Bathurst (New South Wales)

Bathurst is a regional city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately north-west of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council. Bathurst is the oldest inland settlement in Australia and had an estimated population of as at 30 June 2016.Bathurst is often referred to as the Gold Country as it was the site of the first gold discovery and where the first gold rush occurred in Australia. Today education, tourism and manufacturing drive the economy. The internationally known racetrack Mount Panorama is a landmark of the city. Bathurst has an historic city centre with many buildings remaining from the gold rush period of the mid to late 1800s.The median age of the city's population is 34.0 years; which is particularly young for a regional centre (the state average is 36.4), and is related to the large education sector in the community. Population growth has reached 1.6% per annum over the five years until 2010, making Bathurst the seventh fastest growing regional city in NSW. This growth over recent years has resulted in increased urban development including retail precincts, sporting facilities, housing estates and expanding industrial areas.GeographyBathurst is located on the western edge of the Great Dividing Range in the Macquarie River plain; also known as the Bathurst plains. The city is located adjacent to the Macquarie River which is part of the Murray-Darling basin, the largest river system in Australia. The city is protected by a levee bank to protect the city from occasional flood events. Mount Panorama is located from the CBD and effectively within the city limits; it is AMSL and rises above the Bathurst CBD.