Darling Downs

"Southern Downs" redirects here. For the Queensland electoral division, see Electoral district of Southern Downs.
This article is about the region of Queensland, Australia. For the suburb of Perth, Australia, see Darling Downs, Western Australia.

Darling Downs
Queensland
Darling Downs is located in Queensland
Darling Downs
Darling Downs
Coordinates27°49′S 151°38′E / 27.817°S 151.633°E / -27.817; 151.633
Population241,537 (2010)[1]
 • Density3.121089/km2 (8.083583/sq mi)
Established1840
Area77,388.7 km2 (29,879.9 sq mi)
LGA(s)Goondiwindi, Southern Downs, Toowoomba, Western Downs
State electorate(s)Condamine, Nanango, Southern Downs, Toowoomba North, Toowoomba South, Warrego
Federal division(s)Groom, Maranoa
Localities around Darling Downs:
South West Queensland Central Queensland Wide Bay–Burnett
South West Queensland Darling Downs South East Queensland
New South Wales New South Wales New South Wales

The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally applied to an area approximating to that of the Condamine River catchment upstream of Condamine township but is now applied to a wider region comprising the Southern Downs, Western Downs, Toowoomba and Goondiwindi local authority areas.[2] The name Darling Downs was given in 1827 by Allan Cunningham, the first European explorer to reach the area and recognises the then Governor of New South Wales, Ralph Darling.[3]

The region has developed a strong and diverse agricultural industry largely due to the extensive areas of vertosols (cracking clay soils), particularly black vertosols, of moderate to high fertility and available water capacity.[4] Manufacturing and mining, particularly coal mining are also important, and coal seam gas extraction experienced significant growth in the decade up to 2016.

The landscape is dominated by rolling hills covered by pastures of many different species, vegetables, legumes such as soy beans and chick peas, and other crops including cotton, wheat, barley and sorghum. Between the farmlands there are long stretches of crisscrossing roads, bushy ridges, winding creeks and herds of cattle. There are farms with beef and dairy cattle, pigs, sheep and lamb stock. Other typical sights include irrigation systems, windmills serving as water well pumps to get water from the Great Artesian Basin, light planes crop-dusting, rusty old woolsheds and other scattered remnants from a bygone era of early exploration and settlement.

The region is recognised as a cultural icon on the list of Queensland's Q150 icons.[5]

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 March 2011). "Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2009–10". Archived from the original on 13 October 2011.
  2. ^ "Darling Downs and Granite Belt tourist map c1935". Queensland Historical Atlas. Queensland Museum and others. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Darling Downs | region, Queensland, Australia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  4. ^ Isbell, Ray (26 February 2016). "Vertosols – Australian Soil Classification". Australian Soil Classification. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016.
  5. ^ "Q150 icons list". The Brisbane Times. 10 June 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2023.