Northern Rivers

Northern Rivers New South Wales
View south from Byron Bay, the most easterly point on mainland Australia.
Population:	296,677
Area:	20732.6 km² (8,004.9 sq mi)
State District:	Tweed, Ballina, Lismore, Clarence
Federal Division:	Richmond, Page, Cowper

Northern Rivers is a region of the Australian state of New South Wales, located between 590 and 820 kilometres (370 and 510 miles) north of the state capital, Sydney. As with all regions of New South Wales, it has no official status, although state government department offices and local governments in the area work together for purposes such as tourism, education, water catchment management and waste management.^[1][2] This area has a mild, sub-tropical climate.

Geography

The Northern Rivers region is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Northern Tablelands to the west, the Queensland border to the north and It includes the valleys of the Clarence River, Richmond River and Tweed River. It consists of the following local government areas:

LGA	Population	Area
Ballina	42,708	485.4 km2 (187.4 sq mi)
Byron	32,378	566.6 km2 (218.8 sq mi)
Clarence Valley	52,592	10,441.2 km2 (4,031.4 sq mi)
Kyogle	9,877	3,589.1 km2 (1,385.8 sq mi)
Lismore	45,917	1,289.6 km2 (497.9 sq mi)
Richmond Valley	23,115	3,051.4 km2 (1,178.2 sq mi)
Tweed	90,090	1,309.3 km2 (505.5 sq mi)

The region is traversed by the Pacific Highway, Bruxner Highway, Clarence Way, Summerland Way and the North Coast Line which links Sydney to Brisbane, Queensland.

Major towns

Ballina Byron Bay Casino Grafton Kyogle Lismore Tweed Heads

Alstonville Bangalow Bogangar Brunswick Heads Evans Head Iluka Lennox Head

Maclean Mullumbimby Murwillumbah Nimbin Nymboida Suffolk Park Yamba

Education

The region contains the Southern Cross University, which is headquartered at Lismore and has campuses in Tweed Heads and Coffs Harbour.^[3] The North Coast Institute of TAFE has campuses at Lismore, Ballina, Casino, Grafton, Kingscliff, Maclean, Trenayr and Wollongbar.^[4]

Culture

The Northern Rivers has its own orchestra based in Murwillumbah the Northern Rivers Symphony Orchestra as well as the Lismore Symphony Orchestra.

See also

• Mid North Coast (New South Wales)

References

1. ^ Northern Rivers Tourism. "Who we are". http://www.northernriverstourism.com.au/?page=who_we_are. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
2. ^ "Northern Rivers ACE Colleges". http://nrace.nsw.edu.au/. Retrieved 11 July 201. 
3. ^ Southern Cross University (3 May 2011). "About SCU - Lismore". http://www.scu.edu.au/about/index.php/5/. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
4. ^ North Coast Institute of TAFE. "Campuses". http://northcoast.tafensw.edu.au/campuses/Pages/default.aspx. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 

External links

• Northern Rivers Tourism

Coordinates: 29°09′S 153°07′E / 29.15°S 153.117°E / -29.15; 153.117