Map - Kojonup, Western Australia (Kojonup)

Kojonup (Kojonup)
Kojonup is a town 256 km south-east of Perth, Western Australia along Albany Highway in the Great Southern region. The name Kojonup refers to the "Kodja" or stone axe made by Aboriginal Australians, from the local stone.

The Noongar people are the traditional owners and inhabitants of Kojonup. Specifically, the Noongar people of Kojonup today are descendants of the Kaneang language group and their neighbours, such as the Koreng, Pinjareb and Menang. Historically the Noongar people drank from the local freshwater spring and hunted game with the traditional Noongar "kodj", or stone axe. Both Kojonup and The Kodja Place are named after the historically significant implement.

The first European in the area was surveyor Alfred Hillman who arrived in 1837 and had been guided to freshwater spring by the Noongar people. The site was an important staging place on the road to Albany, and in 1837 a military post was established there for the protection of travellers and the mail. By 1845 this outpost had grown to support a military barracks, built on the site of the freshwater spring. Today, the barracks still stands on its original site and houses the Kojonup Pioneer Museum. The barracks is one of the oldest buildings in Western Australia. The first farms in Kojonup were set up by soldiers with settlement grants. The appointment in 1865 of a mounted police constable marked the phasing out of the military presence at Kojonup. By the late 1860s the military had left and the barracks became a focus for community gatherings, much as it is today. The town's first police station was built in 1869 and the first hotel licence was granted in 1868.

In early 1898 the population of the town was 67, 32 men and 35 women.

In 1926 the Kojonup Memorial Hall was built at a cost of £5,000; it was officially opened by Major General Sir Talbot Hobbs.

Kojonup has been the home to many important Australian rules football players, including several players of Indigenous Australian descent.

 
Map - Kojonup (Kojonup)
Country - Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of 7617930 km2, Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, and mountain ranges in the south-east.

The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south east Asia approximately 65,000 years ago, during the last ice age. Arriving by sea, they settled the continent and had formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement, maintaining some of the longest known continuing artistic and religious traditions in the world. Australia's written history commenced with the European maritime exploration of Australia. The Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon was the first known European to reach Australia, in 1606. In 1770, the British explorer James Cook mapped and claimed the east coast of Australia for Great Britain, and the First Fleet of British ships arrived at Sydney in 1788 to establish the penal colony of New South Wales. The European population grew in subsequent decades, and by the end of the 1850s gold rush, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and an additional five self-governing British colonies established. Democratic parliaments were gradually established through the 19th century, culminating with a vote for the federation of the six colonies and foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and wealthy market economy.
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ISO Currency Symbol Significant figures
AUD Australian dollar $ 2
ISO Language
EN English language
Neighbourhood - Country