Bundaberg 6.56

Bundaberg is a city in Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. At June 2015 the city had an estimated urban population of 70,588.GeographyBundaberg is a major centre within Queensland's broader Wide Bay-Burnett geographical region and the headquarters of the Bundaberg Regional Council. The city is on the Burnett River, approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane, and inland from the coast. The local Aboriginal group is the Taribelang Bunda people.The first Europeans in the area were timbergetters and co-founders of Bundaberg, John and Gavin Steuart who arrived in 1867. The town was surveyed in 1870. By 1881 it was gazetted as a municipality (the Borough of Bundaberg). It grew rapidly into a town by 1902 and a city by 1913.EtymologyCity nameThe city name is thought to be a combination of bunda, Aboriginal word denoting an important man, and the suffix -berg (town) from the Old English beorg (hill) from the Proto-Germanic *burgs (hill fort) which is also the source of the words -bury, borough, barrow. The city is colloquially known as "Bundy".Main streetBourbong Street is the main street of the city and there is some controversy in regards to its spelling; Bourbong was alternatively spelled Boorbong, which is a Bunda Aboriginal word for a 'large waterhole' possibly near the Rubyanna area. The main street was historically also gazetted in the Bundaberg Mail as "Bourbon" street. Rackemann conducted a survey of letterheads printed between 1904 and 1957. Up until 1940 the count for both names was near enough to equal, with in some cases companies carrying both spelling variations in successive years. However, by 1941 there is no reference to "Bourbon" street. Farmer Robert Strathdee's farming selection in the vicinity of the watering holes was recorded on early survey maps as 'Boorbung'. The Bourbong was referred to by Howitt as the name of one of the Bunda initiation ceremonies.