The Cairns Regional Council area is located in Far North Queensland. The Council area encompasses a total land area of over 4,100 square kilometres and features significant areas of national park and state forest, rural areas and growing urban areas. The main urban centre is Cairns, with smaller urban areas in Babinda, Bramston Beach, Cooya, Gordonvale, Mossman, Newell, Port Douglas and Wonga. Urban areas include residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, entertainment and tourist land uses. Rural land is used predominantly for sugar cane farming. The population of the Council area has grown rapidly since the 1970s, particularly in the urban areas. Rural land is used predominantly for sugar cane farming.

NOTE: The land use shown in the map is derived from ABS Mesh Block categories. Mesh Blocks broadly identify land use and are not designed to provide definitive land use. It is purely an indicator of the main planned land use for a Mesh Blocks. For more information please refer to ABS Mesh Block categories.