North West Australia

The North West, North West Coast, North Western Australia and North West Australia, are usually informal names for the northern regions of the State of Western Australia. However, some conceptions of "North West Australia" have included adjoining parts of the Northern Territory (NT) – or even the entire NT (see below).

Major offshore islands include Barrow Island, Monte Bello Islands and the Dampier Archipelago.

Apart from land areas, the term "North West" is also used for seabed oil and gas fields of the North West Shelf.

The whole area north of the Murchison River was designated the North District by land regulations gazetted in 1862 by the government of the Colony of Western Australia. From February 1865, the North District was officially administered by a Government Resident, Robert John Sholl, initially based in Camden Harbour, then moved to Roebourne in November 1865.

The North-West Land Division, created by legislation in 1887, includes only the western Pilbara, northern Gascoyne and part of the Mid West, but not the Kimberley, thereby excluding many areas usually encompassed by popular definitions.

Western Australian law, state government policy and popular culture sometimes creates exceptions for the area "north of the 26th parallel (latitude 26° south). For instance, a Western Australian Government Tourist Bureau publication, The North West of Western Australia (1963) both uses the 26th Parallel as a boundary and delineates smaller regions: the Gascoyne, the "De Grey and Fortescue", the Kimberley and the "Dry Interior".

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