The traditional language area of Kugu Yi'anh includes landscape within the local government boundaries of the Cook Shire.

[12]Thaynakwith (also known as Awngthim, Tainikuit and Winduwinda) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Western Cape York in the Weipa area taking in Albatross Bay and Mission River.

The language region includes areas within the local government boundaries of Weipa Town Council and Cook Shire.

[13] In 1895, Presbyterian missionary Reverend Nicholas John Hey established a mission at the junction of Embley River and Spring Creek which he called Weipa, which is believed to derive from the Anhathangayth word meaning "fighting ground".

[16] In 1932, the community had to relocate to its present site, at Jessica Point now called Napranum because of malaria.

[17] In 1955 a geologist, Henry Evans (1912–1990), discovered that the red cliffs on the Aboriginal reserve, previously remarked on by the early Dutch explorers and Matthew Flinders, were actually enormous deposits of bauxite – the ore from which aluminium is made – and to a lesser extent tungsten.

In 1992, the Peppan people, originally located to the east of Napranum, were granted freehold title to former Aboriginal reserve land, which had been leased to the Commonwealth for the construction of Scherger Air Force Base.

[15] In 1995 a major industrial dispute occurred between Comalco and its workforce to maintain union coverage, pay and conditions.

[1] Weipa has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: Aw), with three distinct seasons; which vary in their intensity and duration.

The wet season, which runs from January to April, is characterised by high humidity, warm nights and heavy downpours; as well as occasional monsoonal lows and tropical cyclones.

The build-up season, running from October to December, is oppressively hot and humid, with frequent days over 35.0 °C (95.0 °F), with infrequent, heavy downpours associated with severe thunderstorms.

The present town was constructed mainly by Comalco (now called Rio Tinto), a large aluminium company, which began making trial shipments of bauxite to Japan in 1962.

A railway was constructed to transport the ore from the mine at Andoom to the export facility at Lorim Point.

Using figures from 2006, Reuters reported that it ranked third in the world, with capacity and production at 15.5 and 16.1 million tonnes respectively.

[30][31] Weipa has a visitor's centre, swimming pool, bowling green, golf club, tennis and squash courts.