town, east-central New South Wales, Australia, on the Lachlan River, in the Western Slopes region. Founded in 1846, it derived its name from an Aboriginal word meaning “the rocks.” Proclaimed a town in 1849, it became a municipality in 1888. Linked to Sydney (144 miles 【232 km】 east) by air, rail, and the Midwestern Highway, Cowra serves an area of sheep, wheat, and mixed farming; irrigation water is supplied from the Wyangala Dam on the Lachlan. Industries include a large cannery, a wool-processing plant, and livestock-feed, engineering, freezing, and ceramic works. In 1944 a mass outbreak from a local Japanese prisoner of war camp resulted in the death of 239 escapees; they are buried outside Cowra in a cemetery maintained by the Japanese government. Pop. (2006) local government area, 12,475.