We are Mareeba

10 per cent.

10 in every 100 Mareeba residents speak a language other than English at home. 2,175 people, in 70 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.

Our population
22,674
Speak another language
2,175
Languages at home
70
Growth since last census
+13.0%

Most of us speak English at home. 2,175 of us do not, across 70 languages, most often Italian, German and Mandarin. Small communities are the ones a mainstream service misses first and notices last — which is the whole reason to count them.

In Queensland

#18

of 76 Queensland councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #166 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Italian

668 speakers

Italian is spoken by 668 of our residents at home, 2.9% of Mareeba.

German

189 speakers

German is spoken by 189 of our residents at home, 0.8% of Mareeba.

Mandarin

153 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 153 of our residents at home, 0.7% of Mareeba.

The languages of Mareeba

70 languages carry the conversation at home. Every one of them is spoken here.

Each block below is scaled to the number of people who speak that language at home, and tinted by how fast that community has grown since the last census.

  • Grew 50%+
  • 25%+
  • 10%+
  • Held
  • Slipped
  • Declined 10%+
  • Not comparable
The 18 most spoken languages in Mareeba, covering 1,766 speakers. Area is speakers at the 2021 Census; tint is the change since 2016. Every figure is also in the table below.

Every language, in order

Speakers at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016. Broader ABS categories such as “Chinese, nfd” are counted in our totals but left out of this list, so the percentages can exceed the sum of the languages shown.

  1. 01
    Italian
    668-23.0%
  2. 02
    German
    189-9.6%
  3. 03
    Mandarin
    153+28.6%
  4. 04
    Afrikaans
    112+229%
  5. 05
    French
    77-12.5%
  6. 06
    Spanish
    68+240%
  7. 07
    Punjabi
    64+93.9%
  8. 08
    Japanese
    60+22.4%
  9. 09
    Thai
    55+77.4%
  10. 10
    Croatian
    53-8.6%

Why we publish this

9.6% of us

We share this portrait because a council below the Queensland average is the one most likely to be planned for as though everybody here reads English. 2,175 of us do not, at home, and a service that reaches everyone except them has not reached everyone. This almanac exists so that the number is on the record before the decision is made.

Who we are, beyond language

Where we were born

14.9% of us were born overseas, across 64 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    6210%
  2. 02
    Italy
    473-14.5%
  3. 03
    New Zealand
    456+3.6%
  4. 04
    Germany
    179-7.7%
  5. 05
    Papua New Guinea
    150+8.7%
  6. 06
    South Africa
    137+67.1%
  7. 07
    Philippines
    106-11.7%
  8. 08
    India
    90+69.8%
  9. 09
    Taiwan
    83+9.2%
  10. 10
    United States of America
    79+11.3%

What we believe

Reported affiliation in Mareeba at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.

  1. 01
    Christianity
    9,967-14.5%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    8,347+47.9%
  3. 03
    Buddhism
    208-20.9%
  4. 04
    Islam
    172+32.3%
  5. 05
    Hinduism
    58+56.8%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    0-100%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 15 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Mareeba shaded by the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. Boundaries are ABS ASGS 2021. See every council on one map.

In context

Mareeba
9.6%
Queensland
12.2%
Australia
21.3%

9.6% of Mareeba residents speak a language other than English at home, against 12.2% for Queensland and 21.3% nationally. Drawn from the 2021 Census.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2021, language used at home by Statistical Area Level 2, aggregated to Local Government Area. Growth compares 2021 against the 2016 Census.

How the headline share is counted. 9.6% is 2,175 residents as a share of all 22,674 of us. A further 3,485 did not state a language at all, and we do not count them as speaking one — counting every non-response as a non-English speaker would put this figure at 25.0%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 11.3%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Mareeba, it is almost certainly one of those two.

Two further caveats we would rather state than bury. Summing suburbs omits residents not allocated to one — no usual address, migratory and unincorporated areas — so national totals sit a little under the ABS published figures; the Mareeba figures on this page are unaffected. And ranked language lists exclude ABS residual categories such as “Chinese, nfd”, which are not languages anyone can order a translation in; they remain inside the headline total.

Need this community reached in its own languages? Talk to us about translation in Mareeba.