Far West, New South Wales
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The Far West region of
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, Australia refers generally to the western part of the state, which is too dry to support
wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
or other
crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. In other words, a crop is a plant or plant product that is grown for a specific purpose such as food, Fiber, fibre, or fuel. When plants of the same spe ...
s or intensive pastoral endeavours. It is west of the North West Slopes, Central West and the Riverina. It is an area with limited rainfall. The only major rivers found in it are the Darling River and the Murray River (on its southern edge), which originate in the Great Dividing Range to the east. The region corresponds to the combination of the Australian
Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Government of Australia, Australian Government that is responsible for providing Weather forecasting, weather forecasts and Meteorology, meteorological services to Australia a ...
's forecast areas of ''Upper Western'' and ''Lower Western''. It also corresponds to the Western Division established under the New South Wales ''Western Lands Act 1901''. The only city in the Far West is Broken Hill. Other significant towns are Bourke, Brewarrina, Cobar,
Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...
and Wentworth. Ninety-five per cent of the region is uncleared. Major economic activities are mining and extensive pasturing. During good seasons in the 1870s and 1880s, large sheep stations were established with high stocking rates, partly in response to a widespread belief that the introduction of agriculture would result in
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
toward European conditions. The error of this " rain follows the plough" concept was exposed by the droughts of the 1890s. Many of the stations established during this period failed and were subsequently abandoned. The Far West region is traversed by the Barrier Highway, the Silver City Highway, the Mitchell Highway, the Cobb Highway and the Sturt Highway. It is also served by the Sydney-Perth Railway.


Notes


See also

* Regions of New South Wales


References


External links

Regions of New South Wales Murray-Darling basin {{FarWestNSW-geo-stub