Bundaberg, Queensland

Bundaberg Queensland
From top left clockwise: East Water Tower, Bundaberg Post Office, War Memorial, Burnett Bridge
Bundaberg
Coordinates	24°51′0″S 152°21′0″E / 24.85000°S 152.35000°E / -24.85000; 152.35000Coordinates: 24°51′0″S 152°21′0″E / 24.85000°S 152.35000°E / -24.85000; 152.35000
Population	70,588 (2015) (24th)
• Density	230.91/km2 (598.04/sq mi)
Established	1870
Postcode(s)	4670
Area	305.7 km2 (118.0 sq mi) (2011 urban)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
Location	385 km (239 mi) from Brisbane
LGA(s)	Bundaberg Region
County	Cook
State electorate(s)	Bundaberg
Federal Division(s)	Hinkler
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 26.5 °C 80 °F 16.3 °C 61 °F 1,142.6 mm 45 in

Bundaberg is a city in Queensland, Australia. It is part of the local government area of the Bundaberg Region and is a major centre within Queensland's broader Wide Bay-Burnett geographical region. The city is on the Burnett River, approximately 385 kilometres (239 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane, and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) inland from the coast. The local Aboriginal group is the Kalki people.

The first Europeans in the area were timbergetters and co-founders of Bundaberg, John and Gavin Steuart who arrived in 1867. The town was surveyed in 1870. By 1881 it was gazetted as a municipality (the Borough of Bundaberg). It grew rapidly into a town by 1902 and a city by 1913. At June 2015 the city had an estimated urban population of 70,588.

The city name is thought to be a combination of bunda, Aboriginal word denoting an important man, and the suffix -berg (town) from the Old English beorg (hill) from the Proto-Germanic *burgs (hill fort) which is also the source of the words -bury, borough, barrow. The city is colloquially known as "Bundy".

Bourbong Street is the main street of the city and there is some controversy in regards to its spelling; Bourbong was alternatively spelled Boorbong, which is a Bunda Aboriginal word for a 'large waterhole' possibly near the Rubyanna area. The main street was historically also gazetted in the Bundaberg Mail as "Bourbon" street. Rackemann conducted a survey of letterheads printed between 1904 and 1957. Up until 1940 the count for both names was near enough to equal, with in some cases companies carrying both spelling variations in successive years. However, by 1941 there is no reference to "Bourbon" street. Farmer Robert Strathdee's farming selection in the vicinity of the watering holes was recorded on early survey maps as 'Boorbung'. The Bourbong was referred to by Howitt as the name of one of the Bunda initiation ceremonies.