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Ballarat is a city in rural Victoria, Australia, approximately 120 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, with a population of 84,000 people. The city lies at 441 metres (1,447 feet) above sea level and covers an area of approximately 740 square kilometres.
The site of the city was originally a stock station established by William Cross Yuille and Henry Anderson in 1838 and named Ballaarat, which was derived from aboriginal words which mean camping place.
It was founded in the early 1850s when gold was discovered there, and, with a huge influx of population and wealth, was for a time Victoria's largest city. The legacy of the wealth generated is still visible in a large number of fine stone buildings in and around the city, especially in the Lydiard Street area which contains some of Victoria's finest examples of Victorian era buildings many of which are classified by the National Trust of Australia.
Ballarat is notable as the site for Australia's only armed civil uprising, the Eureka Stockade which took place in 1854. The site contains a historical park and a memorial to commemorate the event.
Today, Ballarat's major industries include tourism, food products, brick and tile manufacture, and information technology services.
You can find out more about tourism in Ballarat at the Ballarat Tourism website. (http://www.visitballarat.com.au)
Ballarat looking over Lake Wendouree; in the distance is Mount Bunninyong.
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