General Information:
Esperance enjoys a moderate Mediterranean-like climate all year round. It is a regional port and is a developing district.
Click here to download our 2006 Tourist brochure (Adobe PDF format)
The town has a complete range of services including all shopping, educational, medical, social and recreational facilities. It is a popular tourist resort and the area abounds in natural and manmade attractions. Its coastline is spectacular and unspoilt.
One of Esperance's greatest assets is its National Parks. There are five in the region which comprise one-fifth of the total Shire area. Also, there is the Archipelago of the Recherche, more than 100 islands, protected by the status of an A-class reserve.
History:
Esperance Bay was named by French navigator Rear Admiral D'Entrecasteaux in 1792 as his two ships sheltered there during a storm. Settlement did not occur until 1864 when the pioneering Dempster Brothers drove sheep, cattle and horse from Northam to establish Esperance Bay Pastoral Station.
Esperance townsite was surveyed in 1881, however it was not until the discovery of gold in the Eastern Goldfields that Esperance experienced an incredible transformation in 1895. Fortune seekers from Australia and around the world began to flood into the sleepy little port on their way to the Goldfields.
In September 1895, Esperance was declared a municipality. Over the following years, the town and district saw great population fluctuations as it endured the good times and the bad until around 1960 when the Esperance sand-plain emerged as a major agricultural region.
Local Information:
Area: 44,336 km2
National Parks and Reserves: Approx. 5,900 km2
Distance from Perth: 725 km (by road)
Population (2008): 14,443
Length of Roads (Dec 2002): Sealed 839 km, unsealed 3,725 km
