City of Geelong

City of Geelong

The City of Geelong lies about 75km southwest of Melbourne, Victoria and is the second largest city in the state covering 1,247 square kilometres. Geelong is split into four electoral wards: Bellarine, Brownbill, Kardinia and Windermere. There are 11 elected councillors. 

History

The City of Geelong was established in 1910, although the town of Geelong was named in 1827. The original occupier of the land was the Wathaurong Indigenous Australian tribe who called the area Djillong, thought to be a reference to the cliffs and landforms present. It is thought that the name ‘Geelong’ is derived from this. 

Demographics

The census of 2016 statistics show that the population of Geelong was 278,929 of which 48.7% was male and 51.3% female, with an average age of 40. 1.0% of the population wasmade up of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. The two most common ancestries in Geelong were English (28.4%) and Australian (26.6%), followed by Irish (9.7%), Scottish (8.5%), and German (3.3%). 34.7% of the population reported their religion as No Religion. Other religions of the population of Geelong include Catholic (24.8%), Anglican (11.0%), Not Stated (9.4%), and Uniting Church (5.3%). The majority of the population spoke English as their only language at home. Other languages spoken include Italian, Croatian, Mandarin, Macedonian and Greek. Over half the population works full time and the top occupations include Professionals, Technicians and Trades People, Community and Personal Service Workers, Clerical and Administrative Workers and Managers. 

Suburbs

The City of Geelong is made up of over 60 suburbs which are stated below where ‘(Part)’indicates that the suburb is split between the City of Geelong and one of the surrounding areas.  

Anakie (part), Armstrong Creek, Avalon, Balliang (part), Barwon Heads, Batesford (part),Bell Park, Bell Post Hill, Bellarine, Belmont, Breakwater, Breamlea (part), Ceres, Charlemont, Clifton Springs, Connewarre (part), Corio, Curlewis, Drumcondra, Drysdale, East Geelong, Fyansford, Geelong, Geelong West, Grovedale, Hamlyn Heights, Herne Hill, Highton, Indented Head, Lara, Leopold, Little River (part), Lovely Banks, Manifold Heights, Mannerim, Marcus Hill, Marshall, Moolap, Moorabool, Mount Duneed (part), Newcomb, Newtown, Norlane, North Geelong, North Shore, Ocean Grove, Point Lonsdale (part), Point Wilson, Portarlington, Rippleside, South Geelong, St Albans Park, St. Leonards, StaughtonVale, Swan Bay, Thomson, Wallington, Wandana Heights, Waurn Ponds, and Whittington. 

Libraries

There are 16 Geelong Regional Libraries and 2 additional mobile libraries. These are provided by the libraries corporation and also service the local government area surrounding the City of Geelong. The City of Geelong has the Leopold Toy Library and the Vines Road Community Centre Inc along with extensive online resources and collections. 

Transport

The major mode of transport in the City of Geelong is by private car. The local council is working to build on the current public transport links which include buses and trains. Avalon Airport lies 20km from Geelong CBD. 

Major Roads

Events in the City of Geelong

There are multiple events held in Geelong throughout the year. 

Other things to do

National Wool Museum – An important look at the cities past exploits in the wool trade. 

Geelong Botanic Gardens – A large collection of plants from around the world.

Geelong Library and Heritage Centre – The Dome: an event space and learning centre.

Geelong Waterfront – A vibrant area of restaurants, shops, play areas, the carousel and the famous Baywalk Bollards surrounded by the beautiful, historic port.