The Red Centre
Uluru
A great sandstone rock in central Australia that glows orange and red at sunrise and sunset.
Why Uluru is uluru red
Uluru rises about 350 metres above the flat desert of central Australia. It is a single mass of sandstone, grey when freshly broken. Its surface is red because iron in the rock has rusted on contact with air and water. The colour shifts through the day, from dull brown to orange, fiery red at sunset and purple in the last light. The soil of the region is red for the same reason, giving the name the Red Centre. Uluru is sacred to the Anangu, its traditional owners, to whom the land was handed back in 1985. At their long-standing request, climbing the rock ended in 2019. Red ochre from the land is used in Anangu ceremony and painting.
Values are fair approximations of what the eye sees there, not measurements.
Colours tied to Uluru
Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Uluru" on Wikipedia. If you know Uluru and we have it wrong, tell us.
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🇮🇳 Land of mirror work and white desertKutchEmbroidery, tie-dye and block print in deep red and indigo, set against the white salt of the Rann.Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Shekhawati In: Digrajsingh, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kutch In: Zeel Satyendra Modi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Broome Au: Kat Clay, CC BY 2.0, source
- Brighton Beach Au: Celco85, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hobart Au: Michael fromholtz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lake Hillier Au: Aussie Oc, CC BY-SA 4.0, source