Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about 970 kilometres (603 mi) north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar.

There is controversy about the geographic location of the region, with most people referring to it as a part of Central Queensland, much confusion still lies within the Queensland Government, with Government Services being provided through both Townsville (North Queensland) and Rockhampton (Central Queensland). Generally, the area is known as the Mackay / Whitsunday Region. Equally, there has always been much contention over the pronunciation of the name Mackay. Correspondence received by Mackay City Library in 2007, from descendants of John Mackay, confirms that the correct pronunciation is /məˈkaɪ/ (rhyming with sky), from the Gaelic name "MacAoidh" which is pronounced "i" not "ay".

One of the first Europeans to travel through the Mackay region was Captain James Cook, who reached the Mackay coast on 1 June 1770 and named several local landmarks, including Cape Palmerston, Slade Point and Cape Hillsborough. It was during this trip that the Endeavour's botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, briefly recorded seeing Aborigines. The City of Mackay was later founded on Yuibera traditional lands.

Although several other maritime explorers sailed through the waters off Mackay, it was not until 1860 when moves were made to claim the region’s virgin pastures.

Two young men, John McCrossin and Scottish-born John Mackay, assembled a party of eight, including an Aborigine named Duke, and left Armidale, New South Wales in January 1860. Two men left the party in Rockhampton while the others reached the top of the range overlooking the Mackay district's Pioneer Valley in May. After descending into the valley and exploring almost to the mouth of the river, which they named the Mackay, the members of the party selected land and began the trip back to civilisation. On the return journey, they all suffered from a fever that claimed the life of Duke.

Mackay returned to the area with 1,200 head of cattle in January 1862 and founded Greenmount station. Although the other members of his first expedition had marked runs, none but Mackay took up their claims. However, Mackay remained in possession of Greenmount for less than two years. Ownership transferred to James Starr in September 1864 and, despite Mackays protests, he never succeeded in regaining control. Greenmount passed through a number of owners’ hands before being bought by A.A. Cook in 1913. Before leaving the district, John Mackay chartered the vessel Preston, which landed stores from him on the riverbank about a kilometre upstream from the present Hospital Bridge. Mackay made a survey of the river and the chart was sent to Rockhampton. The Port of Mackay was then officially declared a port of entry.

In 1918, Mackay was hit by a major Tropical Cyclone causing severe damage and loss of life with hurricane-force winds and a large storm surge. The resulting death toll was further increased by an outbreak of Bubonic plague.

The largest loss of life in an Australian aircraft accident was a B17 aircraft,with 40 of 41 people on board perishing, on 14 June 1943, after departing from Mackay Aerodrome, and crashing in the Bakers Creek area.

On 18 February 1958, Mackay was hit with massive flooding caused by heavy rainfall upstream with 878 mm of rain falling at Finch Hatton in 24 hours. The flood peaked at 9.14 metres (29.99 ft). The water flowed down the valley and flooded Mackay within hours. Residents were rescued off rooftops by boats and taken to emergency accommodation. The flood broke Australian records.

On 15 February 2008, almost exactly 50 years from the last major flood, Mackay was devastated by severe flooding caused by over 600 mm of rain in 6 hours with around 2000 homes affected.

Mackay was battered by Tropical Cyclone Ului, a category three cyclone which crossed the coast at nearby Airlie Beach, around 1:30am on Sunday 21 March 2010. Over 60000 homes lost power and some phone services also failed during the storm, but no deaths were reported.

Mackay is situated on the 21st parallel south on the banks of the Pioneer River. The Range lies on the western side of the city, with the Athelstane Range to the west. The city is expanding to accommodate for growth with most of the expansion happening in the Beachside, Southern, Central and Pioneer Valley suburbs.

Mackay is widely noted as the "sugar capital" of Australia, producing a sizeable portion of Australia’s domestic supplies and exports.

The industry in Mackay has its roots back in the 19th century. Historically, plantations were small and had their own mills to crush the cane during harvest. Over the years as the industry grew and developed, co-operatives were formed to consolidate the harvesting, crushing and distribution of the sugar in selected zones. Throughout the 20th century, the privately owned mills in the Mackay district closed one by one until only four remained - Marian, Racecourse, Farleigh and Pleystowe. Today, Pleystowe is the oldest surviving mill in the district.

Mackay Sugar operates three of these remaining mills, including Racecourse, which became site of the region’s first sugar refinery (which is owned by CSR_Limited) in the 1990s. Growers in the region have a total cane production area of approximately 86,000 hectares. The growers are capable (in good seasons) of supplying up to 6.5 million tonnes of cane to the factories for processing. On average, Mackay Sugar produces about 850,000 tonnes of raw sugar and 180,000 tonnes of the by-product molasses annually. Mackay Harbour is also home to one of the largest bulk-sugar loading terminals in the world.

The sugar industry in Mackay has faced steep challenges over the past 10 years, since it is largely dependent on high world sugar prices to remain viable. However, efforts are going into diversifying the use of sugar cane for different purposes. These include a planned energy co-generation plant that could deliver up to 30 per cent of Mackays annual electricity supply. Use of sugar cane in ethanol-based fuel for vehicles also has strong potential.

Compared to many of its neighbouring cities and regions in Queensland, Mackays tourism industry is small and still developing. This is despite being close to notable attractions including Eungella National Park, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Whitsunday Islands.

Latest figures indicate about 750,000 domestic and international visitors come to the region annually. More telling, however, is that domestic and international visitor night stays have increased to 3.2 million annually, an increase of nearly 1 million since 2000.

Several new hotels have opened in the region since 2000, further indication of a growing industry. These include the Mackay Grand Mercure, The Clarion International and Quest Serviced Apartments. Currently under way is the Eastpoint development, a $250 million eco-tourism precinct on the northern bank at the mouth of the Pioneer River, which is expected to draw large numbers of tourists.

A number of other notable facilities have opened in the region over the last decade, providing a wider offering for the tourist market.

Like tourism, the marine industry in Mackay is small but has a lot of potential. Mackay is well situated to become a major service centre for the marine industry, being in immediate proximity to the Whitsundays, and located halfway between Brisbane and Cairns. Currently the Mackay Marina is the largest base in the district for the maintenance, refit and related services for all marine craft, particularly Super Yachts. The Mackay Whitsunday Super Yacht Cluster, a group of regional companies focusing on providing integrated repair, refit and provisioning for the increasing number of visiting super yachts, was established in 2001 to support and promote the development of this sector.

Mackay has three main shopping centres. 'Caneland Central is the largest of these, with more than 130 speciality stores. Owned by Lend Lease, the centre is undergoing a $220 million redevelopment that will increase its footprint to more than 66,000 sq metres. Myer is going to be among the new anchor tenants. This expansion is expected to be completed some time in 2011.

Mount Pleasant-Greenfields is the second major shopping centre in the Mackay region. It hosts department stores, supermarkets and other speciality outlets. Outside the main centre, a number of bulky-good outlets also operate, along with a five-screen cinema complex.

Construction has also begun on a new shopping centre "Northern Beaches Central" it will be 45,000 sq meters and include stores such as McDonalds, Woolworths, Bi-Lo.

The Mackay City Heart, located in the older city centre, is also another thriving part of the city. It is the home of many of the region's banks, law, accounting and other professional service firms.