The Rural City of Swan Hill is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the north-western part of the state. It covers an area of 6,115 square kilometres (2,361 sq mi) and, in August 2021, had a population of 21,403. It includes the towns of Swan Hill, Lake Boga, Manangatang, Nyah, Nyah West, Piangil, Robinvale, Ultima and Woorinen South. It was formed in 1995 from the amalgamation of the City of Swan Hill, Shire of Swan Hill and part of the Shire of Kerang.
Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red Cliffs are included, the combined urban area had a population of 58,914 in 2021, having grown marginally at an average annual rate of 1.3% year-on-year over the preceding five years.
Sunraysia is a region located in northwestern Victoria and southwestern New South Wales in Australia. The region is renowned for its sunshine, intensive horticulture including grapes and oranges. Its main centre is Mildura, Victoria.
Boundary Bend is a small town in the state of Victoria, Australia. It is near the junction of the Murray River and Murrumbidgee River. It is located about 50 kilometres east along the Murray Valley Highway from the twin towns of Robinvale in Victoria and Euston in New South Wales, about 90 km north of Swan Hill. At the 2016 census, Boundary Bend and the surrounding area had a population of 132.
Euston is a small town on the banks of the Murray River, in the Murray region in southern New South Wales, Australia in Balranald Shire. The twin town of Robinvale is on the other side of the river in the state of Victoria.
Murray Valley Highway is a 663-kilometre (412 mi) state highway located in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. The popular tourist route mostly follows the southern bank of the Murray River and effectively acts as the northernmost highway in Victoria. For all but the western end's last three kilometres, the highway is allocated route B400.
The Loddon River, an inland river of the north–central catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands and Loddon Mallee regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The headwaters of the Loddon River rise on the northern slopes of the Great Dividing Range east of Daylesford and descend to flow north into the Little Murray River, near Swan Hill. The river is impounded by the Cairn Curran and Laanecoorie reservoirs.
Merbein is a town just north of Mildura, Victoria, in the Sunraysia region of Australia. It is on the Calder Highway between Mildura and the Murray River crossing at the Abbotsford Bridge to Curlwaa. At the 2016 census, the town had a population of 1,981. Merbein is 12 kilometres from Mildura, 553 km from Melbourne and 389 km from Adelaide.
The Mallee is a sub-region of Loddon Mallee covering the most north-westerly part of Victoria, Australia and is bounded by the South Australian and New South Wales borders. Definitions of the south-eastern boundary vary, however, all are based on the historic Victorian distribution of mallee eucalypts. These trees dominate the surviving vegetation through most of Mallee,. Its biggest settlements are Mildura and Swan Hill.
Manangatang is a town in north-west Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Manangatang had a population of 274. It is sometimes noted for its unusual name, from an Aboriginal term - "manang" meaning land and "kaaiti" meaning water.
Swan Hill is a city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia on the Murray Valley Highway and on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River. At 2021 census, Swan Hill had a population of 11,508.
Villers-Bretonneux is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Ultima is a town and district in northern Victoria, Australia. The town is in the Rural City of Swan Hill local government area, 353 kilometres (219 mi) north-west of the state capital, Melbourne and 35 kilometres (22 mi) south-west of Swan Hill. At the 2021 Census Ultima had a population of 173, down from 333 in 2011.
The Deniliquin railway line is a broad-gauge railway line serving northwestern Victoria, Australia. The line runs from the New South Wales town of Deniliquin into Bendigo, before turning south-southeast towards Melbourne, terminating in Docklands near the central business district. It is a major trunk line both for passenger and freight trains, with many railway lines branching off from it.
Woorinen South is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is situated within the Rural City of Swan Hill within the Mallee region of north-west Victoria. At the 2011 census, Woorinen South had a population of 311. The town is located 350 kilometres (217 mi) north-west of Melbourne and 10 kilometres (6 mi) km north-west of the regional centre Swan Hill. The town contains a number of small businesses and is in the centre of a prosperous and diverse agricultural area which produces wine, stone fruit, vegetables, wool, and cereal crops. The town hosts the annual Vintage Steam Rally.
The Robinvale railway line is a freight only country railway line in north-western Victoria, Australia. The line branches from the Mildura line at Dunolly, and at Inglewood the Eaglehawk – Inglewood line connects with the Piangil line outside Bendigo. The parallel Kulwin line junctions from the Robinvale line at Korong Vale then continues northward.
The 1922 Border Railways Acts, were Acts passed by the Parliaments of both Victoria and New South Wales, which authorised the construction of cross border railways in the Riverina region of Australia. Despite being located in New South Wales, the region was closer economically to Victoria and its railway network, operated by Victorian Railways. Another complication was that Victorian Railways used the 1,600 mm broad gauge, while the New South Wales Government Railways used 1,435 mm standard gauge.
The regions of Victoria vary according to the different ways that the Australian state of Victoria is divided into distinct geographic regions. The most commonly used regions are those created by the state government for the purposes of economic development.
Lalbert is a very small farming town in the north-west of Victoria, Australia, within the Shire of Gannawarra. Lalbert is situated 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Kerang on the Swan Hill-Donald Road. At the 2016 census, Lalbert had a population of 151 declining from 224 just five years earlier.
Patrick Simon, AO, was a French politician, dentist, Mayor of Villers-Bretonneux from 2008 until 2020, and strong proponent of Australia–France relations. Simon served as Mayor of Villers-Bretonneux for two terms from 2008 until his death in 2020 from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in France. In April 1918, during World War I, Villers-Bretonneux was liberated from German occupation by the First Australian Imperial Force at the cost of an estimated 1,300 Australian lives. Following the war, donations from the state of Victoria and Victorians helped to rebuild the village. Simon became a major supporter of relations between France, Villers-Bretonneux, and Australia during his twelve-year tenure as mayor. Mayor Simon oversaw the renovations of the Franco-Australian First World War Museum in Villers-Bretonneux, helped to establish the Sir John Monash Centre in France in 2018, and presided over Villers-Bretonneux's annual Anzac Day commemoration for twelve years.
