Geography Atlas

Where Everything Happened
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
City

Cairns

Australia and New Zealand

Cairns is a city on the tropical coast of Far North Queensland, Australia, founded in 1876 following gold discoveries and named after Sir William Wellington Cairns, then Governor of Queensland. It has become a major tourism gateway, offering access to two UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest, with an economy also built on healthcare, education and defense. Its 2021 census population was 169,312, the 15th-largest in Australia.

Facts
Population
169,312 1
Area (sq km)
254.3 1
Founding Year
1876 1
Population Estimate Year
2021 1
Elevation (m)
7 1
Latitude
16.92 degrees south 1
Longitude
145.78 degrees east 1
Sources
1. Cairns (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    In the 2021 census, Cairns had a population of 169,312.
  • Infobox, Area
    254.3 km2 (98.2 sq mi)
  • Infobox, Elevation
    7 m (23 ft)
  • Infobox, Coordinates
    16.92 S 145.78 E
  • Lead section, founding
    The city was founded in 1876 and named after Sir William Wellington Cairns, following the discovery of gold in the Hodgkinson River.
  • In Group: Cities of Australia and New Zealand (World), Wikipedia; part-of country and UN M49 subregion
View the Source
Wikidata: Cairns
Wikidata Q189133, class allow-list match verified against P17/real-world identity (w-geo-qidcite-0926).View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.