Orange is a city in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. It is 254 km (158 mi) west of the state capital, Sydney [206 km (128 mi) on a great circle],[3] at an altitude of 862 metres (2,828 ft). Orange had an urban population of 41,920 [1] at the 2021 Census, making the city a significant regional centre. A significant nearby landmark is Mount Canobolas with a peak elevation of 1,395 m (4,577 ft) AHD and commanding views of the district. Orange is situated within the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri tribe.
The Orange region is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri people.[5] Known as the people of the three rivers, the Wiradjuri people have inhabited New South Wales for at least 60,000 years. [citation needed]
In 1822 Captain Percy Simpson arrived in the Wellington District and established a convict settlement which was called "Blackman's Swamp" after James Blackman; Simpson had employed James Blackman as a guide because he had already accompanied an earlier explorer, John Oxley into that region.[6]
Initial occupation by graziers began in late 1829, and tiny settlements eventually turned into larger towns as properties came into connection with the road. In 1844, the surveyor Davidson was sent to check on encroachments onto the land reserved for a village, and to advise on the location for a township. His choices were Frederick's Valley, Pretty Plains, or Blackman's Swamp.[citation needed]
Blackman's Swamp was chosen, and it was proclaimed a village and named Orange by Major Thomas Mitchell in 1846 in honour of Prince William of Orange. At nearby Ophir, a significant gold find in Australia was made in 1851, resulting in a sporadic population movement which is known as the Australian gold rush.[citation needed] Additional gold finds in nearby areas led to the establishment of Orange as a central trading centre for the gold.[citation needed]
The growth of Orange continued as the conditions were well suited for agriculture, and in 1860 it was proclaimed a municipality.[citation needed] The railway from Sydney reached Orange in 1877.[citation needed] In 1946, 100 years after it was first being established as a village, Orange was proclaimed as a minor city.
Orange was proposed as a site for Australia's national capital city, prior to the selection of Canberra. The new capital city would have adjoined the town of Orange, which would have been included in the surrounding federal territory.[8][9]
Snow-covered fields in Orange during an early snowfall in May 2005.
Owing to its altitude, Orange has a temperate oceanic climate (KöppenCfb), with warm summers (though with cool mornings) and cold, wet winters with frequent morning frosts. The city is relatively wet for an inland location owing to orographic effects from Mount Canobolas, especially during the cooler months when snow falls; Orange is the snowiest major city in Australia, though in recent years snowfalls have become relatively scarce due to rapid climate change since 2020.
Compared with most population centres in Australia it has colder winters, especially in terms of its daytime maximum temperatures, owing to its westerly exposure. In summer, the average (and absolute) maximum temperatures are also lower than in most inland centres, on account of its elevation.[10] Humidity is low in the summer months with the afternoon dewpoint typically around 10 °C (50 °F). The city features 99.8 clear days annually,[11] with the majority of sunshine in the summer months, in sharp contrast to Sydney which has more sunshine in winter due to the foehn effect.[12]
The climate has enabled the area to be a major apple and pear producer, and a centre for cool-weather wine production.[13]
Climate data for Orange Agricultural Institute (1976–2023); 922 m AMSL; 33.32° S, 149.08° E
Orange is a well-known fruit growing district, and produces apples, pears, and many stone fruits such as cherries, peaches, apricots, and plums; oranges are not grown in the area, since its climate is too cool. In recent years, a large number of vineyards have been planted in the area for rapidly expanding wine production. The growth of this wine industry, coupled with the further development of Orange as a gourmet food capital, has ensured Orange's status as a prominent tourism destination.
Other large industries include:
Cadia gold mine is a large open cut gold and copper mine located about 20 kilometres south of Orange. The mine has been developed throughout the 1990s and is a major employer in the region with an expected lifespan of several decades. Cadia is the second largest open-cut mine in Australia, following the Super Pit at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Large mineral deposits are also being uncovered from the more recently developed Ridgeway underground mine which is adjacent to the Cadia Mine.
Orange is also the location of the headquarters of the New South Wales Department of Industry (Department of Industry, Skills and Regional Development, the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries).
Ammerdown: a residential locality to the north west of Orange on the Mitchell Highway.
Bletchington: containing mostly residential areas with one school, it is one of the largest residential areas, and it is often split into North Orange and Bletchington. Within the suburb are the Orange Botanic Gardens, the Orange Adventure Playground, and the Waratah Sports Ground.
Bloomfield: containing farmland, Bloomfield Golf Course, Riverside Mental Institution and Orange Health Service (a major regional hospital) along with the Gosling Creek Reservoir and the Gosling Creek nature reserve.
Borenore: a locality, 15 km (9 mi) west of Orange, comprising primarily farmland. Also the site of the Australian National Field Days.[16]
Bowen: containing residential, predominantly public housing, industrial, commercial, Kinross Woloroi School, and government offices, this suburb also has the main road out of Orange to Sydney. It also contains the Orange Showground and the Orange Cemetery.
Calare: the suburb is located to the west of the CBD. It is mostly a residential area, and contains Calare Public School and Orange High School, and Wentworth Golf Course. It is also commonly split into Calare, Bel-Air and Wentworth Estate and has The Quarry and Towac Park Racecourse. It houses most new areas of Orange
Canobolas: this mainly farming and recreation area, contains the Mount Canobolas State recreation area and Mount Canobolas.
Clifton Grove: containing farmland and large residential blocks, some parts of the estate are down stream from the Suma Park Reservoir and the area also contains the Kinross State Forest.
Clover Hill: a residential suburb to the north of the CBD.
Glenroi: a mainly residential area with areas of public housing, along with the (now defunct) Electrolux white goods manufacturing plant. It also contains industrial land in areas surrounding the factory, as well as a more recent industrial area known as Leewood Estate.
Huntley: a locality south of Orange.
Lucknow: a small village approximately 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) east of Orange.[17] It is a historic mining town with small residential, small industrial and commercial with most being farmland.
March: a locality north of Orange.
Millthorpe: a village south east of Orange. The area constituting a suburb of Orange is constituted of farmland lying to the northwest of the village.
Narrambla: a mainly industrial and farming land area.
Nashdale:a community located approximately 8 kilometres west of Orange. The community gathers around the local Nashdale Public School and hall.
Orange: the suburb comprises the central business district of the city, which contains an original grid street plan. The main street of Orange is Summer Street. The CBD can be defined as being the area of the city bounded by Hill, March, Peisley, and Moulder Streets.
Orange East: beginning on the eastern side of the railway line, Orange East is mostly residential, but contains some light businesses, especially on Summer, Byng, and William Streets.
Orange South: directly to the south of the CBD, beginning past Moulder Street this area contains Wade Park and the Orange Base Hospital.
Shadforth: a locality to the east of Orange bypassed by the Mitchell Highway that contains Shadforth Quarry.
Spring Hill: a village to the southeast of Orange.
Spring Terrace: a locality and small village located south of Orange, centred on the local primary school.
Springside: a rural locality to the south of Orange.
Suma Park: a lightly populated residential area on the eastern outskirts of Orange. It contains Suma Park Reservoir, Orange's main water supply.
Summer Hill: a lightly populated residential, industrial, and farmland area on the south eastern outskirts of Orange on the Mitchell Highway.
Warrendine: a mostly residential area and contains James Sheahan Catholic High School and industrial land. It also has small school farmland and Jack Brabham Park.Cook Park in Autumn
According to the 2021 census of Population, there were 41,920 people in the Orange urban centre.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 7.8% of the population.
83.7% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 1.6%, India 1.2%, New Zealand 1.0%, Philippines 0.7% and Nepal 0.6%.
87.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Malayalam 0.7%, Nepali 0.6%, Mandarin 0.4%, and Tagalog 0.3%.
The most common responses for religion were No Religion 32.6%, Catholic 26.3%, and Anglican 15.6%.
Of the employed people in Orange, 7.1% worked in hospitals (except psychiatric hospitals). Other major industries of employment included gold ore mining 4.8%, other social assistance services 4.4%, state government administration 3.7%, and primary education 2.6%.[18]
Cadia-Ridgeway Mine is a large open cut gold and copper mine located about 20 kilometres south of Orange, the mine has been developed throughout the 1990s employing several thousand employees with an expected lifespan of several decades. Cadia is the second largest open cut mine in Australia after the Super Pit at Kalgoorlie. Large mineral deposits are also being uncovered from the more recently developed Ridgeway underground mine which is adjacent to the Cadia Mine.
The Orange wine region is defined as the area above 600m in the local government areas of Orange, Cabonne and Blayney and can be usefully described as a circle around Orange. The Orange region is good for grape growing and winemaking due to a combination of geology, soils, climate and temperature. Together these factors combine to produce grapes and wine of distinct flavours and colour. The climate perhaps plays the biggest part in giving Orange some distinct natural advantages – the cool temperatures during most of the growing season coupled with dry autumn conditions are ideal for grape growing.[21]
Wineries that use Orange region grapes in their wines include Brokenwood Wines (Hunter Valley based), Logan (Mudgee), Tamburlaine (Hunter Valley), Gartelmann (Hunter Valley), Windowrie (Central Ranges), Eloquesta Wines (Mudgee) and Lowe Wines (Mudgee). In 2007, South Australian based Penfolds winery released the 2007 Penfolds Bin 311 Orange Region Chardonnay.[22]
The city receives five network television stations – Seven (owned and operated by Seven Network), WIN TV (a Nine Network affiliate), Network 10 (owned and operated by Network 10), ABC TV and SBS TV.
Seven News produces a half-hour local news bulletin for the Central West, airing each weeknight at 6pm. It is produced from local newsrooms in Orange and Dubbo and broadcast from studios in Canberra.
WIN Television produces a half-hour local news bulletin for the Central West, airing each weeknight at 5:30pm. It is produced from its local newsroom in Orange and broadcast from studios in Wollongong.
Network 10 produces short news updates of 10 News First throughout the day from its Hobart studios.
Subscription television service Foxtel is available in Orange and the surrounding region via satellite.
The local newspapers are the Central Western Daily, The Orange App (online daily news), the Midstate Observer and Orange City Life.
Orange is situated on the Mitchell Highway, linking the city to Molong, Wellington, Dubbo and Bourke to the north west, and to Bathurst to the east and from there to Sydney via the Great Western Highway (260 km or 160 mi). Due west are Parkes (100 km or 62 mi) and Forbes (125 km or 78 mi), which is midway along the Newell Highway, running from Brisbane, Queensland to Melbourne, Victoria. In 2007 a bypass road, known as the northern distributor road, was opened for use after decades of planning.[citation needed]
Orange is also serviced by a regional-class airport, Orange Airport, located approximately 15 km to the south of the city, in an area known as Huntley.
Orange has two railway stations. The main station, on the Main Western Line to Bourke, was opened in 1877[30] and is served by the daily NSW TrainLinkCentral West XPT service between Sydney and Dubbo and the weekly Outback Xplorer service between Sydney and Broken Hill. A smaller station, opened in 1970,[31] known as Orange East Fork, lies on the branch line to Broken Hill was served by the weekly Indian Pacific service to Perth but due to low passenger numbers using this station (16 for the entire year 2017) this "bare bones" station is no longer used and the Indian-Pacific no longer stopping between Mt. Victoria and Broken Hill.[32]
James Dalton (1834–1919), an early Australian merchant, pastoralist, and Roman Catholiclay leader, a key figure in the early development of Orange and district[35]
Sir Charles Cutler (1918–2006), a former politician including holding office for 28 years as an elected Member for Orange, and former Deputy Premier[43]
J. J. Dalton (1861–1924), the second son of James Dalton, the first Australian-born member of the British Parliament, born in Orange
Steve Bernard, born Orange 1950(?). Cricketer. Fast bowler for NSW, team selector for NSW and Australia, Australian team manager 1997-2011, international referee.
Jack Besgrove, Australian softballer, born in Orange in 2003
Edwina Bone, hockey player for Australia, was born in Orange
George Bonnor, test cricketer, born Bathurst 1855, died and buried Orange 1912. He lived at 'Strathroy', Spring Street, which his family owned.
Peter Mortimer, father of Daniel Mortimer, a former professional rugby league footballer and manager, now news reporter and winery owner, living in the Orange region[51]
Orange has several water sources used for domestic consumption, both currently in use and formerly used. Currently Suma Park Dam and Spring Creek Reservoir are used for domestic water consumption. Two other dams, Lake Canobolas and Gosling Creek Reservoir, were previously used for domestic water consumption; however, they are now used for recreational purposes. The city is currently on Level 2 water restrictions, following good rain (Sept 2020).
The local mine, Cadia-Ridgeway Mine, uses the city's treated effluent to supplement its water supply.[citation needed]
Orange is currently[when?] planning to implement a pipeline from the Macquarie river to boost the town water supply. This is hotly debated, and researchers believe that it will endanger threatened wetland areas.[63]
^Graham Howard & Stewart Wilson (1986). "1960: Let the race begin". Australian Touring Car Championship, 25 Fabulous Years. Gordon, NSW: R&T Publishing. pp. 14–26. ISBN0-9590378-2-9.
^"Our Heritage". Orange City Council. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
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Orange, United States (1963)
Ushiku, Japan (1990)
Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea (1985)
Timaru, New Zealand (1986)
Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
