Dampier is a major industrial port in the northwest of Western Australia. The Dampier Port is part of the Dampier Archipelago. The port services petrochemical, salt, iron ore and natural gas export industries. Rio Tinto exports large volumes of iron ore through the port, and in September 2010 announced plans to expand capacity. At the 2006 census, Dampier had a population of 1,370.
History
Aboriginal people, including the Yaburara and Ngarluma tribes, have lived in the area for many thousands of years.
The town derives its name from the nearby Dampier Archipelago, named after the English navigator William Dampier. In 1699 Dampier, in command of the 26-gun warship HMS Roebuck on a mission to explore the coast of New Holland, following the Dutch route to the Indies, passed between Dirk Hartog Island and the Western Australian mainland into what he called Shark Bay. He then followed the coast northeast, on 21 August 1699 reaching the Dampier Archipelago, which he explored, naming Rosemary Island. He continued to Lagrange Bay, just south of what is now Roebuck Bay, before sailing for Timor.
- Category:
- Local business