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Townsville
Queensland, Australia
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Townsville, city and major port, eastern Queensland, Australia, at the mouth of Ross Creek on Cleveland Bay of the Coral Sea. Founded in 1864 and named after Robert Towns, it was gazetted a town in 1865 and served as a centre for trade with the Pacific Islands. Proclaimed a municipality in 1866, it became a city in 1903. Lying close to Flinders Passage through the Great Barrier Reef offshore, it has one of Queensland’s finest artificial harbours. The confluence of rail lines from Brisbane (690 miles [1,110 km] southeast), Cairns, Charters Towers, Mount Isa, and Cloncurry, the city also has ...(100 of 225 words)