A Town Like Geelong

Geelong (pronounced J’long) straddles the Barwon River, just 75 kilometres (47 miles) southwest of Melbourne on Corio Bay, on Victoria’s massive Port Phillip Bay. Governor Richard Burke named it in 1837 with a name derived from the local Wathaurong Aboriginal name for the region, Jillong, thought to mean 'land' or 'cliffs'. Geelong is the second largest city in the state of Victoria and is the 12th largest Australian city. It has a major port and a population of 160,991 people and is the heart of the City of Greater Geelong. And it has Avalon, its own national and international airport that’s growing in importance every year.
 

The climate is temperate, with four distinct seasons. The city is the home to heavy industry including car manufacture and to logistics associated with industry and shipping. In the mid nineteenth century, Geelong became the port for the wool industry of the Western District. Around then, the Ballarat gold rushes helped push the population of Geelong to 22,000. The city then diversified into manufacturing, to rival Sydney, Hobart and Melbourne.
 

By the 1960s, Geelong was a major Victoria manufacturing centre and the population was up to 100,000+. It’s position on Port Phillip Bay and just up the road from world famous surf beaches like Torquay, Bells Beach, Anglesea and Lorne makes tourism a significant industry to Greater Geelong. More than 10,000 businesses employ over 80,000 people in the region, with manufacturing and processing industries providing around 15,000 jobs, followed by 13,000 in retail, and 8,000 in health and community services.
 

Geelong is served by a number of public and private schools that cater to local, interstate and overseas students. Over 40,000 primary and secondary students are enrolled in those schools. A further 27,000 students pursue degrees, diplomas and other further education courses at a variety of tertiary institutions.
 

The municipality: http://www.geelongcity.vic.gov.au/
Wikipedia says: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geelong