Cairns, city on the north-east coast of the state of Queensland, Australia, on Trinity Bay, about 1,800 km (1,120 mi) north of Brisbane. Cairns is one of Australia's fastest-growing cities. In addition to its role as regional centre for dairy, timber, and sugar production, Cairns is an important tourist destination, receiving about 800,000 visitors each year. The city is the southern gateway to the wild, sparsely inhabited Cape York Peninsula. The Wet Tropics of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park—two World Heritage Sites—are near the city. Cairns is also an important centre for big-game fishing. Forests cover the mountains surrounding Cairns, supporting a busy timber industry. Cairns is a major port, handling bulk sugar, timber, and agricultural exports. Barron River Gorge, an important hydroelectric facility, is nearby. An international airport opened in Cairns in 1984.
The British explorer and navigator James Cook named Trinity Bay on Trinity Sunday in 1770. The area that is now Cairns was surveyed and settled by Europeans in 1876 as a port for the Hodkinson River goldfield 100 km (60 mi) inland. The settlement was named after William Wellington Cairns, who was the governor of Queensland in the mid-1870s. Cairns was incorporated as a town in 1885 and as a city in 1923. Population (1991) 64,463.
