Geelong

Geelong (/dʒɪˈlɒŋ/ jih-LONG)[4][5] (Wathawurrung: Djilang/Djalang)[6] is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, about 75 km (47 mi) southwest of Melbourne. With an estimated population of 282,809 in 2023, Geelong is the second largest city in the state of Victoria.[7] It is the administrative centre for the City of Greater Geelong municipality, which is Port Phillip's only regional metropolitan area, and covers all the urban, rural and coastal reserves around the city including the entire Bellarine Peninsula[note 1] and running from the plains of Lara in the north to the rolling hills of Waurn Ponds to the south, with Corio Bay to the east and the Barrabool Hills to the west. The traditional owners of the land on which Geelong sits are the Wadawurrung (also known as Wathaurong) Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation.[8] The modern name of Geelong, first recorded in 1827, was derived from the local Wadawurrung name for the region, Djilang, thought to mean "land", "cliffs" or "tongue of land or peninsula".[9][10] The area was first surveyed by the European settlers in 1838, three weeks after Melbourne.[11] During the 1850s Victorian gold rush, Geelong experienced a brief boom as the main port to the goldfields of central Victoria.[12] The town then diversified into manufacturing, and during the 1860s became one of the largest manufacturing centres in Australia with its wool mills, ropeworks, and paper mills.[13] During the city's early years, inhabitants of Geelong were often called Geelongites[14] or Pivotonians, derived from the city's nickname of "The Pivot", referencing the city's role as a shipping and rail hub for the area.[15]