Outback facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Outback
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Area
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View across sand plains and salt pans to Mount Conner, Central Australia
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Red and dark red areas form the Outback, dark red and striped areas forms the modern Outback.
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| Country | Australia |
| Continent | Australia |
| Population | |
| • Total | 607,000 (Rangelands) |
The Outback is a huge, wild, and mostly empty part of Australia. It's even more remote than what Australians call "the bush." Imagine a place so big it stretches from the northern coast to the southern coast! This means it has many different types of weather. You can find tropical and rainy climates in the north. The "red centre" has very dry, desert-like conditions. In the south, the climate is semi-dry and mild. About 607,000 people live in this vast region.
The Outback is special because it has very few people. It also has a largely untouched natural environment. Many areas are used for pastoralism, which means raising livestock like cattle and sheep. This way of life depends on the natural surroundings. The Outback is a very important part of Australian heritage, history, and stories. In 2009, the Outback in Queensland was even named one of the state's top "natural attractions."
Contents
Exploring the Australian Outback
A Rich History of the Land
Aboriginal Australians, also known as Indigenous Australians, have lived in the Outback for at least 50,000 years. They lived in all parts of the Outback, even the driest deserts. This was long before Europeans first arrived in central Australia in the 1800s. Many Aboriginal Australians still have strong connections to their traditional lands. They are legally recognized as the Traditional Owners of large parts of the Outback.
Early European explorers didn't focus much on inland Australia. They mostly explored the easier-to-reach coastal areas. The first group to cross the Blue Mountains near Sydney was led by Gregory Blaxland in 1813. This was 25 years after the colony was started. Later, explorers like John Oxley and Charles Sturt tried to find an "inland sea." They followed rivers flowing west, but found they all led to the Murray River and Darling River.
From 1858 onwards, people known as "Afghan cameleers" played a big role. They used their camels to help open up the Outback and build important things like roads.
Between 1858 and 1861, John McDouall Stuart led six trips north from Adelaide, South Australia. He successfully reached Australia's north coast and returned safely. This was different from the Burke and Wills expedition in 1860–61. That trip had more money but sadly resulted in the deaths of three explorers.
The Overland Telegraph line was built in the 1870s. It followed the route that Stuart had found.
In the 1950s, Len Beadell explored and built many roads in the Outback. These roads helped with nuclear weapons tests at places like Emu Field and Maralinga. They also supported rocket testing in the Woomera Prohibited Area. Even today, people continue to explore for new minerals.
The year 2002 was called the "Year of the Outback." While early explorers used horses, the first woman to ride a horse across the Outback was Anna Hingley. She rode from Broome to Cairns in 2006.
The Outback Environment
Global Importance of Natural Areas
The Outback has very little industrial activity. This means it's one of the largest natural areas left on Earth. Global studies show that Outback Australia is a huge wilderness. It's as important as the Boreal forests in North America or the Amazon rainforest.
The grassy woodlands, called savannas, in northern Australia are the biggest untouched savannas in the world. In the south, the Great Western Woodlands cover a massive area. It's larger than all of England and Wales combined! This is the biggest temperate woodland left on Earth.
Major Ecosystems and Landscapes
The Outback has many different climates and types of land. This creates a variety of unique and rich ecosystems. Some of the main land types include:
- The Kimberley and Pilbara regions in northern Western Australia.
- The sub-tropical savanna of the Top End.
- The temporary rivers of the Channel Country in western Queensland.
- The ten deserts found in central and western Australia.
- The Inland Ranges, like the MacDonnell Ranges, which add hills to the flat plains.
- The flat Nullarbor Plain north of the Great Australian Bight.
- The Great Western Woodlands in southern Western Australia.
Wildlife and Animal Life Cycle
The Outback is home to many important animals that are well-adapted to the environment. Many animals, like red kangaroos and dingoes, hide in bushes during the day. This helps them rest and stay cool in the heat.
Birdlife is very common, especially near waterholes at dawn and dusk. You can often see huge groups of budgerigars, cockatoos, corellas, and galahs. In winter, you might see different kinds of snakes and lizards warming themselves on roads or bare ground. They are rarely seen in summer.
Some animals, called feral animals, cause problems. Camels thrive in central Australia. They were brought by early explorers and settlers. Wild horses, called 'brumbies', are also found. Other feral animals like pigs, foxes, cats, goats, and rabbits damage the environment. Money and effort are spent to remove them. This helps protect the delicate rangelands.
The Outback has many unique animals, such as the kangaroo, emu, and dingo. The Dingo Fence was built to stop dingoes and wild dogs from entering farming areas in the southeast. The less fertile parts of the Outback are mostly used for grazing sheep or cattle. These large farms are called cattle stations.
Riversleigh, in Queensland, is a famous fossil site. It became a World Heritage site in 1994. This area, about 100 square kilometers, has fossil remains of ancient mammals, birds, and reptiles. These fossils are from the Oligocene and Miocene ages.
Outback Industries
Pastoralism: Raising Livestock
The biggest industry in the Outback, covering the most land, is pastoralism. This involves grazing cattle, sheep, and sometimes goats. They live in mostly natural environments. Farmers use water from underground sources, like the Great Artesian Basin, to water their livestock. This allows animals to graze in huge areas where there is no natural surface water.
Many Outback farms are certified as organic livestock producers. This is because they don't use many chemicals or fertilizers. In 2014, Australia had the largest certified organic farming area in the world. About 17 million hectares, mostly in the Outback, were fully organic.
Tourism: Exploring the Wild
Tourism is a major industry in the Outback. Government agencies promote Outback Australia as a great place for travelers. While there isn't an exact number for "Outback" tourism income, regional tourism is a big part of Australia's overall tourism. Tourism Australia encourages visitors to experience nature and Indigenous culture. For example, in 2015–2016, 815,000 visitors spent $988 million on holidays in the Northern Territory alone.
There are many popular tourist spots in the Outback. Some well-known places include Devils Marbles, Kakadu National Park, Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), MacDonnell Ranges, and Uluru (Ayers Rock).
Mining: Unearthing Resources
Besides farming and tourism, mining is the main economic activity in this vast area. The Outback is very rich in minerals. It has large amounts of iron, aluminum, manganese, and uranium ores. It also has major deposits of gold, nickel, copper, lead, and zinc. Because of its size, the value of farming and mining is huge.
Major mines in the Outback include:
- Opals at Coober Pedy, Lightning Ridge, and White Cliffs.
- Metals at Broken Hill, Tennant Creek, Olympic Dam, and the remote Challenger Mine.
- Oil and gas are found in the Cooper Basin around Moomba.
In Western Australia, the Argyle diamond mine in the Kimberley was once the world's biggest producer of natural diamonds. It supplied about one-third of the world's natural diamonds. However, it closed in 2020. The Pilbara region's economy relies heavily on mining and petroleum. The Pilbara's oil and gas industry is its largest export. It earned $5.0 billion in 2004/05. Most of Australia's iron ore is also mined in the Pilbara. It also has one of the world's largest manganese mines.
Outback Population
Aboriginal Australians living in Outback regions, like the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands in northern South Australia, have kept their homes. They were not moved like communities in areas with lots of farming and big cities.
The total population of the Outback in Australia decreased from 700,000 in 1996 to 690,000 in 2006. The biggest drop was in the Outback Northern Territory. However, the Kimberley and Pilbara regions saw population increases during the same time. For every 1000 females, there were about 1040 males. About 17% of the total population is Indigenous.
Essential Facilities
Royal Flying Doctor Service
The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) began in 1928. It helps people who live in remote parts of Australia. Before the RFDS, serious injuries or illnesses often led to death. This was because there were no proper medical facilities or trained staff nearby.
School of the Air
In many Outback communities, there aren't enough children for a regular school. So, children are taught at home by the School of the Air. Teachers used to talk to the children using radio. Now, they use satellite communication instead. Some older children go to boarding school, especially for high school.
Outback Terminology
The word "outback" comes from an old way of saying "the backyard of a house." In the late 1800s, it started being used to describe the huge, empty parts of Australia. The first time it was written down in this way was in 1869. The writer meant the area west of Wagga Wagga. Over time, "outback" became a noun, meaning the remote region itself.
People often say the Outback is "beyond the Black Stump." The "black stump" can be a made-up place or a local landmark. Some believe the term came from the Black Stump Wine Saloon. This saloon was about 10 kilometers from Coolah, New South Wales. It was an important stop for travelers and became a way to measure journeys.
"The Never-Never" is another term for the most remote parts of the Outback. You might also hear "back of beyond" or "back o' Bourke." These terms mean a place that is very far away from everything. The well-watered north of Australia is often called the "Top End." The dry middle part is known as "The Red Centre." This is because of its vast red soil and sparse greenery.
Outback Transport
The Outback has many old tracks and roads. Most major highways have excellent paved surfaces. Other important roads are usually well-maintained dirt roads.
The Stuart Highway runs north to south through the middle of Australia. The Adelaide–Darwin railway runs roughly parallel to it. There is a plan to improve some roads from the southwest to the northeast. This would create an all-weather road called the Outback Highway. It would cross Australia diagonally from Laverton, Western Australia to Winton.
Air travel is important for delivering mail in some areas. This is due to the few settlements and roads that close during the wet season. Most Outback mines have an airstrip. Many also have workers who fly in and out for their shifts. Most Outback sheep stations and cattle stations have an airstrip. Many even have their own small plane. The Royal Flying Doctor Service provides medical and ambulance services by air.
See also
In Spanish: Outback para niños
- Australian landmarks
- Bushland
- Central Australia
- Channel Country
- Australian outback literature of the 20th century
- Australian desert
