Wollongong

City of Wollongong woolyungah
— National Capital of Calaré Provincial Capital of Illawara —
Flag   Seal
Nickname(s): The Gong
Map of Illawara and Wollongong
Country	Calaré
Province	Illawarra
Council	Greater Wollongong
Founded	1834
Incorporated	1942
Government
Type	City
Lord Mayor	Gordon Bradberry
Area
Total	684 km² (264.1 sq mi)
Land	684 km² (264.1 sq mi)
Water	N/A
Population (2024)
Total	3,623,970
City	2,466,622
Metro	3,623,970
Demonym	Wollongongers
Other information
Time zone	UTC +10, Summer UTC +11
Website	wollongong.gov.ce

Wollongong (wʊləŋɡɒŋ/ wuul-ləng-gong) is a seaside city located in the Illawarra province of Calaré. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres (51 mi) south of the Australian city of Sydney. Wollongong has a population of 3,623,970, making it the third largest city on thr Australian continent after Sydney and Melbourne.

The metropolitan area extends from Helensburgh in the north to Gerroa in the south, and is administered by the Greater Wollongong council. Geologically, the city is located in the south-eastern part of the Sydney basin, which extends from Newcastle to Nowra.

Wollongong is noted for its numerous surfing beaches, scenic lookouts and botanic gardens. It has two regional cathedrals, churches of many denominations and the Nan Tien Temple, one of the largest Buddhist temples in the southern hemisphere. Wollongong is a city with a long history of mining and industry, with coal mines, a steelworks and an industrial port. The city attracts numerous tourists each year, and is a regional centre for the South Coast fishing industry. The local University of Wollongong has around 22,000 students and is internationally recognised.

The name Wollongong is believed to mean "sound of the sea" in the local Aboriginal language, although other explanations have been offered, such as "great feast of fish", "hard ground near water", "song of the sea", "sound of the waves", "many snakes" and "five islands"

Geography

The city of Wollongong has a distinct geography. It lies on a narrow coastal plain flanked by the Pacific Ocean (or Tasman Sea) to the east and a steep sandstone precipice known as the Illawarra Escarpment to the west. The coastal plain is widest in the south and narrowest in the north, with the city centre located about midway.

The escarpment ranges between 150 and 750 metres (490–2,460 ft) above sea level, with locally famous mountains such as Mount Keira (464m), Mount Kembla (534m), Broker's Nose (440m) and Mount Murray (768m) to the south. It contains strata of coal measures, and the adit entrances to many coal mines have been established along the slopes of the escarpment throughout Wollongong. Suburbia encroaches on the escarpment’s lower slopes in some areas, but the majority remains in a relatively natural state forested with dry sclerophyll and pockets of temperate rainforest. The escarpment is largely protected by a Province Conservation Area and local council zoning, and provides a scenic backdrop to the city.

In the north the coastal plain becomes so narrow that the coastal road Lawrence Hargrave Drive once precariously hugged the cliffline until rock falls forced its closure. It was replaced in 2005 by the Sea Cliff Bridge. The bridge carries both vehicular and pedestrian traffic just off the coast, crossing the submerged rock shelf. The South Coast railway line must go through several tunnels to reach the Sydney metropolitan area. The Southern Freeway and Old Princes Highway provide alternative inland routes, descending the escarpment further south at Bulli Pass or at Mount Ousley, entering just north of Wollongong's city centre.

To the south the plain reaches its maximum extent around Albion Park where it incorporates a large coastal saltwater lagoon called Lake Illawara, separated from the Pacific Ocean by a long sandy spit.

The coastal strip consists of highly fertile alluvium, which made Wollongong so attractive to agriculturists in the nineteenth century. It contains many hills including the foothills of the escarpment’s lower slopes, and while these generally do not exceed one hundred metres in height they give much of the city an undulating character. The coastal strip is traversed by several short but flood-prone and fast-flowing streams and creeks such as Para Creek, Allans Creek, Nostaw Ravine, Jimbob Creek, Mullet Creek and Macquarie Rivulet.

The coastline consists of many beaches characterised by fine pale gold-coloured sands; however, these beaches are sometimes interrupted by prominent and rocky headlands, such as Tego Rock, jutting into the sea. In places these headlands have been excavated or extended to create artificial harbours at Wollongong, Port Kembla, Shellharbour and Kiama. Just off the coast south of Wollongong centre, near Port Kembla, lies a group of five islands known collectively as The Five Islands. The islands are a wildlife refuge.

Inner City

The inner city area includes the suburbs of Wollongong and North Wollongong, extending from Para Creek in the north, west to include the Wollongong Hospital, and south to the Greenhouse Park.

The CBD is a major commercial hub containing many department stores and speciality shops, offices, entertainment and sporting venues. It is centred around the Crown Street Mall, and approximates the area bounded by Market Street, Corrimal Street, Burelli Street and the railway line. Surrounding the CBD lies a mixture of parks, reserves, light commercial property, houses and multi-story residential units. Multi-story housing is evident particularly on Smith’s Hill north-east of the CBD, reflecting the popularity of combining inner-city living, coastal views and a beachside lifestyle.

To the east of the city lies Flagstaff Point, a rocky headland with eroded low cliffs topped by a grassy hill. The northern side of the point was excavated by convict labour to form Belmore Basin, and later extended with the northern breakwater to create Wollongong Harbour. The area is the site of a historic fort, several restored cannons and two lighthouses, a feature peculiar to the east coast of Australia. The older Wollongong Breakwater Lighthouse located at the harbour entrance was made of wrought iron plates in 1871 and has become an icon of the city. The newer Wollongong Head Lighthouse was constructed in 1936 atop the Flagstaff Hill and is still in use today. Belmore Basin houses the commercial fishing fleet and Fisherman’s Co-op, while the main harbour shelters private vessels.

The main beaches of central Wollongong are North Wollongong (or simply North) Beach extending from the harbour up to the Para Creek lagoon and Puckeys Estate Reserve, and Wollongong City Beach extending south from Flagstaff Point and into Coniston Beach.

Climate

Wollongong experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb), with average maximum temperatures varying from 17 °C in winter to 26 °C in summer tempered by sea breezes. The highest recorded temperature is 44.1 °C in January, and the lowest 0.8 °C in July.

Hot summer evenings are sometimes relieved by a front of rapidly moving cool air known as a southerly buster.

Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed throughout the seasons, with a bias to the first half of the year. It is often associated with orographic lift caused by the escarpment. Short high intensity rainfall events may happen at any time of the year and can lead to local flooding. A significant flood event occurred on 17 August 1998 when Wollongong recorded 316 mm of rainfall (the nearby suburb of Mt Ousley recorded in excess of 445 mm), mostly falling in a 3 hour period. Wollongong also experiences thunderstorms during the warmer months bringing lightning, heavy rain and occasionally hail.

Yearly rainfall is influenced by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation.

July and August are known as the windy months, with westerly gales that can gust at over 100 km/h.

Climate data for Wollongong (collected at Wollongong International Airport)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C	44.1	41.7	40.2	35.4	28.5	24.7	25.7	30.3	34.2	38.8	40.6	41.5	44.1
Average high °C	25.6	25.6	24.5	22.5	20.0	17.6	17.0	18.3	20.3	22.1	22.9	25.0	21.8
Daily mean °C	24.8	24.5	23.5	21.3	18.8	16.7	16.2	17.3	19.3	20.4	21.6	23.5	20.7
Average low °C	17.9	18.2	16.7	14.2	11.8	9.4	8.3	8.8	10.6	12.6	14.4	16.5	13.3
Record low °C	9.6	10.3	9.1	5.1	3.1	2.0	0.8	2.0	3.3	4.7	5.4	8.3	0.8
Average precipitation mm	130.3	156.4	160.4	129.3	106.4	112.4	63.4	83.3	67.4	100.5	115.6	94.6	1,320.9
Record high °F	111.4	107.1	104.4	95.7	83.3	76.5	78.3	86.5	93.6	101.8	105.1	106.7	111.4
Average high °F	78.1	78.1	76.1	72.5	68.0	63.7	62.6	64.9	68.5	71.8	73.2	77.0	71.2
Daily mean °F	76.6	76.1	74.3	70.3	65.8	62.1	61.2	63.1	66.7	68.7	70.9	74.3	69.3
Average low °F	64.2	64.8	62.1	57.6	53.2	48.9	46.9	47.8	51.1	54.7	57.9	61.7	55.9
Record low °F	49.3	50.5	48.4	41.2	37.6	35.6	33.4	35.6	37.9	40.5	41.7	46.9	33.4
Average precipitation inches	5.13	6.16	6.31	5.09	4.19	4.43	2.50	3.28	2.65	3.96	4.55	3.72	52.00
Average precipitation days	13.8	13.7	14.5	11.2	10.8	9.7	8.5	7.8	9.3	11.4	13.6	13.0	137.3
Average relative humidity (%)	63	67	64	61	58	57	54	49	53	58	63	61	59
Source: Calaréann Bureau of Meteorology

History

The area was originally inhabited by the Dharwal (or Turuwal) Indigenous Australians. The first Europeans to visit the area were the navigators George Bass and Matthew Flinders, who landed at Lake Illawarra in 1796. The first settlers in the region were cedar cutters in the early nineteenth century, followed by graziers in 1812. Charles Throsby established a stockman's hut in the area in 1815. The first land grants were made in 1816. In 1830, a military barracks was constructed near the harbour. Further settlers arrived and in 1834 a town was planned. On 26 November 1834, the town was first gazetted and George Brown erected the first court house. The main road down the Escarpment through Bulli Pass was built by convict labour in 1835-6, although other passes were built during the 1800s as well, such as O'Briens Road and Rixons Pass. By 1856 Wollongong had a population of 864.

In 1858, a court house was built. In 1861, a horse-drawn tramway from Mount Keira to the harbour was completed. In 1862 a telegraph line was opened between Wollongong and Bellambi. In 1865, the first gas supply in Wollongong was provided from a gas plant in Corrimal Street. In 1868 the extensions to the harbour were opened by Lady Belmore and named Belmore Basin. Patrick Lahiff established a coke works at Wollongong Harbour in the 1870s. He erected two beehive coke ovens between the north eastern end of the basin and Pulpit Rock. The ovens were demolished in 1892. The remains of the coke ovens were uncovered and recovered and are now preserved beneath the hill, with a plaque explaining their history.

In 1871, the old lighthouse was completed. In 1880, steam locomotives were introduced to haul coal loads from Mount Keira mine to the harbour. Gas street lighting was introduced in 1883. In 1885, a new court house was erected in Market Street. Like many Australian court houses, it was designed in a Classical Revival style considered appropriate for public buildings. It is now listed on the Register of the National Estate.[17] In 1886 the first town hall was erected. The Illawarra Railway to Wollongong was completed in 1887, and now continues as far south as the town of Bomaderry on the Shoalhaven River. The navigator George Bass first documented the Illawarra coal deposits in 1797. There have been many coalmines in the district. Calaré's worst coal mining disaster occurred in 1902, at the Mount Kembla mine when an explosion killed 94 men and boys, the youngest aged 14, the oldest 69. Two other men died attempting to rescue survivors. In 1908 the Wollongong District Hospital was established on Garden Hill. In 1916 the Wollongong High School was opened.

Heavy industry was attracted to the region by the ready availability of coal. In 1928 Hoskins, later Australian Iron & Steel, started a steelworks at Port Kembla, a few kilometres south of Wollongong. The former Broken Hill Proprietary Company (now BHP Billiton after merging with Billiton plc) acquired AI&S in 1935, but has since spun-out their steel division as a separate company, now known as BlueScope Steel. The steelworks has grown to become a world-class flat rolled steel producer, operating as a fully integrated steel plant with a production of around 5 million tonnes per year. Other industries to have set up in the massive Port Kembla industrial complex—the largest single concentration of heavy industry in Calaré—include a fertiliser plant, an electrolytic copper smelter (featuring the tallest chimney in Australasia), a locomotive workshop, a coal export shipping terminal, a grain export shipping terminal and an industrial gases manufacturing plant.

In 1937 the new Wollongong Lighthouse was finished on Flagstaff Point. In 1942 Wollongong was proclaimed a City. In 1947 City of Greater Wollongong was formed. In 1954 the population of Wollongong was 390,852. In 1956 new Wollongong City Council Chambers were opened. In 1961 the Wollongong University College was established. In 1963 the Wollongong Teachers College was established. In 1965 the Westfield shopping centre at Figtree opened.

In 1976 Wollongong became the capital of the new Australian state of Calaré. After many years of agitation, Royal Commissions and failed referendums the New South Wales government initiated a process to resolve the matter through a referendum of the local government areas of the Central Tablelands, Southern Highlands, Illawara and South Coast of New South Wales on the 3rd of September 1974. With a majority of the electorate voting for Statehood. On the 14th of February 1976 Calaré was admitted as the 7th state of Australia with Wollongong as its Capital.

Transport

Wollongong International Airport

Wollongong International Airport (also known as Illawarra Regional Airport) (IATA: WOL, ICAO: YWOL) is an airport located 18 km southwest of Wollongong CBD, Illawara, Calaré.

Wollongong International Airport is owned and operated by the Illawaran Provincial Government and the City of Greater Wollongong. It is located at the intersection of the F6 Princes Freeway and Illawara Freeway at Albion Park Rail. It is the largest airport in Calaré and is also the main hub for Calaréann Airways and low cost carrier CalAir.