John Longstaff's Gippsland, Sunday night, February 20th, 1898, depicting the "Red Tuesday" bushfires that ravaged Gippsland

Waterfront at Port Welshpool

Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. The Red Tuesday bushfires took place on February 1, 1898 in South Gippsland, Victoria. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south. The Great Dividing Range, also known as the Eastern Highlands, is Australia 's most substantial Mountain range. Bass Strait (bæs is a sea Strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland ( Victoria in particular The region is best known for its primary production such as mining, power generation and farming as well as its tourist destinations—Phillip Island, Wilsons Promontory, the Gippsland Lakes, Walhalla, the Baw Baw Plateau, the Strzelecki Ranges and the Gourmet Deli Region. Phillip Island is located about 140km away from Melbourne Named after Governor Arthur Phillip, Phillip Island in Victoria Wilsons Promontory is a Peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland and is located at. The Gippsland Lakes are a network of lakes marshes and lagoons in east Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering an area of about 600 km sq The largest Walhalla is a small town in Victoria, Australia, founded as a gold-mining community in early 1863 and at its peak home to around 3000 residents Location It is about 120 east of Melbourne and 50 km north of the Latrobe Valley Strzelecki Ranges, also known as Strzelecki Hills is a low mountain range situated in the Gippsland region of south-eastern Australia between the Latrobe Originally inhabited by the Gunai and Bunurong Aboriginal peoples, Samuel Anderson ^[1]a Scottish immigrant established the third permanent settlement in Victoria at Bass in 1835. The Gunai or Kurnai is one of the Aboriginal nations of Australia. Bunurong (also spelt Bunwurrung Boonwerung Bunurowrung Boonoorong and Bururong) is the language and name of the Bunurong people, an Australian Aboriginal Indigenous Australians are descendants of the first known human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. European settlement began after two separate expeditions to the area. Angus McMillan led the first European expedition through the area between 1839 and 1840, naming the area "Caledonia Australis". Angus McMillan (14 August 1810-18 May 1865 was an explorer and pioneer pastoralist in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. ^[2] This was followed in March 1840 by Polish explorer Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, who unknowingly led his expedition across the same terrain already encountered by McMillan, renaming many natural landmarks and places. Following these expeditions, the area was officially given the title of "Gippsland", a name chosen by Strzelecki in honour of the New South Wales Governor, George Gipps, with whom Strzelecki had a close relationship. Sir George Gipps (1791 – 28 February 1847) was Governor of the Colony of New South Wales, Australia, for eight years between 1838 ^[3]

The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006 Census reported a population of 239,647 for Gippsland, comprised of 80,115 in East Gippsland, 52,377 in South Gippsland, 33,632 in West Gippsland, and 73,477 in the Latrobe Valley statistical divisions. The Australian Bureau of Statistics ( ABS) is Australia 's national statistical agency. ^[4]

Geography

Old growth forests in East Gippsland. East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Australia covering 31740 square kilometres (14% of Victoria.

Gippsland is traditionally subdivided into four or five main regions:

• West Gippsland (roughly equivalent to the Shires of Cardinia and Baw Baw)
• South Gippsland (Bass Coast and South Gippsland Shires)
• the Latrobe Valley (Latrobe City and areas of Baw Baw to the north)
• East Gippsland (Shires of Wellington and East Gippsland). West Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, extends from the southeastern limits of metropolitan Melbourne and Western South Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, is a well-watered region consisting of low rolling hills descending to the coast in the The Latrobe Valley is nestled between the Strzelecki Ranges and the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, Australia. East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Australia covering 31740 square kilometres (14% of Victoria.
• Sometimes a fifth region, Central Gippsland (corresponding approximately to the Shire of Wellington), is added to refer to the drier zone between the Gippsland Lakes and Yarram. The area known as Central Gippsland, also termed North Gippsland, is a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, roughly corresponding to

Climate

The climate of Gippsland is temperate and generally humid, except in the central region around Sale, where annual rainfall can be less than 600 millimetres (24 inches). In the Strzelecki Ranges annual rainfall can be as high as 1500 millimetres (60 inches), whilst on the high mountains of East Gippsland it probably reaches similar levels - much of it falling as snow. "Snowfall" redirects here For other uses see Snow (disambiguation or Snowfall (disambiguation. In lower levels east of the Snowy, mean annual rainfall is typically about 900-950 millimetres (35-37 inches) and less variable than in the coastal districts of New South Wales. The Snowy River is also the name of a river in the South Island of New Zealand. Mean maximum temperatures in lower areas range from 24°C (75°F) in January to a pleasant 15°C (59°F) in July. In the highlands of the Baw Baw Plateau and the remote Errinundra Plateau, temperatures are very pleasant in summer, ranging from a maximum of 18 °C (64°F) to a minimum of 8°C (46°F). However, in winter, mean minima in these areas can be as low as -4°C (25°F), leading to heavy snowfalls that often isolate the Errinundra Plateau between June and October.

Recent years have seen persistent drought over most of Gippsland - regarded as one of the most reliable rainfall areas in Australia - with annual rainfall over the Latrobe Valley and South Gippsland since 1997 being 20 percent lower than the average between 1885 and 1996. A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply This is most likely a reflection of the enhanced greenhouse effect altering the position of anticyclones over and around Australia in such a way that the formerly reliable rain-bearing southwesterly winds have been much weakened. The Greenhouse effect refers to the change in the Thermal equilibrium temperature of a planet or moon by the presence of an Atmosphere containing gas that absorbs In Meteorology, an anticyclone (that is opposite to a Cyclone) is a Weather phenomenon in which there is a descending movement of the air and

In June 2007 there was a flood affecting all of Gippsland but most especially East Gippsland, causing all rivers to have flood warnings and flooding the Bairnsdale caravan park. Bairnsdale ( is a town in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. With a population at the 2006 census of 11282 it is a major regional centre Several roads were closed. Water storages were flooded, and a house ready to be moved to another location and temporarily stored on low ground was washed down the Mitchell river. ^[5]

Natural resources

Potato farming in the Thorpdale region. Thorpdale is a small country town in the Gippsland area of eastern Victoria, Australia, less than 20 km south of Trafalgar.

See also: Energy in Victoria

The soils in Gippsland are generally very infertile, being heavily deficient in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium. The State of Victoria, Australia uses many forms of Energy for domestic commercial and industrial uses Nitrogen (ˈnaɪtɹəʤɪn is a Chemical element that has the symbol N and Atomic number 7 and Atomic weight 14 Phosphorus, (ˈfɒsfərəs is the Chemical element that has the symbol P and Atomic number 15 Potassium (pəˈtæsiəm is a Chemical element. It has the symbol K (kalium from qalīy Atomic number 19 and Atomic mass 39 Calcium (ˈkælsiəm is the Chemical element with the symbol Ca and Atomic number 20 Apart from frequently flooded areas, they are classed as Spodosols, Psamments and Ultisols. A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land a deluge In Soil science, Podsol (also spelled Podzol, or known as Spodosol) are the typical Soils of Coniferous, or Boreal forests In USDA soil taxonomy, a Psamment is defined as an Entisol which consists basically of unconsolidated Sand deposits often found in shifting sand dunes Ultisols are an order in USDA soil taxonomy. They are defined as mineral soils which contain no Calcareous material anywhere within the soil, have Consequently, heavy fertilisation is required for agriculture or pastoral development, but with this parts of Gippsland have become highly productive dairying and vegetable-growing regions: the region supplies Melbourne with most of its needs in these commodities. A few alluvial soils (chiefly near the Snowy) have much better native fertility, and these have always been intensively cultivated. In the extreme northeast is a small section of the Monaro Tableland used for grazing beef cattle. Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family

Though Gippsland possesses very few deposits of metallic minerals (gold rushes in the nineteenth century around Foster, Buchan and Walhalla petered out quickly), and no deposits of major industrial nonmetallic minerals, it does feature the world's largest brown coal deposits and, around Sale and offshore in the Bass Strait, some of the largest deposits of oil and natural gas in Australia. The M acro E xpansion T emplate A ttribute L anguage complements TAL, providing macros which allow the reuse of code across A mineral is a naturally occurring substance formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition a highly ordered atomic structure and specific Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 Foster is a dairying and grazing town south-east of Melbourne on the South Gippsland Highway in Victoria, Australia. Buchan ( is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on Buchan Road in the Shire of East Gippsland near the Snowy River. Walhalla is a small town in Victoria, Australia, founded as a gold-mining community in early 1863 and at its peak home to around 3000 residents Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad, is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere Bass Strait (bæs is a sea Strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland ( Victoria in particular Petroleum ( L petroleum, from Greek πετρέλαιον, lit Natural gas is a Gaseous Fossil fuel consisting primarily of Methane but including significant quantities of Ethane, Propane,

Like the rest of Australia, the seas around Gippsland are of very low productivity as there is no upwelling due to the warm currents in the Tasman Sea. Upwelling is an oceanographic phenomenon that involves wind-driven motion of dense cooler and usually nutrient-rich water towards the ocean surface replacing the warmer Nonetheless, towns such as Marlo and Mallacoota depended for a long time on the fishing of abalone, whose shells could fetch very high prices because of their use for pearls and pearl inlays. Marlo is a small village in the Gippsland region of Victoria Australia. Abalone (from Spanish Abulón) are medium-sized to very large edible sea Snails marine Gastropod Mollusks in the A pearl is a hard roundish object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled Mollusk.

History

See also

• Division of Gippsland
• Gippsland massacres
• White woman of Gippsland
• Giant Gippsland earthworm

References