Bathurst, New South Wales - Definition and Overview

Bathurst is a regional centre in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It has a population of 32,000.

Bathurst was founded in 1815 on the orders of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, and is the oldest inland town in Australia. It was intended to be the administrative centre of the newly discovered western plains of New South Wales. Bathurst's economy was transformed by the discovery of gold in 1851. It later became the centre of an important coal-mining and manufacturing region. Today it is a regional services centre, the home of one of the campuses of Charles Sturt University, and a tourism centre.

Bathurst is known as the home of Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley, who represented the area in the Federal Parliament and is buried in Bathurst. It has also become a national centre for motor-racing, particularly for the Bathurst 1000 motor race.

External links

• Charles Sturt University website (http://www.csu.edu.au)
• City of Bathurst website (http://www.bathurst.nsw.gov.au/)
• Bathurst 24-hour motor race website (http://www.bathurst24hr.com)