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Magnetic Island

Coordinates: 19°08′S 146°50′E / 19.133°S 146.833°E / -19.133; 146.833
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the island in Queensland. For other islands, see Magnetic Island (disambiguation).

Magnetic Island
(Yunbenun)
The view of Magnetic Island from the Castle Hill, Townsville
Palm Islands location
Geography
LocationCoral Sea
Area52 km2 (20 sq mi)
Highest elevation497 m (1631 ft)
Highest pointMount Cook
Administration
Australia
Demographics
Population2,475 (2021[1])
Pop. density40/km2 (100/sq mi)

Magnetic Island (Wulguru: Yunbenun) is an island 8 kilometres (5 mi) offshore from the city of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. This 52 km2 (20.1 sq mi) mountainous island in Cleveland Bay has effectively become a suburb of Townsville. The island is accessible from Townsville Breakwater to Nelly Bay Harbour by ferry. There is a 39.5 km2 (15.3 sq mi)[2] national park and bird sanctuary, and walking tracks can be taken both between the populated bays and to a number of tourist destinations, such as the World War II forts.

The island is a holiday destination, with many hotels and several resorts in operation to cater for all levels of service. The public facilities and infrastructure on the island are managed by the Townsville City Council. The island is part of the electoral district of Townsville in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, and part of the federal seat of Herbert, which is represented by Phillip Thompson.

There are five settlements, namely Arcadia, Horseshoe Bay, Nelly Bay, Picnic Bay, and West Point. Geographic features include Rocky Bay, Picnic Bay and Hawkings Point, around its southern extremity, a bay, Nelly Bay to the east-north-east of Rocky Bay, followed by Geoffrey Bay, with Bremner Point as its northern arm. Horseshoe Bay is on the northern coast, and Cockle Bay Reef is off the western coast.

In the 2021 census, Magnetic Island had a population of 2,475 people.[1]

Naming

[edit]

The Wulguru name for the island is Yunbenun. The first European accounts of the island come from Captain James Cook who, in 1770, while navigating the Australian coast, called the island "Magnetical Island", as a magnetic pull interfering with his vessel's compass appeared to emanate from the island.[3] People have since explored the general area of Magnetic Island with various instruments to discover what might have caused the effect that Cook reported, but nothing has been discovered. Local names for the island are "Maggie Isle",