Warrawong is a suburb 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 w ...

in the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollong ...

region 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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. It is situated on the northeast corner of

Lake Illawarra Lake Illawarra ( Aboriginal Tharawal language: various adaptions of ''Elouera'', ''Eloura'', or ''Allowrie''; ''Illa'', ''Wurra'', or ''Warra'' meaning pleasant place near the sea, or, high place near the sea, or, white clay mountain), is an op ...

. Warrawong is 74 kilometers from Sydney CBD. Warrawong is home to

Warrawong Plaza Warrawong Plaza (formerly Westfield Warrawong) is a major shopping centre located in Warrawong, a suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. With a retail floor area of , it is currently the third largest shopping centre in the Illawarr ...

, one of three major regional shopping centres. Other facilities include the Port Kembla Hospital,

Hoyts The Hoyts Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includes Hoyts Cinemas and Val Morgan. Hoyts operates more than 450 cinema screens and 55,000 seats, making it Australia's second largest movie exhibitor after Event Hospita ...

cinemas, and the Gala cinemas.

History

Various meanings are given for the aboriginal word "Warrawong" including "a whiting", "side of a hill", " a windy place on a hill", " wind swept" and "windy hills". Long a farming area, after the first land grants were made in the area in 1815, Warrawong began to be developed as a suburb only in the 1930s. The Warrawong area has been known variously as Steeltown, Kembla Estate, New Kembla and finally, Warrawong.

Demographics

Warrawong has a high proportion of immigrants. Of a population of 4,752, (43.5%) were born overseas at the . * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.4% of the population. * 56.1% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Macedonian 8.8%, Italian 6.7%, Portuguese 4.5% and Arabic 2.4%. * The most common responses for religion were Catholic 32.8%, No Religion 21.0%, Anglican 10.4% and Eastern Orthodox 9.1%.

References

Suburbs of Wollongong {{Wollongong-geo-stub