Rockhampton

Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. The estimated urban population of Rockhampton in June 2015 was 80,665, making it the fourth largest regional city in the state outside of the cities of South East Queensland. Rockhampton hosts a significant number of governmental, community and major business administrative offices for the central, coastal part of the state.Rockhampton experiences over 300 days of sunshine each year, which lends itself to tourism activities all year round and an abundance of outdoor activities. Popular attractions include Riverbank Parklands, a riverfront parkland attraction located on the banks of Fitzroy River; the Capricorn Coast, the coastal strip between Yeppoon, Emu Park and Great Keppel Island, a large neighbouring island off the Capricorn Coast, the vast majority of which is national park.HistoryThe Capricorn district is the traditional home of the Darumbal Aboriginal people.The European history of the area began in 1853, when the area that would become Rockhampton was visited by the Archer brothers Charles and William, who were seeking grazing lands. They were acting on information from earlier expeditions by Ludwig Leichhardt and Thomas Mitchell, who had explored the area in 1844 and 1846 and noted suitable land for grazing then.