Edward River (Queensland)

The Edward River is a river in Far North Queensland, Australia.

Edward
Location of Edward River mouth in Queensland
Etymology	Dr Edward Embley[1]
Location
Country	Australia
State	Queensland
Region	Far North Queensland
Physical characteristics
Source	Great Dividing Range
• location	Curlew Range
• coordinates	14°34′4″S 142°56′38″E
• elevation	114 m (374 ft)
Mouth	Gulf of Carpentaria
• location	Pormpuraaw
• coordinates	14°51′1″S 141°35′26″E
• elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Length	208 km (129 mi)
Basin size	7,521 km2 (2,904 sq mi)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Mistake Creek
• right	The Overflow, Melonhole Creek
[2]

The headwaters of the river rise in the Curlew Range in the Great Dividing Range and flow in a westerly direction. The river flows across mostly uninhabited plains country and discharges into the Gulf of Carpentaria. The mouth of the Edward River is located on the western shore of Cape York Peninsula, the eastern edge of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The river descends 144 metres (472 ft) over its 208-kilometre (129 mi) course.[2]

The drainage basin of the river occupies an area of 7,521 square kilometres (2,904 sq mi) of which an area of 167 square kilometres (64 sq mi) is made up of estuarine wetlands.[3]

The township of Pormpuraaw, formerly known as the remote Aboriginal community of Edward River[4] with a population of approximately 350 to 380 people,[5] is located 6.5 kilometres (4 mi) south-southeast of the river mouth.

The river was named by the surveyor, John Thomas Embley, in 1884 after his brother Dr Edward Henry Embley who worked as an anaesthetist in Melbourne.[1]