Situated on the Murrumbidgee River, Wagga Wagga is NSW's largest inland city and is considered the capital of the Riverina area of NSW. Halfway between Sydney and Melbourne and a two-and-a-half hour drive from Canberra. The name derives from a local Aboriginal word meaning 'place of many crows'.
Wagga Wagga is a city of fine buildings, tree-lined streets, parks and gardens. The surrounding area consists of properties dedicated to wheat-growing, dairying, mixed farming and fat lambs. It possesses one of the largest stockyards in Australia, as well as the Livestock Marketing Centre, which processes around1.5 million sheep and 130 000 cattle annually. With the Charles Sturt University and the Riverina Institute of TAFE, Wagga is an important regional education centre and, with the Kapooka Army Recruit Training Base and a Royal Australian Air Force base, it is also regarded as one of the country's major defence force establishments.
