The Edward River is a river in Far North Queensland, Australia. The headwaters of the river rise in the Curlew Range in the Great Dividing Range and flow in a westerly direction. The river flows across mostly uninhabited plains country and discharges into the Gulf of Carpentaria. The mouth of the Edward River is located on the western shore of Cape York Peninsula, the eastern edge of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The river descends 144 m over its 208 km course. The drainage basin of the river occupies an area of 7521 km2 of which an area of 167 km2 is made up of estuarine wetlands. The township of Pormpuraaw, formerly known as the remote Aboriginal community of Edward River with a population of approximately 350 to 380 people, is located 6.5 km south-southeast of the river mouth. The river was named by the surveyor, John Thomas Embley, in 1884 after his brother Dr Edward Henry Embley who worked as an anaesthetist in Melbourne.