| Sparsely populated, 500-mile-long peninsula in northern Queensland between the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Coral Sea. The Cape York Peninsula was first discovered by the Western world in 1606, by Willem Jansz; originally known as Carpentaria Land, it was renamed by Captain James Cook in 1770.
Notable features of this remote peninsula are huge bauxite deposits, several large Aboriginal reserves, and a number of rivers, including the Archer, Gilbert, Holroyd, Mitchell, Staaten, and Wenlock. | 
