Download coordinates as: Emerald is a rural town and locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia.

[1] The traditional owners include the Gayiri people who occupied the area for tens of thousands of years before European colonisation began in the nineteenth century.

The secondary department reopened in 1959 and operated until the separate Emerald State High School opened in 1969.

The last of the Presentation Sisters left the school in 1992 after which it was operated by the Rockhampton Catholic Education Office.

[13] In October 1999, as part of the Van Gogh Project, the Big Easel was unveiled in Emerald.

It was established by the Emerald Christian College to support students who are disengaged from mainstream schooling.

This included adjusting the boundaries of other existing localities in the Region to accommodate these changes; Emerald gained the north-eastern corner and eastern parts of The Gemfields but losing a small area on its western boundary to the new Anakie Siding, increasing the area of the locality from 611.1 to 844.9 square kilometres (235.9 to 326.2 sq mi).

[5] The town lies approximately 270 kilometres (170 mi) from the Coral Sea coast and approximately 270 kilometres (170 mi) west of the city of Rockhampton by road at the junction of the Capricorn and Gregory highways.

Emerald sits approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of the Tropic of Capricorn.

Warm to hot weather dominate for most of the year, with mean maximums ranging from 34.6 °C (94.3 °F) in January to 23.4 °C (74.1 °F) in July.

It closed in 1992, in favour of a new weather station at the airport 4.9 kilometres (3.0 mi) south east.

[citation needed] Prior to the 1990s, flood damage to residential properties was almost non-existent.

This caravan park is now the site of the Centro Property where Coles Supermarket and other businesses operate.

A former swamp area is now part of Kidd Street (a housing development) which was an old river course.

The watercourse that extended along the back of the hospital, past the rear of Woolworths and past the Information Centre has been converted into a channel with a concrete section on one side near the information centre, reducing the channel in size by approximately two-thirds.

[32] Major flooding in Emerald occurred a few days later as the Nogoa River broke its banks.

The next most common countries of birth were New Zealand (4%), Philippines (1.7%), South Africa (1.4%) and England (1.1%).

[22] In 2023, the school had an enrolment of 25 students with teachers and 2 non-teaching staff (1.6 full-time equivalent).

[55] The Emerald branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at the QCWA Rooms at 45 Borilla Street.

[60] The Fairbairn Dam, a short drive to the south of the town, was opened in 1972, and holds back the waters of Lake Maraboon.

[61][62] Erected in 1999, the world's largest Vincent van Gogh sunflower painting is situated in Moreton Park.

[65] He chose Emerald as a site for his work as it is a sunflower-growing area and has an annual sunflower festival.

[citation needed] In the late 1990s, youth-orientated commercial station Hot FM was launched in Emerald.

It was subsequently replaced with the Hot FM CQ breakfast program that originates from Gladstone.

[citation needed] Emerald is also served by local community radio station, 4EEE.