Wongan Hills, Western Australia

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Wongan Hills
state = wa


caption =
lga = Shire of Wongan-Ballidu
postcode = 6603
est = 1911
pop = 745 [Census 2006 AUS|id=UCL529200|name=Wongan Hills (L) (Urban Centre/Locality)|quick=on|accessdate=2008-10-02]
elevation= 286
maxtemp = 24.9
mintemp = 11.5
rainfall = 361.8
stategov = Central Wheatbelt
fedgov = O'Connor
dist1 = 182 | dir1 = NNE
location1= Perthcoord|-30.894|116.719|type:city(745)_region:AU-WA_scale:50000|format=dms|display=title

Wongan Hills is a town in the Shire of Wongan-Ballidu, in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.Gazetteer of Australia | name = Wongan Hills | id = 285082] It is approximately 182 km north of the State capital Perth, and is at an altitude of 286 metres.

The town is named for a nearby range of hills that are found to the north-west of the town, also named Wongan Hills, which was first recorded in 1836 by Surveyor General of Western Australia John Septimus Roe. The area was settled by the 1900s, and in 1911 the town was gazetted and named after the range. "Wongan" is derived from the Indigenous Australian name "wangan-katta", "wankan" and "woongan". "Katta" is known to mean "hill", but the meaning of "wongan" is uncertain. It may be related to "kwongan", an indigenous word for sandplain, or "whispering", in which case "wongan katta" would mean "whispering hills" (katta is a word for hill).LandInfo WA|c|W|2007-05-25]

In 1925 an agricultural research station was established about 5 km north of the town which assisted in the diversification and improvements in farm practices through the state.The area is a prosperous agricultural region with activities focused on sheep, grain and pig-farming. [cite web|url=http://www.australiasgoldenoutback.com/en/Wheatbelt/Towns/Wongan+Hills/default.htm|title=Australia's Golden Outback - Wongan Hills|year=2006|accessdate=2008-08-26]

References

External links

* [http://www.wongan.wa.gov.au/ Shire of Wongan-Ballidu]