The Far West region of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 refers generally to a fairly flat and low lying area in the western part of the state, which is too dry to support wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

 or other crop

Crop

Crop may refer to:* Crop, a plant grown and harvested for agricultural use* Crop , part of the alimentary tract of some animals* Crop , a modified whip used in horseback riding or disciplining humans...

s or intensive pastoral

Grazing

Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...

. It is west of the North West Slopes, Central West

Central West, New South Wales

The Central West region refers to the area west of the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. It has an area of 63,262 square kilometers....

 and the Riverina

Riverina

The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...

. It is an area with limited rainfall and the only major rivers found in it are the Darling River

Darling River

The Darling River is the third longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales. Including its longest contiguous tributaries it is long, making it the longest river system in Australia.The...

 and the Murray River

Murray River

The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...

 (on its southern edge) which originate in the Great Dividing Range

Great Dividing Range

The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...

 to the east. The region corresponds to the combination of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology

Bureau of Meteorology

The Bureau of Meteorology is an Executive Agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together the state meteorological services that existed before then...

's forecast areas of Upper Western and Lower Western. It also corresponds to the Western Division established under the New South Wales Western Lands Act 1901.

Its only city is Broken Hill

Broken Hill, New South Wales

-Geology:Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the...

 and other significant towns are Bourke

Bourke, New South Wales

-Transportation:Bourke can be reached by the Mitchell Highway, with additional sealed roads from town to the north , east and south . The town is also served by Bourke Airport and has Countrylink bus service to other regional centres, like Dubbo...

, Brewarrina

Brewarrina, New South Wales

Brewarrina is a small town in North West New South Wales, Australia on the banks of the Barwon River in Brewarrina Shire. It is 98 km east of Bourke and west of Walgett on the Kamilaroi Highway, and 808 km from Sydney. Brewarrina has had its population decrease from 1,197 persons in...

, Cobar

Cobar, New South Wales

-Notable people:*Nik Kosef, former rugby league player for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, 1996 premiership player, NSW & Australia representative*Ernie Toshack, cricketer, member of Bradman's Invincibles* Jemma Heather, state representative 4 times....

, Ivanhoe

Ivanhoe, New South Wales

Ivanhoe is a small township on the Cobb Highway between the Lachlan and Darling rivers in New South Wales, Australia.  It is located within the Central Darling Shire local government area.  Ivanhoe functions as a service centre for the surrounding area.  The township is...

 and Wentworth

Wentworth, New South Wales

Wentworth is a small border town in the far south west of the state of New South Wales, Australia. It lies at the confluence of Australia's two most important rivers, the Darling and the Murray, the latter forming the border with the state of Victoria to the south. The border with the state of...

.

95 per cent of the region is uncleared. The major industries are mining and extensive pasturing. During good seasons in the 1870s and 1880s, large sheep station

Station (Australian agriculture)

Station is the term for a large Australian landholding used for livestock production. It corresponds to the North American term ranch or South American estancia...

s were established with high stocking rates, partly in response to a widespread belief that the introduction of European agriculture would cause climate change

Climate change

Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...

 in favour of European conditions. This myth was shattered by the droughts of the 1890s and many of the stations established during this period were subsequently abandoned.

The Far West region is traversed by the Barrier Highway

Barrier Highway

The Barrier Highway is a highway in New South Wales and South Australia signposted as in South Australia and in New South Wales, Australia.The Barrier Highway starts at Nyngan where it joins the Mitchell Highway. It heads west past Hermidale and Boppy Mountain to Cobar, a mining town. It then...

, the Silver City Highway

Silver City Highway

The Silver City Highway is a highway in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It runs from south to north close to the western border of New South Wales with South Australia...

, the Mitchell Highway

Mitchell Highway

The Mitchell Highway is a major rural highway in Australia, travelling through central and northern New South Wales and south central Queensland. The highway starts from its northern end in Queensland with the Landsborough Highway near Augathella and continues south to Charleville and Cunnamulla...

, the Cobb Highway

Cobb Highway

The Cobb Highway is a State highway in western New South Wales, Australia.  From north to south the Cobb Highway begins at its junction with the Barrier Highway near Wilcannia and runs south through the townships of Ivanhoe, Booligal, Hay and Deniliquin.  It ends at Moama where the...

 and the Sturt Highway

Sturt Highway

The Sturt Highway is an Australian highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is part of the Auslink National network and is part of the main highway route between Sydney and Adelaide.-Route:...

 and by the Sydney-Perth Railway

Broken Hill railway line, New South Wales

The Broken Hill railway line is now part of the transcontinental railway from Sydney to Perth.New South Wales's first line opened from Sydney to Parramatta Junction in 1855 and was extended as the Main Western line in stages to Orange in 1877. The Broken Hill line branched off the Main Western...

.