Bathurst New South Wales | |||||||||
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Coordinates | 33°25′12″S 149°34′40″E / 33.42000°S 149.57778°E | ||||||||
Population | 36,230 (UCL 2021)[1] | ||||||||
Established | 1814 | ||||||||
Postcode(s) | 2795 | ||||||||
Elevation | 650 m (2,133 ft) | ||||||||
Location | |||||||||
LGA(s) | Bathurst Regional Council | ||||||||
Region | Central West | ||||||||
State electorate(s) | Bathurst | ||||||||
Federal division(s) | Calare | ||||||||
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Bathurst (/ˈbæθɜːrst/) is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Bathurst is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) west-northwest of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council. Founded in 1815, Bathurst is the oldest inland settlement in Australia[2] and had a population of 37,396 in 2021.[3]
Bathurst is often referred to as the Gold Country, as the area was the site of Australia's first discovery of payable gold in 1851, and where the continent's first gold rush occurred. Today education, tourism and manufacturing drive the economy. The internationally known racetrack Mount Panorama is a landmark of the city. Bathurst has a historic city centre with many ornate buildings remaining from the New South Wales gold rush in the mid to late 19th century.
The median age of the city's population is 35 years; which is particularly young for a regional centre (the state median is 38), and is related to the large education sector in the community.[3][4] The city has had a moderate population growth of 1.29% year-on-year averaged over the five years until 2019, making Bathurst the tenth fastest-growing urban area in New South Wales outside Sydney.[3] This growth over recent years has resulted in increased urban development, including retail precincts, sporting facilities, housing estates and expanding industrial areas.