Cairns is the nearest city to the Great Barrier Reef.
Tourism is the most important industry, contributing about a fifth of the region's income.
A shipbuilding firm, a brewery, and a naval base employ local people. The city provides services for the agricultural, pastoral, timber, and mining industries of the Atherton Tableland. Mills in the district send sugar to the bulk terminal in Cairns for export. The city is named after William Wellington Cairns, a governor of Queensland, who proclaimed the site a port in 1876. How to cite this article.