Broome (17°57′S 122°14′E) is a pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley in the far north of Western Australia. The year round population is approximately 14,000, but that grows to around 30,000 during the tourist season.

Broome is famous for its beautiful Indian Ocean beaches and wonderful dry season climate. Being in the tropics, it has two seasons. The dry season is from May to November with nearly every day been clear, wind and humidity increase in October and November. The wet season extends from December to March and has hot and humid weather with tropical downpours. The early pearl masters used to send their families to Perth to escape the wet season and beached their luggers to avoid the tropical cyclones that occasionally visit during the wet.

Broome was first visited by European William Dampier in 1688 and again in 1699. Many of the coastal features of the area are named by him. In 1879, Charles Harper suggested that the pearling industry could be served by a port closer to the pearling grounds, and that Roebuck Bay would be suitable. In 1883, John Forrest selected the site for the town, and it was named after the Governor of Western Australia, Sir Frederick Broome.

In 1889, a telegraph undersea cable was laid from Broome to Singapore, connecting to England. Hence the name Cable Beach given to the landfall site.

The town has an interesting history based around the exploits of the men and women who developed the pearling industry, starting with the harvesting of oysters for mother of pearl in the 1880s to the current major cultured pearl farming enterprises. The riches from the pearl beds did not come cheap, and the town's Japanese cemetery is the resting place of more than 900 Japanese divers who lost their lives working in the industry. Many were lost at sea and the exact number of deaths is unknown.

The Japanese were only one of the major ethnic groups who flocked to Broome to work on the luggers or the shore based activities supporting the harvesting of oysters from the waters around Broome. They were specialist divers and, despite political pressure to expel them in support of the White Australia Policy, became an indispensable part of the industry until World War II.

Broome was attacked by Japanese aircraft on March 3, 1942. The air raid killed at least 88 people. Following the end of the war in 1945, the town and its pearling industry gradually recovered from the disruptions of wartime.

The West Australian mining boom of the 1960s, as well as the growth of the tourism industry, also helped Broome develop and diversify; Broome is one of the fastest growing parts of Australia.

At Gantheaume Point and 30 metres out to sea are dinosaur footprints believed to be from the Cretaceous Age approximately 130 million years ago. The tracks can be seen only during very low tide.

[edit] 'Shorebird capital of the world'

Roebuck Bay, adjacent to Broome, is of international importance for the millions of migratory waders or shorebirds that use it seasonally on migration through the East Asian - Australasian Flyway from their breeding grounds in northern Asia. They feed on the extensive intertidal mudflats and roost at high tide on the red sand beaches of the Bay. They can be seen in the largest numbers in summer, but many of the younger birds remain throughout the first and second years of their lives. The Broome Bird Observatory on the northern shore of Roebuck Bay was established by Birds Australia, and opened in 1990, in order to study the birds, learn how to protect them and to educate the public about them.