Albury-Wodonga

Albury-Wodonga

Albury-Wodonga, twin cities on opposite sides of the Murray River and the New South Wales–Victoria border, Australia. By rail the region is about 398 miles (640 km) southwest of Sydney and nearly 186 miles (299 km) northeast of Melbourne. In 1973 the Commonwealth and the two state governments agreed to plan and develop the growing cities through the Albury-Wodonga Development Corporation. The area is a focus for agricultural, pastoral, and dairying industries. An important wholesale distributing centre and the largest stock and rail-trucking centre on the Sydney-Melbourne rail line, Albury-Wodonga also has steel plants, automotive and electrical parts factories, concrete and fertilizer works, printing plants, textile mills, and sawmills. Hume Reservoir is used for water sports and irrigation. La Trobe University has a campus there, and the Bandiana army complex is one of the largest of its kind in Australia. Pop. (2001) Albury urban centre, 27,659; Wodonga urban centre, 42,005; Albury-Wodonga urban agglom., 93,624; (2011) Albury local government area, 47,810; Wodonga local government area, 35,519.