Dubbo is the largest population centre (population 38,000 as of 2004) and a Local Government Area in the central-west of New South Wales, Australia. It is located at the intersection of the Mitchell Highway, the Newell Highway and the Golden Highway. Dubbo is 416 kilometres northwest of the state capital Sydney and is a major road and rail freight hub to other parts of New South Wales. Dubbo is considered the cross-roads of New South Wales. From there you can drive north to Brisbane, South to Melbourne, east to Sydney and Newcastle, and west to Broken Hill and Adelaide. It has one major newspaper, the Daily Liberal, that is published daily.

History

Evidence of habitation by Australian aborigines dates back approximately 40,000 years.

The first European to visit the region was John Oxley. In 1828, Robert Dulhunty named the area Dubbo, which means 'red earth' in the local Aboriginal language. Dundullimal Homestead is a farmhouse from that period, and today is open to visitors.

The settlement was founded with the establishment of a store in 1847 on the east bank of the Macquarie River. The settlement was gazetted as a village in November 1849. Population growth was slow until the gold rush of the 1860s brought an influx of prospectors. By 1897 Dubbo had a general store, Carrier arms, a slab courthouse, jail and a police hut.

Town features

There are 18 schools and secondary colleges including the Dubbo school of distance education. It also is home to one of the four main campuses of Charles Sturt University. The city's largest employer is Fletcher International Abattoir that exports lamb to the world. Its second-largest employer is a hospital, and the largest industry is tourism.

Dubbo has a turf club, which has a pony club, racing and organizes shows and gymkhana then they go to the show grounds in Dubbo. There are a few stables that offer board for horses and riding lessons. There is a riding school called Western Plains Riding Centre.

Dubbo also features the open-range Western Plains Zoo, stocked with native fauna and African safari-range specimens in spacious open-range moat enclosures.