Warrawong is a suburb of

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

in the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is situated on the northeast corner of

Lake Illawarra Lake Illawarra (Australian Aboriginal languages, Aboriginal Tharawal language: various adaptions of ''Elouera'', ''Eloura'', or ''Allowrie''; ''Illa'', ''Wurra'', or ''Warra'' meaning pleasant place near the sea, or, high place near the sea, or, ...

. Warrawong is 90 kilometers from Sydney CBD. Warrawong is home to

Warrawong Plaza Warrawong Plaza (formerly Westfield Warrawong) is a major shopping centre located in Warrawong, a suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. With a retail floor area of , it is currently the third largest shopping centre in the Illawarr ...

, one of three major regional shopping centres. Other facilities include the Port Kembla Hospital,

Hoyts The HOYTS Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includes HOYTS Cinemas, a cinema chain, and Val Morgan, which sells advertising on cinema screens and digital billboards. The company was established by dentist Arthur Russell in Melbo ...

cinemas, and the Gala cinemas.

History

Various meanings are given for the aboriginal word "Warrawong" including "a whiting", "side of a hill", " a windy place on a hill", " wind swept" and "windy hills". Long a farming area, after the first land grants were made in the area in 1815, Warrawong began to be developed as a suburb only in the 1930s. The Warrawong area has been known variously as Steeltown, Kembla Estate, New Kembla and finally, Warrawong.

Demographics

Warrawong has a high proportion of immigrants. Of a population of 4,659, 42.8% were born overseas at the .Thai Restaurant Warrawong
/ref> * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.4% of the population. * 56.2% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Macedonian 8.0%, Italian 5.2%, Portuguese 3.9% and Arabic 2.2%. * The most common responses for religion were Catholic 28.1%, No Religion 25.9%, Eastern Orthodox 9.4% and Anglican 6.7%.

References

Suburbs of Wollongong {{Wollongong-geo-stub