Cooma (pop. 6,447) is an Australian town in the Monaro tablelands (plateaus) of southeastern New South Wales, located to the east of the Snowy Mountains. It is a major road and rail junction for access roads to the Snowy Mountains. The town also has an airport and is a center for tourists visiting the Snowy Mountains.
Cooma is the administration center for Snowy Hydro Limited, formerly known as the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority. The international Avenue of Flags in Centennial Park has the flags of many countries, representing the men and women of the nations that worked on the Snowy Mountains Scheme. The Cooma Time Walk depicts the history of the Monaro area in 40 mosaics. The Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre presents the history of the Snowy Mountains Scheme through interactive exhibits, displays, and films. The Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation in Cooma provides specialist services throughout Australia and for overseas governments. The town’s name comes from an Australian Aboriginal word meaning big lake. The site for Cooma was reserved in 1849.
