Cringila is a southern suburb of the city of

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The suburb is bounded by

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

Unanderra Unanderra ( ) is a suburb of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 6 km south-west of the Wollongong CBD. It is bordered to the west by Farmborough, Cordeaux Heights and Farmborough Heights in the Mount Kembla ...

, Lake Heights and

Warrawong Warrawong is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on the northeast corner of Lake Illawarra. Warrawong is 74 kilometers from Sydney CBD. Warrawong is home to Warrawong Plaza, one of thre ...

. The suburb is planned on a north-south residential/commercial strip and the east west streets that adjoin it, making a rectangular pattern. Cringila Community Park is a 78 ha site purchased by

Wollongong City Council The City of Wollongong is a local government area in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is situated adjacent to the Tasman Sea, the Princes Motorway and the Illawarra railway line. Located south of Sydney central busi ...

after residents defeated a proposal by BHP to use the land as a dump for

industrial waste Industrial waste is the waste produced by industrial activity which includes any material that is rendered useless during a manufacturing process such as that of factories, mills, and mining operations. Types of industrial waste include dirt and ...

. Its main purpose is to regenerate the local area's natural wildlife. Surrounding Cringila's primary school is a protected rain forest. A fraction of Cringila is the Port Kembla steelworks, which is a major local employer. This led to an influx of ethnic groups, primarily Macedonian,

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

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and Lebanese. This in turn transformed the demographics of Cringila significantly and at the more people lived in households where Macedonian was spoken (31.8%) than in households where only

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

was spoken (24.6%), making it the only suburb in Australia where this was true. However, at the only 18.5% of the population lived in households where Macedonian was spoken and 40.2% lived in households where only English was spoken.

History

The word Cringila is an Aboriginal name - the town was formerly called Steeltown. In 1928 the first blast furnace opened up at the

Port Kembla A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

steelworks. In 1935 the first public school opened, it was known as Steel Town School. In 1957 Cringila Public School opened.

Shopping

The main operating shops include Abdul's Butcher, the

Cringila Hotel Cringila is a southern suburb of the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is bounded by Berkeley, Unanderra, Lake Heights and Warrawong. The suburb is planned on a north-south residential/commercial strip and the east we ...

, a few burek shops, a newsagency, a

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

and

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...

. Other businesses include a petrol station,

kebab Kebab (, ; ar, كباب, link=no, Latn, ar, kabāb, ; tr, kebap, link=no, ) or kabob (North American) is a type of cooked meat dish that originates from cuisines of the Middle East. Many variants of the category are popular around the wor ...

shops, and a

florist Floristry is the production, commerce, and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, floral design and arrangement, merchandising, production, display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk flowers and related sup ...

Sport

Cringila also has a local

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team which participates in the local Illawarra Premier League. They are supported strongly by the Macedonian community of Cringila and Wollongong. They play their local games at their home ground at John Crehan Park, Merrett Avenue, Cringila. In 2008 Cringila had finished 4th in the local Illawarra Premier League and also won the Corrimal League cup which also led to greater success in winning the Bert Bampton Cup. Cringila Lions have a strong rivalry with Wollongong United also backed heavily by the Macedonian community. Cringila Community Park 1

Transport

Cringila railway station in on the Port Kembla Branch of the South Coast railway line.

Demographics

At the , Cringila had a total population of 2,198 with 1,121 (52.0%) born in Australia and a median age of 36. Their country of birth was as follows: 40.2% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Macedonian 18.5% and Arabic 16.1%. The most common responses for religion were Islam 23.5%, Catholic 16.7%, Eastern Orthodox 14.9%, No Religion 14.0% and Christian, not further defined 8.1%.

References