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Denmark is a coastal town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-south-east of the state capital of Perth. At the 2011 census, Denmark had a population of 2,280, however the population can be several times the base population during tourist seasons. ==History== '' 't Landt van de Leeuwin'' (Leeuwin's Land) was the original Dutch name for the area from King George Sound to the Swan River. It was named after the Dutch East Indiaman ''Leeuwin'', which sighted the coast from Hamelin Bay to Point D'Entrecasteaux in 1622. The coastline of the Denmark area was observed for the first time in 1627 by the Dutchman François Thijssen, captain of the ship '''t Gulden Zeepaert'' (The Golden Seahorse), who sailed to the east as far as Ceduna in South Australia and back. Captain Thijssen had discovered the south coast of Australia and charted about of it between Cape Leeuwin and the Nuyts Archipelago.〔 〕 Two centuries later, when the first Europeans entered the lands around the present Denmark, the area was inhabited by the Noongar. Aborigines called the river and the inlet Kwoorabup, which means 'place of the black wallaby' (kwoor). The Denmark River was named in December 1829 by naval ship's surgeon Thomas Braidwood Wilson after his mentor, naval surgeon Alexander Denmark, Physician of the Fleet, Resident Physician at the Royal Hospital Haslar, and past-Physician to the Mediterranean Fleet. Wilson discovered the river while exploring the area in company with the Noongar Mokare from King George Sound, John Kent (officer in charge of the Commissariat at Frederick Town, King George Sound), two convicts and Private William Gough of the 39th Regiment, while his ship the ''Governor Phillip'' was being repaired at King George Sound.〔 〕〔 〕〔 〕 In August 1895 C & E Millar completed the purchase of 20,000 acres of freehold timber country at Denmark River, known as the Denmark Estate, and in October 1895, after a stock exchange listing in London to raise the capital, Millars Karri and Jarrah Forests Limited commenced a railway extension from Torbay to Denmark River. The formation was completed and the first timber mill constructed at Denmark timber station in December 1895.〔 〕 A post office and savings bank was opened on 30 August 1897. Millars built its third mill in 1898 and by 1900 there were 800 workers and their families resident at Denmark, for a total population of 2,000.〔 〕 Resource depletion soon resulted in a total collapse of the local karri timber industry. By May 1903, with the closure of No 1 Mill, the Denmark milling industry was in decline. On 30 September 1904 Millars' Denmark operation was closed down. In 1908 Millars sold the Denmark Estate and the Elleker-Denmark railway to the state government. A townsite was surveyed and provision made for a school site, recreation reserves and town hall site.〔 〕 In 1911 the Denmark Ward of the Albany Roads Board was excised to form the Denmark Roads Board.〔 〕 The population declined dramatically, and revived only with the introduction of the Group Settlement Scheme in the 1920s. Small farms of 40 ha (100 acres) were cleared from woodland to create pasture for cattle, dairying and orcharding, mainly apples. Conditions were often poor and some of the small farmers could hardly survive. They worked in one of the timber mills operating around the middle of the 20th century. Tourism started when American soldiers, stationed in Albany during World War II, made outings to Denmark. After the war, Denmark became a popular holiday destination for Western Australians. By the 1960s the population had increased to 1,500 and Denmark was becoming attractive to alternative life-stylers and early retirees. Intensive agriculturists such as wine growers had discovered the value of the rich karri loam for their vineyards. Riesling and Chardonnay were the first grapes grown on Denmark soil, soon followed by other varieties. Within 50 years the area became a wine subregion of critical acclaim, as part of the Great Southern Wine Region.〔John Gladstones, ''Viticulture and Environment'', Winetitles 1992〕 The first winery, Tinglewood, opened in 1976,〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.tinglewood.net.au/Tinglewood_Wines.html )〕 and by 2008, over twenty vineyards had been established around Denmark.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.denmarkwa.asn.au/wineries.htm )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Denmark, Western Australia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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