Lightning Ridge

Lightning Ridge is a small town in the north of New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the Outback towns of New South Wales. It is famous for being one of the few places in the world where black opal is found. The town is in a very remote area and has a unique, eccentric culture because of the opal miners who live there.

Lightning Ridge is often called the "Black Opal Capital of the World." Unlike other types of opal, black opal is very rare and valuable. Miners in the area dig for it using small shafts and tunnels. The search for opal has shaped the town's history and its way of life.

In 1936, several indigenous families living at a local government settlement were forced to move to the Brewarrina settlement.

 Geography and Climate 
Lightning Ridge is in a dry, desert-like area of inland Australia. It has very hot summers and mild winters. The town is located about 75 kilometers (47 miles) from the border with Queensland. The landscape around the town is covered in small hills of rubble from years of opal mining.

 Tourism 
Tourist attractions include:
The Black Opal: The main reason people visit Lightning Ridge is to see and buy black opal. There are many shops and places where you can learn about the mining process.
The Bottle House: This unique house is made entirely from glass bottles. It was built by an opal miner and shows the town's creative and unusual culture.
The Walk-in Mine: Visitors can go into a real opal mine to see what it is like for the miners who work underground.
Artesian Baths: The town has natural hot baths fed by water from the Great Artesian Basin. The water is believed to have healing properties.

 Demographics 
At 2001, the town had a population of 1,826, of whom 344 (18.8%) were Indigenous Australians.