Kununurra

Town in northern Western Australia, 3,214 km/1,997 mi north of Perth, 855 km/531 mi southwest of Darwin; population (1996) 4,900. The town was constructed as a base for the Ord River Irrigation Scheme in 1967. Early experimentation with cotton failed, although the establishment of other crops, including sugar cane, bananas, chickpeas, maize, sunflowers, melons, and pumpkins, has been successful. Kununurra is also the base for the Argyle Diamond Mine, the largest diamond mine in the world.

A government research station was established at Kununurra in 1945 to investigate the potential for agriculture in the region; the Ord River Irrigation Scheme was the outcome, developed in the 1960s. The construction of a series of dams on the Ord River system between 1967 and 1972 led to the establishment of agriculture in the region.