Cowra

Cowra is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 10,063.Cowra is located approximately 310m above sea level on the banks of the Lachlan River in the Lachlan Valley. By road it is approximately 310km South-West of the state capital Sydney and 189km North of the nation's capital Canberra. The town is situated at the intersection of three major state highways the Mid-Western Highway, Olympic Highway and the Lachlan Valley Way.Cowra is included in the rainfall records and weather forecast region for the Central West Slopes and Plains division of the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts.HistoryThe first explorer, George William Evans, entered the Lachlan Valley in 1815. He named the area the Oxley Plains after his superior the surveyor-general, John Oxley. In 1817 he deemed the area "unfit for settlement". A military depot was established not long after at Soldiers Flat near present-day Billimari. Arthur Ranken and James Sloan, from Bathurst, were amongst the first white settlers on the Lachlan. They moved to the area in 1831.