Barmah is a town in the state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. Barmah has the distinction of being located north of the border with the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. New South Wales is north of Victoria, with the border being the westward-flowing

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...

. However, just downstream of Barmah the Murray winds to the south and east for a short distance before resuming its westward course. The land within this length of river results in a small part of New South Wales being to the south of the Victorian town. Barmah is near the largest

river red gum ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...

forest in the world. The

Barmah National Park The Barmah National Park, formerly Barmah State Park, is a national park located in the Hume region of the Australian state of Victoria. The park is located adjacent to the Murray River near the town of Barmah, approximately north of Melbourne ...

is on the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

of the Murray River, and when it floods is an important breeding ground for Murray cod. The flood is enhanced by the geological features of the riverbed, as the channel narrows at an area known as the ''Barmah choke''. The Barmah Forest is listed under the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...

for wetlands and, with various state forests in New South Wales, has been identified as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

. It is rich in bird species and is the breeding ground for the

superb parrot The superb parrot (''Polytelis swainsonii''), also known as Barraband's parrot, Barraband's parakeet, or green leek parrot, is a parrot native to south-eastern Australia. It is a dimorphic species and one of three species in the genus ''Polyte ...

, a species listed as vulnerable on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

History

The Barmah area was first settled in 1856 by

Joseph Waldo Rice Joseph Waldo Rice (1828–1915) was an American-born entrepreneur who was first person of European descent to settle the Moira Lakes region near Barmah, Victoria, Australia. He was the proprietor of the Murray Fishing Company serving to provision ...

who established the Murray Fishing Company to supply fish for the gold mining region of

Bendigo, Victoria Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban populat ...

. Barmah was, for a time beginning in the early 1880s, a prosperous centre, whose chief industry was sawmilling. There were two major sawmills; that of Robert Barbour on the N.S.W. side of the river, and James MacIntosh's and E. Whitely's on the Victorian side. Much of the timber was exported to India for piles and railway sleepers until a government prohibition of the export of redgum, which forced closure of the Barmah mills. Trade picked up later, with the expansion of the railway network and a new sawmill was opened by R. Evans, who shipped the sawn timber to

Echuca Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative centre and largest s ...

on his steamboat, the ''Edwards''. A Barmah Post Office opened on 16 September 1876 and was renamed Barmah East in 1907, closing in 1951. Barmah Township Post Office opened on 2 May 1902.

Population

At the , Barmah had a population of 229. 87.8% of people were born in Australia and 90.8% of people only spoke English at home.

Ancient geography

The geography at Barmah is explained by a geological event that occurred 25,000 years ago, when an

uplift Uplift may refer to: Science * Geologic uplift, a geological process ** Tectonic uplift, a geological process * Stellar uplift, the theoretical prospect of moving a stellar mass * Uplift mountains * Llano Uplift * Nemaha Uplift Business * Uplif ...

of land along the

Cadell Fault The Cadell Fault is a north-south trending intra-plate geological fault in the Riverina area of New South Wales and Victoria, in Australia. It straddles the Murray River and, in quite recent geological times, has affected its course, as well as ...

forced the Murray River onto a new course for 500 km. The river had to force its way through the Barmah choke taking over the

Goulburn River The Goulburn River, a major inland perennial river of the Goulburn Broken catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the alpine, Northern Country/North Central, and Southern Riverina regions of the Australian state of Victoria. ...

in the process.''The Australian Financial Review'', 28 April 2006, p81 The uplifted land that led to these changes is noticeable as a continuous, low, earthen embankment along the road leading into Barmah from the west, which may appear to the untrained eye as man-made.

References

External links

Australian Places - Barmah

Towns in Victoria (Australia) Towns in Goulburn Valley Shire of Moira Populated places on the Murray River Goulburn River Ramsar sites in Australia {{Hume-geo-stub

History

Population

Ancient geography

See also

References

External links