Mungeranie, South Australia

The Mungeranie (or Mungerannie) is a small place in the north-east of the Australian state of South Australia. It is in the outback, which is a large area of dry land far from the cities. The name "Mungeranie" is Aboriginal for "big ugly face".

Mungeranie is a very small settlement. It is made up of a cattle station (a large farm) and a hotel. The Mungeranie Hotel is the only place to get fuel and other supplies on the Birdsville Track. The Birdsville Track is a long, famous road for driving through the desert.

The settlement is about 204 kilometres (127 miles) north of the town of Marree. It is about 313 kilometres (194 miles) south of the town of Birdsville.

 History 
In 1886, a man named Richard Forbes Sullivan started a place to sell supplies and a hotel here. This helped the people who moved cattle and other people travelling on the Birdsville Track.

 Geography 
Mungeranie is next to the Derwent Creek. It is on the edge of four large deserts: the Sturt Stony, Tirari, Simpson, and Strzelecki Deserts.

There is a permanent waterhole (a place with water all the time) in Mungeranie. This water comes from an artesian bore. A bore is a deep hole dug into the ground to get water from the Great Artesian Basin (a large supply of water under the land). This waterhole has created a small wetlands (a swampy area) that is a home for many types of birds.

The name "Mungeranie" comes from the local Aboriginal people and means "big ugly face."