Blacktown City New South Wales |
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Location in Metropolitan Sydney
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Coordinates | 33°46′S 150°55′E / 33.767°S 150.917°ECoordinates: 33°46′S 150°55′E / 33.767°S 150.917°E | ||||||||||||
Population | 339,328 (2015 Est.) (5th) | ||||||||||||
• Density | 1,254/km2 (3,250/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
Established | 1979 | ||||||||||||
Area | 246.9 km2 (95.3 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
Time zone | AEST (UTC+10) | ||||||||||||
• Summer (DST) | AEDT (UTC+11) | ||||||||||||
Mayor | Stephen Bali | ||||||||||||
Council seat | Blacktown | ||||||||||||
Region | Metropolitan Sydney | ||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | |||||||||||||
Federal Division(s) | |||||||||||||
Website | Blacktown City | ||||||||||||
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Blacktown City is a local government area in western Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The City occupies an area of 246.9 square kilometres (95.3 sq mi) and had a population of almost 340,000 in 2015.
The City is bounded by the cities of Penrith, Parramatta, Fairfield, Cumberland, Hawkesbury and The Hills Shire.
Blacktown was originally named for an Australian Aboriginal settlement in the area. Today, Blacktown continues to be home to the largest Aboriginal population of any suburb or township in New South Wales. A school for Aborigines was moved in 1823 from Parramatta to the site where Richmond Road meets Rooty Hill Road North. The road from Prospect to Richmond became known as the Black Town Road. In 1860 the Railway Department gave the name of Black Town Road Station to the railway station at the junction of the railway and the Black Town Road, with the name shortening to Blacktown by 1862.
The Mayor of the City of Blacktown is Stephen Bali, of the Australian Labor Party. He is also the assistant secretary of the Greater New South Wales branch of the Australian Workers' Union.
These are the suburbs and localities in the local government area:
At the 2011 Census, there were 301,099 people in the Blacktown local government area, of these 49.7% were male and 50.3% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 2.7% of the population, which was slightly higher than the national average. The median age of people in the City of Blacktown was 32 years, which was significantly lower than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 23.7% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 9.0% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 51.7% were married and 10.3% were either divorced or separated.