town, east New South Wales, Australia, at the edge of the Southern Highlands. Settled in 1825, it bears an Aboriginal name meaning “large,” or “high.” Proclaimed a town in 1863, it had become a fashionable resort for wealthy families of Sydney (60 miles 【100 km】 northeast) by the time it was gazetted a municipality in 1886. Bowral lies close to the Hume Highway and continues to serve as a resort and as a trade centre for a district producing vegetables, dairy products, fruits, trachyte, and coal. It has sawmills and brickworks. Fitzroy Falls and the Wombeyan limestone caves are nearby. Pop. (2001) 8,705.