Charters Towers Regional Council

Charters Towers Regional Council was formed in 2008 by the amalgamation of Charters Towers City and the surrounding Shire of Dalrymple. Its area is 66,388 sq km. All but the 42 sq km of Charters Towers came from the former shire. The populations (2006) were 7979 for Charters Towers and 3504 for Dalrymple Shire. Charters Towers is close to the geographic centre of the Charters Towers Regional Council.

Charters Towers Regional Council's eastern boundary adjoins the coastal Hinchinbrook, Townsville and Burdekin municipalities, that is southwards from Ingham to Ayr. Its western boundary touches the Kennedy Developmental Road. There are several mining places. One of the first to be exploited was Ravenswood in 1869. Three years later mining at Charters Towers provoked a rush of population. Each place had railway lines from Townsville (1884), the one to Ravenswood running until 1930, and the Charters Towers line being extended inland to Hughenden and Mount Isa for the pastoral and mining industries.

In addition to Charters Towers there have been shorter-lived mining towns around Ravenswood, at Sellheim and Mount Leyshon. A nickel mine at Greenvale, with a railway to Townsville (1974-97), supplied a refinery at Yabulu. Some others have been revived.

The Burdekin River forms part of the Charters Towers Regional Council's southern boundary. At the point where the river met the Burdekin Falls, the Burdekin Dam (Lake Dalrymple) was built in 1988. It irrigates coastal horticulture.

The Jangga people and the Isaac, Whitsunday and Charters Towers regional councils signed an Indigenous Land Use Agreement for an area covering more than 11,000 sq km around Mount Coolon, west of Mackay in 2010. The Jangga people made an application for native title rights in 1998.

Charters Towers Regional Council's census population was: