Bega (/biːɡə/) is a town in the south-east of New South Wales, Australia, in the Bega Valley Shire. It is considered the economic and commercial centre of the Bega Valley.
One claim is that the place name Bega is derived from a local Thawa word meaning "big camping ground".[3] Another claim is that it is a corruption of the word "bika" from one of the local Yuin–Kuric languages, meaning "beautiful".[4] The local Aboriginal name for Bega before colonisation was Worerker.[5][what language is this?]
History and description
The Bega region was inhabited by the Yuin people for thousands of years before Europeans arrived in the area. The clan whose country occupied the Bega vicinity were called the Worerkerbrim mitte.[5]
Bega lies at the foot of Mumbulla Mountain, named after a Yuin elder King Jack Mumbulla, whose traditional Aboriginal name is Biamanga. The surrounding National Park is named after him as Biamanga National Park.[6]
The first European to come near the area was George Bass, who explored the region's coastline in December 1797 as part of his broader explorations of the Australian coast.[7] William Tarlinton was the first European to explore the area on foot, arriving in 1829. He returned in the early 1830s and settled there, starting a cattle farm. Others who arrived in the area around the same time were the Imlay brothers, who also began farming there. Their name has since been preserved in the form of Mount Imlay National Park. Live cattle were transported to Sydney for a time, to be supplemented by tallow and hides in the early 1840s. Beef and dairy farming were carried on in the area through the 1840s, and many towns were surveyed in the 1850s.
The town of Bega itself was laid out and gazetted in December 1851.[1] Located to the north of its present location, repeated flooding later resulted in its relocation to the higher ground south of the river.[8] Dairy farming expanded in the region quickly throughout the 1860s, overtaking cattle farming as the predominant industry. In 1858, Tathra was used as a port for the transport of products to Sydney, and the Illawarra Steam Company was established. In 1861–62, Tathra Wharf was constructed, which allowed for the further growth and expansion of the dairy industry.[9]
The region received a further boost in the late 1870s when gold was discovered in the Bermagui area. The Bermagui gold rush followed quickly in 1880. Two years later, in 1882, the Municipality of Bega was created. The Bega Dairy Cooperative Limited was set up in the late 1890s.[10]
Bega is now well known for its cheese which is manufactured by the food and drinks company Bega Group. Their products are exported around the world and distributed across Australia and are available in most supermarkets and general stores.
Notable local landmarks are Bega Court House and Rosevear Jeweller's shopfront, which are both listed on the Register of the National Estate.[11] The courthouse was built in 1881 and consists of rendered brick and iron roofs. The Rosevear shop is in Carp Street and was established circa 1899. It is listed as a notable example of Victorian commercial designers.
After years of planning, the shopping mall in Bega was built. The Sapphire Marketplace was opened on 2 December 2011.[12] In 2022 the Sapphire Marketplace was sold by its developer, Woolworths Group, for $54.05 million to a private investor.[13] After the sale, Sapphire Marketplace was rebranded as Bega Village in October 2022.[14]
According to the 2021 census, there were 5,013 people in Bega.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 6.7% of the population.
82.3% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 2.2%.
87.3% of people only spoke English at home.
The most common responses for religion were No Religion 43.8% Anglican 17% and Catholic 16.8%[2]
Climate
Bega has a temperate oceanic climate (Cfb) with mild to warm summers and cool winters with frequent foehn winds. Nights are relatively cool all year round due to its valley location at a southern latitude, and frost is a regular occurrence in the winter months. The town gets 85.3 clear days annually, largely in the winter and spring months. Diurnal range is particularly high from mid winter to early spring, especially for a near-coastal location. The lowest temperature on record was an impressive −8.1°C (17.4°F) on 16 July 1970 at the Newtown Road site.[18]
Climate data for Bega (Newtown Road, 1907–1994, rainfall 1879–2022); 50 m AMSL; 36.69° S, 149.84° E
ABC Classic FM (FM 101.9) – also on 95.7 from the adjacent Illawarra region.
Triple J (FM 98.9 – from the adjacent Illawarra region). A local service from Mount Wandera is planned, subject to the clearance of local television stations.
Television
The Bega Valley Shire receive five free-to-air television stations (television in Australia) including two government funded networks:
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