Gosford

Gosford is a city located on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about 76 km north of the Sydney central business district. The city is situated at the northern extremity of Brisbane Water, an extensive northern branch of the Hawkesbury River estuary and Broken Bay.

The city is the administrative centre of the Central Coast region, which is the third largest urban area in New South Wales after Sydney and Newcastle. Gosford has been designated as an important growth centre under the NSW Metropolitan Strategy. The suburb's population was 3,392 in the 2011 census.

In the 2011 Census, the most common countries of birth of people in Gosford were Australia 63.6%, England 4.4%, Mainland China 2.4%, India 1.9%, New Zealand 1.9% and South Korea 1.1%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 24.3%, Catholic 21.6%, Anglican 18.0%, Buddhism 3.4% and Uniting Church 2.8%.

History

Until European settlement, the area around Gosford was inhabited by the Guringai peoples, who were principally coastal-dwellers and the Darginüng people that inhabited the hinterland. Along with the other land around the Hawkesbury River estuary, the Brisbane Water district was explored during the early stages of the settlement of New South Wales. In the early 19th century some pioneering European settlers began occupying the land, for timber-cutting (mainly ironbark and Australian red cedar), lime production and grazing.