Malanda is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Malanda had a population of 1,985 people. The economy is based upon agriculture (particularly dairy) and tourism. Geography Malanda is on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, from Cairns and above sea level. The town is located downstream of the Malanda Falls on the North Johnstone River. The northern entrance to the town passes the Malanda Falls. In comparison to the gorges of the escarpment the falls were created by the last flow of lava from the Malanda Shield Volcano with a cascade of roughly 4 metres. The town's unofficial swimming pool lies at the bottom of the falls, as there is an established pool located near the primary school. The name 'Malanda', according to some sources, was the local Aboriginal word meaning 'waterfalls'. History Malanda formed part of Ngajanji territory. The name Malanda comes from Malanda Creek, and is believed to be an Aboriginal name for the Upper Johnstone River, with the suggested meaning little stream with big stones or running rivers. Malanda first developed in the 1900s after the discovery of tin and copper at Herberton saw a steady stream of miners and engineers moving over the mountains from the coast. In 1886, a decision was made to build a railway coming into the area but the problems of construction outweighed its use. Over of railway was installed into the region in the next six years. By 1890 the Tablelands railway line had reached Kuranda. It pushed on to Mareeba in 1893 and Atherton in 1903 and did not reach Malanda until 1911. The line closed in 1964. In 1908, James English (later the publican of the Malanda Hotel and father of Charles English) and James Emerson both moved into the area. Both saw the district's dairy potential. English brought cattle from Kiama and the Richmond River areas in New South Wales and Emerson had a herd of 1,026 cattle overlanded from Lismore. They took 16 months to reach Malanda and only 560 survived the journey. Despite this arduous start the industry grew and by 1919 Malanda had its own butter factory. In 1973 this amalgamated with the factory in Millaa Millaa to form the Atherton Tablelands Co-operative Dairy Association. In 1910, in response to a developing local industry, John Prince established a sawmill in Malanda. It was