Whyalla South Australia |
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View of Whyalla Foreshore
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Coordinates | 33°02′0″S 137°34′0″E / 33.03333°S 137.56667°ECoordinates: 33°02′0″S 137°34′0″E / 33.03333°S 137.56667°E | ||||||
Population | 22,654 (2015) | ||||||
Established | 1920 | ||||||
Postcode(s) | 5600 | ||||||
Time zone | ACST (UTC+9:30) | ||||||
• Summer (DST) | ACDT (UTC+10:30) | ||||||
Location | 395 km (245 mi) from Adelaide | ||||||
LGA(s) | City of Whyalla | ||||||
State electorate(s) | Giles | ||||||
Federal Division(s) | Grey | ||||||
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Whyalla /hwaɪˈælə/ is the third most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide and Mount Gambier. At June 2015 Whyalla had an estimated urban population of 22,654. It is a seaport located on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula. The town is known as the "Steel City" due to its integrated steelworks and shipbuilding heritage. The port of Whyalla has been exporting iron ore since 1903.
The city consists of an urban area is bounded to the north by the railway to the mining town of Iron Knob, to the east by Spencer Gulf and to the south by the Lincoln Highway. The urban area consists of the following suburbs laid from east to west extending from a natural hill known as Hummock Hill – Whyalla, Whyalla Playford, Whyalla Norrie, Whyalla Stuart and Whyalla Jenkins. A port facility, a railyard serving the railway line to Iron Knob and an industrial complex are located to the immediate north of Hummock Hill.
It was founded as Hummock's Hill in 1901 by the Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) as the end of a tramway bringing iron ore from Iron Knob in the Middleback Range to sea. Its first shipment was transported across Spencer Gulf to Port Pirie where it was used in lead smelters as a flux. A jetty was built to transfer the ore and the first shipment was sent in 1903. The early settlement consisted of small cottages and tents clustered around the base of the hill. The Post Office opened in 1901 as Hummock's Hill and was renamed Whyalla on 1 November 1919.