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Kamerunga
Cairns, Queensland
Kamerunga; Cairns, Queensland
	Looking west along Hastings Street, 2018
	Kamerunga
Coordinates	16°52′50″S 145°41′11″E / 16.8805°S 145.6863°E
Population	962 (2021 census)
• Density	223.7/km2 (579/sq mi)
Established	1980
Postcode(s)	4870
Area	4.3 km2 (1.7 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10:00)
Location	13.3 km (8 mi) NW of Cairns CBD ; 354 km (220 mi) NNW of Townsville ; 1,689 km (1,049 mi) NNW of Brisbane ;
LGA(s)	Cairns Region
State electorate(s)	Barron River
Federal division(s)	Leichhardt
	Localities around Kamerunga:

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Kamerunga is a town and a suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia.^[2]^[3] In the 2021 census, the suburb of Kamerunga had a population of 962 people.^[1]

Geography

The Barron River enters the suburb from the north-west (the suburb of Barron Gorge), flows through the north of Kamerunga, exiting to the north-east (the suburb of Barron).^[4] Kamerunga Island is a 29.6-hectare (73-acre) island in the river in the north-west of Kamerunga (16°52′21″S 145°40′33″E / 16.8724°S 145.6759°E / -16.8724; 145.6759 (Kamerunga Island)).^[5] All of the island and parts of the north and south river banks form the Kamerunga Conservation Park (16°52′21″S 145°40′58″E / 16.8725°S 145.6828°E / -16.8725; 145.6828 (Kamerunga Conservation Park)).^[6]

Kamerunga Crossing is a ford across the Barron River (16°52′24″S 145°40′59″E / 16.8733°S 145.6831°E / -16.8733; 145.6831 (Kamerunga Crossing)) to Caravonica. It is the location of an old bridge (no longer for use by vehicles).^[7]^[8]

In the east of the suburb, farmland predominates while the centre of the suburb is used for residential purposes and the west is mostly undeveloped bushland on the foothills of the Atherton Tableland escarpment.^[4]

History

The town was originally known as Barronville in early 1887, but renamed as Kamerunga in mid 1887,^[9] which is the name in the Yidinji language for Barron Gorge.^[2]^[3]^[10]

From 1890 to 1919, Kamerunga was within the Shire of Barron, but was then absorbed into the Shire of Cairns (now the Cairns Region).

In 1911, a ferro-concrete bridge was opened at Kamerunga Crossing which provided a dry crossing of the Barron River (except in floods). It was designed by Cairns Harbour Board engineer Charles Norton Boult. A new high-level road bridge (16°52′24″S 145°41′09″E / 16.8732°S 145.6858°E / -16.8732; 145.6858 (Kamerunga Bridge (new))) opened in 1980 to replace the original bridge (now known as Kamerunga Lower Bridge), which has been retained for walking, cycling and fishing.^[11]

Kamerunga State School opened on 28 May 1913. It was wrecked in a cyclone in February 1927. On 6 April 1927 it reopened at a new location as Caravonica State School.^[12] The decision to relocate the school had been taken prior to the cyclone.^[13]^[14]

Peace Lutheran College opened in 1994.^[12]

Demographics

In the 2016 census, the suburb of Kamerunga had a population of 1,049 people.^[15]

In the 2021 census, the suburb of Kamerunga had a population of 962 people.^[1]

Education

Peace Lutheran College is a private primary and secondary (Prep-12) school for boys and girls at Cowley Street (16°52′42″S 145°41′23″E / 16.8782°S 145.6897°E / -16.8782; 145.6897 (Peace Lutheran College)).^[16]^[17] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 670 students with 52 teachers (46 full-time equivalent) and 48 non-teaching staff (34 full-time equivalent).^[18]

There are no government schools in Kamerunga. The nearest government primary schools are Caravonica State School in neighbouring Caravonica to the north and Freshwater State School in neighbouring Freshwater to the east. The nearest government secondary school is Redlynch State College in neighbouring Redlynch to the south.^[4]