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City of Geelong .org, Victoria, Australiacityofgeelong.org
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Geelong is located
on the shores of Corio Bay, a south-western inlet bay of Port
Phillip, Victoria Australia. During clear weather, the Melbourne
skyline is visible from areas of Geelong when viewed across Port
Phillip. The Barwon River flows through the city to the south before
entering Lake Connewarre and the Barwon River estuary at Barwon
Heads before going into Bass Strait.
Geelong was proclaimed a
city in 1910, with industrial growth from this time until the
1960s establishing the city as a manufacturing centre for the state,
and saw the population grow to over 100,000 by the mid 1960s.
Population increases over the last decade were due to growth in
service industries, as the manufacturing sector has declined.
Redevelopment of the inner city has occurred since the 1990s, as
well as gentrification of inner suburbs. Geelong now has a
population growth rate higher than the national average, and is the
12th largest city in Australia. Tourism The Geelong region attracted over 6,000,000 tourists during 2001. Major tourist attractions include the Waterfront Geelong precinct and Eastern Beach on the shores of Corio Bay, the Ford Discovery Centre and National Wool Museum in the city, and more than 30 historical buildings listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
Population As of the 2006 Census, there were 160,000 people
residing in 68,000 households. The median age of persons in Geelong
was 37 years. 19.4% of the population of Geelong were children aged
between 0-14 years, and 26.6% were persons aged 55 years and over.
Each dwelling is on average occupied by 2.59 persons, slightly lower
than the state and national averages. The median household income
was $901 per week, $121 less than the state average, partly due to
higher reliance on manufacturing for employment. The population of
Geelong is growing by 2000 people each year, and the City of Greater
Geelong had the highest rate of building activity in Victoria
outside metropolitan Melbourne. Commercial More than 10,000 businesses
employ over 80,000 people in the Geelong region, with manufacturing
and processing industries providing around 15,000 jobs, followed by
13,000 in retail, and 8,000 in health and community services.
Geelong's major employers include the Ford Motor Company engine
plant in Norlane, aircraft maintenance at Avalon Airport, the head
office of retail chain Target, the Bartter (Steggles) chicken
processing plant, Alcoa's Point Henry aluminium smelter, and the
Shell oil refinery at Corio. Geelong has a number of shopping precincts in the CBD and surrounding suburbs. The two main shopping centres are located in the CBD - Westfield Geelong and Market Square, with smaller centres in the suburbs including Belmont Plaza and Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre in the south, Bellarine Village in Newcomb in the east, and Corio Village Shopping Centre in the north. The opening of the major shopping centres have seen a decline in strip shopping on Moorabool Street, with many empty shops and few customers.
Located in Geelong are major research
laboratories, the CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory in
Moolap, CSIRO Division of Textiles and Fibres Technology in Belmont
and the Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute at Queenscliff
Geelong, Victoria Australia. |
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