page_title: Esperance Plains
section_title: Geography and geology
hierarchical_section_title: Esperance Plains / Geography and geology
caption_attribution_description: This is a map showing internal detail of the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia (IBRA) Esperance Plains region. Areas that are predominantly given over to agriculture are shown in yellow; those that are still native vegetation are green; barren areas are light brown. Roads, railway lines, towns, watercourses and lakes are also shown.
context_page_description: Esperance Plains, also known as Eyre Botanical District, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia on the south coast between the Avon Wheatbelt and Hampton regions, and bordered to the north by the Mallee region. It is a plain punctuated by granite and quartz outcrops and ranges, with a semi-arid Mediterranean climate and vegetation consisting mostly of mallee-heath and proteaceous scrub. About half of the region has been cleared for intensive agriculture. Recognised as a bioregion under the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, it was first defined by John Stanley Beard in 1980.
context_section_description: The Esperance Plains may be roughly approximated as the land within 40 kilometres (25 mi) of the coast between Albany and Point Culver on the south coast of Western Australia. It has an area of about 29000 square kilometres (11000 mi²), making it about 9% of the South West Province, 1% of the state, and 0.3% of Australia. It is bounded to the north by the Mallee region, and to the west by the Jarrah Forest region. The region is only sparsely populated; the only towns of note are Bremer Bay, Ravensthorpe, Hopetoun and Esperance.
  The region's topography consists of a plain that rises from near sea level to an altitude of about 200 metres (700 ft), broken in places by outcrops of granite domes and quartzite ranges. The soil is Eocene sediments overlying clay or ironstone gravel derived from the Albany-Fraser Orogen.
caption: The Esperance Plains region, with agricultural areas in yellow, and native vegetation in green
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