It was first created in 1974, and is named after the Barkly Tableland area, which occupies much of the electorate.
Atherton Tableland | Barkly Tableland | Henry Barkly | Blackdown Tableland National Park | Barkly West | Barkly Highway |
These include the Burke River, flowing through the basin's major town of Boulia, the upper Georgina River itself rising in the Barkly Tableland north of Camooweal, the Ranken River rising in the extreme east of the Northern Territory beyond Tennant Creek, and the Sandover River.
The Barkly Tableland and other areas of northern Australia are prone to infestations of Calotropis procera which is slowly becoming more widespread.
The Georgina River system originates on the Barkly Tableland, near the Northern Territory-Queensland border, north-west of Mount Isa and not far south of the Gulf of Carpentaria.