Broome is located in NW Western Australia and was originally set up as a pearling centre. In the early 1900's, it was a hive of activity, with a large number of the divers coming from Japan. The focus was mainly the 'Mother of Pearl' shell, rather than the pearls which were seen as a 'bonus'. In recent years, tourism has become a major employer following the establishment of the Cable Beach Resort and the many other businesses that followed. Pearling is still very important to the area but now the focus is on the pearls rather than the pearl shell. Nowadays, the pearls are 'farmed'. The pearls from the region are light in colour compared to pearls from Tahiti. Sea pearls occur singlely in a shell and are almost round, unlike freshwater pearls.