INVERELL

town, northeastern New South Wales, Australia, at the junction of the Swanbrook and Macintyre rivers in the Western Slopes district. Established in 1848 as a stock station, it was declared a town in 1858 and a municipality in 1872, when it was given its Gaelic name, which means meeting of the swans. In 1979 amalgamation of the municipality with neighbouring shires created Inverell Shire. It serves an area of mixed farming (wheat, sheep, grapes, potatoes, tobacco, fruits, fodder, and dairying), and tin, silver, bauxite, diamonds, sapphires, and zircon are worked locally. Inverell has sawmills, brick and engineering works, slaughterhouses, and food-processing plants. A rail terminus, it is on the Gwydir Highway and has air links to Sydney (285 mi southwest) and Brisbane. Pop. (1981) 9,734.