page_title: Whitsunday Islands
section_title: Naming
hierarchical_section_title: Whitsunday Islands / Naming
caption_attribution_description: English: This scene is dominated by the largest island and namesake of the chain. Deep green forest covers most of Whitsunday Island, which is outlined by brilliant white sand beaches, the largest and most dramatic being Whitehaven Beach at the south-eastern end of the island. On Hamilton Island, the strong linear feature at the southern end shows where a jet-accessible runway was added to allow airlines from major Australian cities to fly directly to the islands. The swirls of pale blue around the islands show a mix of sandy bottom waters and shallow, fringing coral reefs. The green land in the south-western corner of the image is a small section of Conway Ranges National Park, on the shoreline of mainland Queensland. Deutsch: Dieses photoähnliche Bild des Kerns der Whitsunday Islands wurde am 22. Mai 2003 mit dem Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) des Landsat 7 erstellt. Das Bild wird von der größten Insel und Namensgeberin für die gesamte Inselgruppe dominiert. Den größtem Teil der Whitsunday Island bedecken tiefgrüne Wälder, die von brillanten weißen Sandstränden eingerahmt werden – der größte unter ihnen ist Whitehaven Beach im Südosten der Insel.
context_page_description: The Whitsunday Islands are a collection of 74 continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, approximately 900 kilometres north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are situated off the coast by the town of Bowen while the southernmost islands are off the coast by Proserpine. The island group is centred on Whitsunday Island, while the group's commercial centre is Hamilton Island. The traditional owners of the area are the Ngaro people and the Gia people whose Juru people has the only legally recognised native title in the region.
  The islands are within the locality of Whitsundays within the local government area Whitsunday Region.
  In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Whitsunday Islands was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "Natural attraction".
context_section_description: The term is a misnomer as it is based on Captain Cook’s date for the naming of Whitsunday Passage, or as Cook spelled it in his HMS Endeavour journal, Whitsunday’s Passage. Based on his journal date, Cook believed that the passage was discovered on Whitsunday, the Sunday of the feast of Whitsun—Pentecost in the Christian liturgical year—which is observed 7 weeks after Easter. As the International Date Line had not yet been established, the day of discovery was actually Whit Monday.
  There is some contention as to exactly which islands are within the informally named Whitsunday Islands, in particular those at the southern extremity and the inclusions to the west.  What is certain is that they lie within the chain named Cumberland Isles by Captain Cook (now officially the Cumberland Islands) and a reasonably defined section of that chain and surrounding waters have become known worldwide as The Whitsundays, based on a contraction of the Whitsunday Islands designation.
caption: Whitsunday Islands.
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