- published: 30 Apr 2012
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Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range watershed to the north and Bass Strait to the south. The region is best known for its primary production such as mining, power generation and farming as well as its tourist destinations— Phillip Island, Wilsons Promontory, the Gippsland Lakes, Walhalla, the Baw Baw Plateau, and the Strzelecki Ranges.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006 Census reported a population of 239,647 for Gippsland: 80,115 in East Gippsland, 52,377 in South Gippsland, 33,632 in West Gippsland, and 73,477 in the Latrobe Valley statistical divisions.
The area was originally inhabited by Indigenous Australians of the Gunai nation and parts of the Bunurong nation. After European invasion, Samuel Anderson, a Scottish immigrant and early explorer who landed in Hobart Tasmania in 1830 established the third permanent settlement in Victoria at Bass in 1835.His business partner Robert Massie joined him in 1837. Both had worked for the VDL Co based at Circular Head Tasmania.Samuels brothers Hugh and Thomas arrived at Bass shortly after. Sealers and wattle bark gatherers had frequented the area but not settled. Further European settlement began following two separate expeditions to the area. Angus McMillan led the first European expedition through the area between 1839 and 1840, naming the area "Caledonia Australis". This was followed in March 1840 by Polish explorer Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, who unknowingly led his expedition across the same terrain already encountered by McMillan, renaming many natural landmarks and places. Following these expeditions, the area was officially given the title of "Gippsland", a name chosen by Strzelecki in honour of the New South Wales Governor, George Gipps, his sponsor.