Local Government Area
Bourke
Population
1,699 (2021 census)
Area
3,882.79 km²
Coordinates
-30.2072, 146.0422
Data
Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics ASGS boundaries, licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

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About Bourke

Bourke is a town in the far north-west of New South Wales, about 800 km north-west of Sydney on the south bank of the Darling River, and the administrative centre of Bourke Shire. It grew from Fort Bourke, a stockade built by surveyor Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1835 and named for Governor Sir Richard Bourke, with the township surveyed in 1862. Bourke became a busy river port whose paddle steamers shipped wool to the south, and is known as the gateway to the outback, an idea reflected in the expression 'back o' Bourke'.

Nearby localities