Nowra, New South Wales

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Nowra New South Wales
Location of Nowra in New South Wales
Population:	24,700^[1] (48)
Time zone: • Summer (DST)	AEST (UTC+10) AEDT (UTC+11)
Location:	170 km from Sydney
LGA:	City of Shoalhaven
State District:	South Coast
Federal Division:	Gilmore

Nowra shops

Nowra park

Nowra is the commercial and main administrative centre for the City of Shoalhaven region in New South Wales, Australia. Nowra is about 170km by road south of Sydney, the state capital of New South Wales on the eastern coast of Australia. Nowra is, with its twin-town of Bomaderry, across the Shoalhaven River, a town of around 29,000 people (2001 Census). The region around Nowra is a farming community, sustaining a thriving dairy industry and a number of State forests, but is also increasingly a retirement and leisure area for Canberra and Sydney. Nowra is said to be the premiere sport climbing location in Australia.

The City of Shoalhaven (population 91,500) is the local government area that covers 4,660 square kilometres covering around 100 km from the town of Berry in the north, to Durras Lake in the south; and, around 70 km from Jervis Bay in the east to Mount Griffith Taylor near Bungonia Caves in the west.

Nowra has two public high schools, Nowra High School and Shoalhaven High School. There are also several non-government schools, which are a popular choice for parents in the Nowra area; these non-government schools are all denominational - with an Anglican college in Bomaderry, Nowra Anglican College; a Roman Catholic systemic school near Shoalhaven High School, St. John the Evangelist Catholic High School; and a Baptist college on the outskirts of Nowra, Nowra Christian School. Whilst the Anglican and Baptist colleges provide primary and secondary education, the Catholic high school is linked to the local Catholic primary school, St. Michael's Catholic Primary School. There are five public primary schools in the Nowra area as well: East Nowra Public School, Nowra Public School, Illaroo Road Public School, North Nowra Public School and Nowra Hill Public School. The University of Wollongong also has a campus in Nowra.

Nowra boasts the pristine Shoalhaven River, which hosts wakeboarding championships and is a haven for fishermen and watersports people alike. The river divides Nowra from Bomaderry and North Nowra, and is bridged by the historic Nowra Bridge.

Nowra's minimum average temperature occurs in July at 6.1°C. Its maximum average temperature occurs in January at 25.8°C (As measured at NOWRA RAN AIR STATION).

Due to risk factors such as socio-economic disadvantage, unemployment and substance abuse, Nowra has above average instances of assault, domestic violence and property theft. Nowra had 675 cases of domestic violence reported in the 2002/03 financial year. The unemployment rate is about 11%, which is higher than the national average of 7.2%.^[2] A breakdown of crime statistics for the area is produced by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics & Research.

The name Nowra is the Aboriginal word for black cockatoo or camping place.