FRASER ISLAND

also called Great Sandy Island, island off the southeastern coast of Queensland, Australia, separated from the mainland and the port of Maryborough by Hervey Bay and Great Sandy Strait. About 75 miles (120 km) long, it has an area of 625 square miles (1,620 square km). Sand hills rise to nearly 800 feet (250 m), and there are many freshwater lakes stocked with fish. The southwestern part of the island is a tourist resort. Part of Fraser Island has been a forest reserve since 1908, about one-fourth of the island was declared a national park in 1971, and in 1976 Great Sandy National Park was named and extended to occupy one-third of the island. It yields kauri and hoop pine, blackbutt, and satinay timber. Sand mining was carried out on the island until 1977, when the Commonwealth government banned exports of the mineral sands. The island was sighted in 1770 by British explorer Captain James Cook, who believed it to be a promontory; the first landing was made by navigator Matthew Flinders in 1802. It was named for Captain James Fraser, who, with several of his party, was killed there by Aborigines in 1836.