Esperance

Town on Western Australia's south coast, 723 km/449 mi southeast of Perth; population (1996) 8,600. Esperance is a major port for exporting the region's agricultural produce. The economy is based on cereal crops, sheep, fishing, agricultural services, transport, light industry, fertilizer manufacturing, and tourism.

The town was named after the French vessel L'Esperance, which in 1792 was driven by bad weather into the bay on which the town is located. The district around Esperance was first explored by settlers in 1841, although first pastoral leases for grazing were not granted until 1863. Initial farming failed because of the poor quality of the sandy soils. Esperance became an important port for the Coolgardie goldfields in the 1890s, although the opening of a railway between Perth and Kalgoorlie in 1896 resulted in Esperance being bypassed. The town declined until a railway linking Kalgoorlie and Esperance was opened in 1927. Improvements in fertilizer and farm technology resulted in agriculture expanding rapidly after World War II.

Esperance

Town in Snohomish County, west-central Washington; population (1990) 11,200. It is a middle-income residential suburb, formerly in the city of Edmonds, on the King County line, 18 km/11 mi north of Seattle city centre.