ARMIDALE

city, northeastern New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the valley slopes of Dumaresq Creek in the New England Range. Founded in 1839 by G.J. Macdonald, commissioner of crown lands, and named for his father's Scottish baronial estate on the Isle of Skye, it developed a pastoral-agricultural economy. It has become a regional cultural centre with Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals, a teachers' college, several private and state schools, and the University of New England (established 1954). The New England Regional Art Museum houses the Howard Hinton collection of Australian paintings. For many years the community has been the main focus of a movement for a separate New England State. It became a town in 1845, a municipality in 1863, and a city in 1885. The city is linked by rail with Sydney, 230 miles (370 km) south, and has an airport. Pop. (1992 est.) 22,600.