Erina () is a suburb located in the Central Coast region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. Erina is the largest commercial hub of the Central Coast and is home to the largest single level shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere that is called Erina Fair. It is part of the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. Erina is located approximately halfway between

Gosford Gosford is a waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic views on the shores of Brisbane Water. Gosford is ...

and the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

at Terrigal. There are many other major commercial businesses located throughout the suburb predominantly on the Central Coast Highway, Karalta Road and Barralong Road. The suburb is home to the Erina Eagles rugby league team, who play in the Central Coast Premiership. The 2017 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships were held at the Erina Ice Arena, which is situated in Erina Fair.

History

The name Erina means "a place where the initiation ceremony was held". Erina was originally inhabited by the Garingai Aboriginal tribe. In 1888, the Erina was subdivided and the streets were planned.

Commercial areas

The commercial areas of Erina are situated along Terrigal Drive, Barralong Road, Karalta Road and the Central Coast Highway. Erina Fair is a large single storey shopping centre located on Terrigal Drive in the centre of the suburb. There are also a few small shopping centres located on Karalta Road including Fountain Plaza, Elizabeth Court and Karalta Plaza.

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 4,774 people in Erina. 69.9% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 8.1%. 85.0% of people spoke only English at home. The most common responses for religion were Catholic 24.3%, Anglican 22.5% and No Religion 21.5%.

Education

Schools in the local area include: * Erina High School is a comprehensive

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

that was established in 1964. * Woodport Public School (Formerly known as Erina West Primary School) * Central Coast Adventist School

Churches

Churches in Erina include EV Church and Coastlife Church. The Chinese Baptist Evelyn Tong Memorial Church was completed in late 2017.

References