Queanbeyan (pop. 37,511) is a city on the Queanbeyan River in New South Wales, Australia. Queanbeyan shares its northern border with the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It lies about 8 miles (13 kilometers) southeast of the Australian capital of Canberra, which is in the ACT, and 150 miles (240 kilometers) southwest of Sydney.
The Queanbeyan River meets the Molonglo River at Queanbeyan’s northern border. South of the city, the Queanbeyan River is dammed to form the Googong Reservoir, a major source of water for the region. The reservoir lies within the Googong Foreshores nature reserve, which hosts a diversity of native plants and animals.
Farmers in the Queanbeyan district raise cattle and sheep for such livestock products as wool. Many residents of Queanbeyan work in the Australian Capital Territory as public administrators. The construction, health care, and retail industries also employ many people in the region.
Indigenous peoples, also called First Nations peoples, have lived in the region for more than 20,000 years. The Ngunnawal and Ngambri Aboriginal peoples are the traditional inhabitants of the land on which Queanbeyan stands. Aboriginal peoples form one of the main groupings of Indigenous peoples in Australia.
European explorers first encountered the junction of the Queanbeyan and Molonglo rivers in 1820. In the mid-1820’s, settlers began establishing stations (ranches) in the area. The Quinbeane station was established in 1828. Initially, the station’s name was spelled many different ways. It eventually became standardized as Queanbeyan. Queanbeyan officially became a township in 1838. Bushrangers (outlaws), including Frank Gardiner and Ben Hall, terrorized the Queanbeyan area throughout the mid-1800’s. In 1885, Queanbeyan became a municipality. It was connected to the Bombala railway line in 1887.
In 1901, the six British colonies in Australia united to form the Commonwealth of Australia. This new nation needed a capital. The Queanbeyan Federal Capital City Committee helped convince Australia’s Parliament to select the nearby Canberra-Yass region as the site for a national capital. The Federal Capital Territory, later renamed the Australian Capital Territory, was established in 1911. Construction on the capital city of Canberra began in 1913. Throughout the 1900’s, Queanbeyan experienced population growth as a result of its nearness to the capital. Queanbeyan became a city in 1972.
