View source for Gippsland

{{About|the rural region|other uses|Gippsland (disambiguation)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type                = region
| name                = Gippsland Region
| state               = vic
| image               ={{multiple image
  | border        = infobox
  | total_width   = 280
  | perrow        = 1/1
  | caption_align = center
  | image1        = Australia Victoria Gippsland region.svg
  | caption1      = 
  | image2        = Gippsland, Sunday night, February 20th, 1898.jpg
  | caption2      = [[John Longstaff|John Longstaff's]] ''Gippsland, Sunday night, 20 February 1898'', depicting the [[Red Tuesday bushfires|"Red Tuesday" bushfires]] that ravaged Gippsland
}}
| coordinates         = {{coord|37|51|S|147|35|E|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_map_caption = The location of {{VICcity|Bairnsdale}}, a town in Gippsland
| relief              = yes
| pop                 = {{formatnum:271266}}
| pop_year            = {{CensusAU|2016}}
| pop_footnotes       =<ref group=Note>Population figure is the combined population of all LGAs in the region</ref>
| density             =
| density_footnotes   =
| area                = 41556
| area_footnotes      =
| timezone            = [[Australian Eastern Standard Time|AEST]]
| utc                 = +10
| timezone-dst        = [[Australian Eastern Daylight Time|AEDT]]
| utc-dst             = +11
| dist1               = 120
| dir1                = E
| location1           = Melbourne
| lga                 = {{plainlist|
* <small>(by population)</small>
* [[Latrobe City|Latrobe]]
* [[Shire of Baw Baw|Baw Baw]]
* [[Shire of East Gippsland|East Gippsland]]
* [[Shire of Wellington|Wellington]]
* [[Bass Coast Shire|Bass Coast]]
* [[South Gippsland Shire|South Gippsland]]
}}
| stategov            = {{plainlist|
* [[Electoral district of Bass|Bass]]
* [[Electoral district of Gippsland East|Gippsland East]]
* [[Electoral district of Gippsland South|Gippsland South]]
* [[Electoral district of Morwell|Morwell]]
* [[Electoral district of Narracan|Narracan]]
}}
| fedgov              = {{plainlist|
* [[Division of Flinders|Flinders]] (part)
* [[Division of Gippsland|Gippsland]]
* [[Division of Monash|Monash]]
}}
| near-n              = [[Hume (region)|Hume]]
| near-ne             = ''[[New South Wales]]''
| near-e              = ''[[Tasman Sea]]''
| near-se             = ''[[Bass Strait]]''
| near-s              = ''[[Bass Strait]]''
| near-sw             = ''[[Bass Strait]]''
| near-w              = [[Melbourne|Greater Melbourne]]
| near-nw             = [[Hume (region)|Hume]]
}}
'''Gippsland''' ({{IPAc-en|'|g|ɪ|p|s|l|æ|n|d}})<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXZ5J3mvuUw&t=22s |title=A Perfect Day in South Gippsland |date=28 June 2021 |last=Feagins |first=Lucy |publisher=Visit Melbourne in partnership with The Design Files |via=[[YouTube]] |time=00:00:05}}</ref> is a [[rural]] [[regions of Victoria|region]] in the southeastern part of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dsdbi.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/word_doc/0003/65235/Meaning-of-Regional-Victoria.doc|type=[[MS Word]] requires download|title=Meaning of Regional Victoria|work=Department of State Development, Business and Innovation|publisher=State Government of Victoria|date=2011|access-date=15 August 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819125756/http://dsdbi.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/word_doc/0003/65235/Meaning-of-Regional-Victoria.doc|archive-date=19 August 2014}}</ref> mostly comprising the [[coastal plain]]s south of the [[Victorian Alps]] (the southernmost section of the [[Great Dividing Range]]). It covers an elongated area of {{cvt|41556|km2|sqmi}} east of the [[Shire of Cardinia]] ([[Melbourne]]'s outermost [[list of Melbourne suburbs#Southeastern municipalities and their suburbs|southeastern suburbs]]) between [[Dandenong Ranges]] and [[Mornington Peninsula]], and is bounded to the north by the [[mountain range]]s and [[plateau]]s/[[highland]]s of the [[Victorian Alps|High Country]] (which separate it from [[Hume (region)|Hume]] region in Victoria's northeast), to the southwest by the [[Western Port Bay]], to the south and east by the [[Bass Strait]] and the [[Tasman Sea]], and to the east and northeast by the [[Black–Allan Line]] (the easternmost section of the Victoria/[[New South Wales]] state border).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rdv.vic.gov.au/victorian-regions/gippsland|title=Victoria's Gippsland Region|work=Regional Development Victoria|publisher=State Government of Victoria|date=3 June 2014|access-date=10 August 2014}}</ref> 

Gippsland is divided by the [[Strzelecki Ranges]] and [[tributaries]] of the [[Gippsland Lakes]] into [[West Gippsland]], [[South Gippsland]], [[Latrobe Valley]], [[Central Gippsland]] and [[East Gippsland]].  At the [[2016 Australian census]], Gippsland had a population of {{formatnum:271266}}, with the principal centres {{VICcity|Traralgon}}, [[Warragul]], [[Drouin, Victoria|Drouin]], [[Bairnsdale]], {{VICcity|Moe}}, [[Sale, Victoria|Sale]], {{VICcity|Morwell}}, [[Wonthaggi]], {{VICcity|Leongatha}}, and [[Phillip Island]]. Gippsland is known for mining, power generation and farming as well as its tourist destinations — [[Phillip Island (Victoria)|Phillip Island]], [[Wilsons Promontory]], the [[Gippsland Lakes]], [[Walhalla, Victoria|Walhalla]], the [[Mount Baw Baw|Baw Baw Plateau]], and the [[Strzelecki Ranges]]. It also includes around a hundred islands, mostly between the mainland and Tasmania.

==History==
The [[traditional owners]] are [[Indigenous Australian]]s of the [[Gunai people|Gunai]] nation and in part of West Gippsland the [[Bunurong]] nation. Before permanent European colonisation, the area was visited by [[Seal hunting|sealers]] and [[acacia|wattle]] bark gatherers who did not settle{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}. [[Samuel Anderson (Australian settler)|Samuel Anderson]] (1803–1863),<ref name=Horton>The Andersons of Westernport "Horton and Morris" 1983</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/anderson-samuel-1706 |title=Anderson, Samuel (1803–1863) |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=National Centre of Biography, [[Australian National University]]|author=Niel Gunson |year=1966 |access-date=29 August 2016 }}</ref> a Scottish immigrant from [[Kirkcudbright]], agriculturist and explorer, arrived in [[Hobart, Tasmania]], in 1830, and in 1835 established a squatter agricultural settlement on the [[Bass River (Victoria)|Bass River]] in Gippsland, the third permanent colonial settlement in Victoria (then called the [[Port Phillip District]]). His business partner Robert Massie joined him in 1837. Both had worked for the [[Van Diemen's Land Company]] at Circular Head, Tasmania. Samuel's brothers Hugh (1808–1898) and Thomas (1814–1903) arrived at Bass shortly after, where they established a successful farming venture.<ref name=Horton/>

Further European colonisation followed two separate expeditions to the area.
 
During his expedition to the South (December 1839 – May 1840) in March 1840, Polish explorer [[Paweł Edmund Strzelecki]] led an expedition across [[Gunai people|Gunai]] country, and gave his own names to many of their natural landmarks and places. Following these expeditions, the name "Gippsland" stuck, a name chosen by Strzelecki in honour of the [[Governor of New South Wales|New South Wales Governor]], [[George Gipps]], his sponsor.<ref>Wells, J. (2003), "Colourful Tales of Old Gippsland", p. 92.</ref>

[[Angus McMillan]] led the second European expedition between 1840, naming [[Gunai people|Gunai]] country "Caledonia Australis".<ref>{{cite web |last=Glowrey |first=Cheryl |title=Angus McMillan (1810–1865) |work=[[Australian Dictionary of Biography]] |publisher= National Centre of Biography at the [[Australian National University]] |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcmillan-angus-2416/text34996 |date=2003 |accessdate=4 February 2024}}</ref> The naming of this geographical region, however, remained the name given by P. E. Strzelecki – Gippsland.

The township of [[Bass, Victoria|Bass]] was surveyed and colonised in the early 1860s.

The intensive colonisation of south Gippsland began late in the 1870s. A story of that process is told in, ''The land of the Lyre Bird'' (1920).<ref>''The land of the Lyre Bird: a story of early settlement in the Great South Forest of South Gippsland; being a description of the big scrub in its virgin state with its birds and animals, and of the adventures and hardships of its early explorers and prospectors also accounts by the settlers of clearing, settlement and development of the country'', Gordon & Gotch for the Committee of the South Gippsland Pioneers Association, Melbourne, 1920 (reprinted 1966).</ref>

Before the cancellation of the [[2026 Commonwealth Games]], Gippsland was set to serve as one of its hosts in regional Victoria.

==Geography==
{{Stack|{{Regions of Gippsland}}}}
[[Image:East Gippsland old growth 01 Pengo.jpg|thumb|Old growth forests in [[East Gippsland]]]]
Gippsland is traditionally subdivided into four or five main sub{{endash}}regions or districts:
*[[West Gippsland]] (roughly equivalent to the Baw Baw Shire)
*[[South Gippsland]] (Bass Coast and South Gippsland Shires)
*the [[Latrobe Valley]] (Latrobe City and areas of Baw Baw to the north)
*[[East Gippsland]] (Shires of Wellington and East Gippsland).
*Sometimes a fifth region, [[Central Gippsland]] (corresponding approximately to the Shire of Wellington), is added to refer to the drier zone between the [[Gippsland Lakes]] and [[Yarram]].

[[Gippsland Plains Grassy Woodland]] is an endangered [[vegetation community]] within the region.

==Climate==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2007}}
[[File:VM 0267 Stratford - Avon River valley.jpg|thumb|On the [[Avon River (Gippsland, Victoria)|Avon River]] near [[Stratford, Victoria|Stratford]]]]
The climate of Gippsland is temperate and generally humid, except in the central region around [[Sale, Victoria|Sale]], where annual rainfall averages around {{convert|600|mm|in}}.<ref>Australia, Bureau of Meteorology, Summary statistics EAST SALE, http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_085072.shtml, retrieved 02/07/2020</ref> In the [[Strzelecki Ranges]] annual rainfall can be as high as {{convert|1500|mm|in}}, while on the high mountains of East Gippsland it probably reaches similar levels – much of it falling as [[snow]]. In lower levels east of the [[Snowy River]], mean annual rainfall is typically about {{convert|900|–|950|mm|in}} and less variable than in the coastal districts of New South Wales. Mean maximum temperatures in lower areas range from {{convert|24|°C|°F}} in January to {{convert|15|°C|°F}} in July. In the highlands of the [[Mount Baw Baw|Baw Baw Plateau]] and the remote [[Errinundra National Park|Errinundra Plateau]], temperatures range from a maximum of {{convert|18|°C|°F}} to a minimum of {{Convert|8|°C|°F}}. However, in winter, mean minima in these areas can be as low as {{convert|-4|°C|°F}}, leading to heavy snowfalls that often isolate the Errinundra Plateau between June and October.

==Flora and fauna==

Gippsland is home to many species of flora and fauna. Animals that live there include the [[swamp wallaby]], [[koala]], [[echidna]] and [[wombat]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} 

Native plants and trees include grass trees (''[[Xanthorrhoea australis]]''), which provide a valuable food source of nectar, pollen, larvae and seeds for birds, insects and mammals.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

==Natural resources==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2007}}
{{See also|Energy in Victoria}}
[[Image:Potato field through fence - Thorpdale.JPG|thumb|Potato farming in the [[Thorpdale, Victoria|Thorpdale]] region]]
The soils in Gippsland are generally very infertile, being profoundly deficient in [[nitrogen]], [[phosphorus]], [[potassium]] and [[calcium]]. Apart from frequently [[flood]]ed areas, they are classed as [[Spodosols]], [[Psamment]]s and [[Ultisols]]. Consequently, heavy fertilisation is required for agriculture or pastoral development. Despite this, parts of Gippsland have become highly productive dairying and vegetable-growing regions: the region supplies Melbourne with most of its needs in these commodities. A few alluvial soils (chiefly near the Snowy) have much better native fertility, and these have always been intensively cultivated. In the extreme northeast is a small section of the [[Monaro Tableland]] used for grazing [[cattle|beef cattle]].

Gippsland possesses very few deposits of [[metal]]lic [[mineral]]s ([[gold]] rushes in the nineteenth century around [[Foster, Victoria|Foster]], [[Buchan, Victoria|Buchan]] petered out quickly). However, the deep underground gold mines operated at Walhalla for a fifty-year period between 1863 and 1913. Gippsland has no deposits of major industrial nonmetallic minerals, but it does feature the world's largest [[brown coal]] deposits and, around Sale and offshore in the [[Bass Strait]], some of the largest deposits of [[Petroleum|oil]] and [[natural gas]] in Australia.

Like the rest of Australia, the seas around Gippsland are of very low productivity as there is no [[upwelling]] due to the warm currents in the [[Tasman Sea]]. Nonetheless, towns such as [[Marlo, Victoria|Marlo]] and [[Mallacoota]] depended for a long time on the fishing of [[abalone]], whose [[gastropod shell|shells]] could fetch very high prices because of their use for [[pearl]]s and pearl inlays.

== Administration ==

=== Political representation ===
For [[Elections in Australia|Australian federal elections]] for the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]], the electoral divisions of [[Division of Flinders|Flinders]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/vic/flinders.htm|title=Profile of the electoral division of Flinders (Vic)|work=Current federal electoral divisions|publisher=[[Australian Electoral Commission]]|date=24 December 2010|access-date=8 August 2014}}</ref> [[Division of Monash|Monash]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/vic/monash.htm|title=Profile of the electoral division of Monash (Vic)}}</ref> and [[Division of Gippsland|Gippsland]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/vic/gippsland.htm|title=Profile of the electoral division of Gippsland (Vic)|work=Current federal electoral divisions|publisher=[[Australian Electoral Commission]]|date=24 December 2010|access-date=8 August 2014}}</ref> lay entirely or partly in the Gippsland region. Flinders and McMillan are currently held by the Liberal Party, while Gippsland is held by the Nationals.

For elections for the [[Legislative Assembly of Victoria|Victorian Legislative Assembly]], the electoral districts of [[Electoral district of Bass|Bass]], [[Electoral district of Narracan|Narracan]], [[Electoral district of Morwell|Morwell]], [[Electoral district of Gippsland South|Gippsland South]] and [[Electoral district of Gippsland East|Gippsland East]] lay entirely or partly in the Gippsland region. Bass is held by Labor, Narracan is held by the Liberals, while Gippsland East, Gippsland South and Morwell are held by the Nationals.

==== Local government areas ====
Gippsland contains six [[Local government in Australia|local government areas]]:

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Gippsland region LGA populations
|-
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | [[Local government in Australia|Local government area]]
! scope="col" colspan="2" | Area
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Population<br />([[Census in Australia#2011|2011 census]])
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Source(s)
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Population<br />([[2016 Australian census|2016 census]])
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Source(s)
|-
! scope="col" | km<sup>2</sup>
! scope="col" | sq mi
|-
| scope="row" | [[Bass Coast Shire]]
| {{convert|864|km2|sqmi|disp=table}}
| align="right" | {{formatnum:29614}}
|<ref>{{Census 2011 AUS|id=LGA20740|name=Bass Coast (S) (Local Government Area)|access-date=8 August 2014}}</ref>
| align="right" | {{formatnum:32804}}
|<ref>{{Census 2016 AUS|id=LGA20740|name=Bass Coast (S) (Local Government Area)|access-date=3 April 2018}}</ref>
|-
| scope="row" | [[Shire of Baw Baw]]
| {{convert|4031|km2|sqmi|disp=table}}
| align="right" | {{formatnum:42864}}
|<ref>{{Census 2011 AUS|id=LGA20830|name=Baw Baw (S) (Local Government Area)|access-date=8 August 2014}}</ref>
| align="right" | {{formatnum:48479}}
|<ref>{{Census 2016 AUS|id=LGA20830|name=Baw Baw (S) (Local Government Area)|access-date=3 April 2018}}</ref>
|-
| scope="row" | [[Shire of East Gippsland]]
| {{convert|20941|km2|sqmi|disp=table}}
| align="right" | {{formatnum:42196}}
|<ref>{{Census 2011 AUS|id=LGA22110|name=East Gippsland (S) (Local Government Area)|access-date=8 August 2014}}</ref>
| align="right" | {{formatnum:45040}}
|<ref>{{Census 2016 AUS|id=LGA22110|name=East Gippsland (S) (Local Government Area)|access-date=3 April 2018}}</ref>
|-
| scope="row" | [[Latrobe City]]
| {{convert|1426|km2|sqmi|disp=table}}
| align="right" | {{formatnum:72396}}
|<ref>{{Census 2011 AUS|id=LGA23810|name=Latrobe (Local Government Area)|access-date=8 August 2014}}</ref>
| align="right" | {{formatnum:73257}}
|<ref>{{Census 2016 AUS|id=LGA23810|name=Latrobe (Local Government Area)|access-date=3 April 2018}}</ref>
|-
| scope="row" | [[South Gippsland Shire]]
| {{convert|3305|km2|sqmi|disp=table}}
| align="right" | {{formatnum:27208}}
|<ref>{{Census 2011 AUS|id=LGA26170|name=South Gippsland (S) (Local Government Area)|access-date=8 August 2014}}</ref>
| align="right" | {{formatnum:28703}}
|<ref>{{Census 2016 AUS|id=LGA26170|name=South Gippsland (S) (Local Government Area)|access-date=3 April 2018}}</ref>
|-
| scope="row" | [[Shire of Wellington]]
| {{convert|10989|km2|sqmi|disp=table}}
| align="right" | {{formatnum:41440}}
|<ref>{{Census 2011 AUS|id=LGA26810 |name=Wellington (Local Government Area)|access-date=8 August 2014}}</ref>
| align="right" | {{formatnum:42983}}
|<ref>{{Census 2016 AUS|id=LGA26810 |name=Wellington (Local Government Area)|access-date=3 April 2018}}</ref>
|-
| scope="row" align="right" | '''Totals'''
| {{convert|41556|km2|sqmi|disp=table}}
| align="right" |'''{{formatnum:255718}}'''
| style="background:darkgrey;" | 
| align="right" |'''{{formatnum:271266}}'''
| style="background:darkgrey;" | 
|}

=== Environmental protection ===
The Gippsland region contains the [[Alfred National Park]], [[Baw Baw National Park]], [[Coopracambra National Park]], [[Croajingolong National Park]], [[Errinundra National Park]], [[Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park]], [[Lind National Park]], [[Mitchell River National Park (Victoria)|Mitchell River National Park]], [[Morwell National Park]], [[Snowy River National Park]], [[Tarra-Bulga National Park]], [[The Lakes National Park]], and [[Wilsons Promontory National Park]].

There are also large areas of State forest that contribute towards conservation objectives.

==Notable people==
<!---♦♦♦ Only add a person to this list if they already have their own article on the English Wikipedia ♦♦♦---> 
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦--->
*[[Ricky Megee]] (born 1970/1971), outback survivor
*[[Lionel Rose]] (born 1948), professional boxer from Warragul
*[[Dale Thomas (footballer)|Dale Thomas]] (born 1987), former AFL player for Collingwood and Carlton from Drouin
*[[Josiah Brooks]] (born 1989), artist and YouTuber of ‘Draw with Jazza’
*[[Beau Miles]] (born 1979), outdoor educator and YouTuber

==See also==
{{Portal|Victoria}}
*[[Geography of Victoria]]
*[[Regions of Victoria]]
*[[Giant Gippsland earthworm]]
*[[Gippsland massacres]]
*[[White woman of Gippsland]]
*[[Old Gippstown]]
*[[Gippsland Art Gallery]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Victoria}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Gippsland (region)| ]]
[[Category:Regions of Victoria (state)|*]]