Raine Island (Raine Island)
Raine Island is a vegetated coral cay 32 ha in total area situated on the outer edges of the Great Barrier Reef off north-eastern Australia. It lies approximately 620 km north-northwest of Cairns in Queensland, about 120 km east-north-east of Cape Grenville on the Cape York Peninsula.
Raine Island is the site of the oldest European structure in tropical Australia, a stone beacon built in 1844, and harbours the world's largest remaining population of green turtles (Chelonia mydas). An important environmental icon, the island is totally protected from public access. It got its name from Captain Thomas Raine (1793–1860), the English mariner who discovered it.
Raine Island is a vegetated coral cay dominated by low herbaceous annual vegetation (Batianoff et al. 1993). The cay is composed of a central core of phosphate rock surrounded by sand and extensive fringing reefs. It lies just off the eastern edge of the continental shelf, next to a shipping channel known as the Raine Island Entrance and Pandora entrance. The entrance allows shipping to enter the water of the Great Barrier Reef.
Raine Island is the site of the oldest European structure in tropical Australia, a stone beacon built in 1844, and harbours the world's largest remaining population of green turtles (Chelonia mydas). An important environmental icon, the island is totally protected from public access. It got its name from Captain Thomas Raine (1793–1860), the English mariner who discovered it.
Raine Island is a vegetated coral cay dominated by low herbaceous annual vegetation (Batianoff et al. 1993). The cay is composed of a central core of phosphate rock surrounded by sand and extensive fringing reefs. It lies just off the eastern edge of the continental shelf, next to a shipping channel known as the Raine Island Entrance and Pandora entrance. The entrance allows shipping to enter the water of the Great Barrier Reef.
Map - Raine Island (Raine Island)
Map
Country - Australia
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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.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
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AUD | Australian dollar | $ | 2 |
ISO | Language |
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EN | English language |