COONAMBLE

town, north-central New South Wales, Australia. It lies along the Castlereagh River, at the western edge of the Pilliga Scrub district. Proclaimed a town in 1861 and a municipality in 1880, the Shire of Coonamble (1906) was merged with the Shire of Wingadee in 1957 and is now part of Coonamble Shire. Its name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning bullock dung and amazing sight. Lying along the Castlereagh Highway, with air and rail links to Sydney (260 miles southeast), the town of Coonamble, with its sawmills and freezing plants, serves an area of wool, wheat, and beef production; lumbering (cypress pine and ironbark eucalyptus); and blue-metal (basalt) quarrying. Wells provide water for the town. A wool festival is held in the town in October. Coonamble is close to the Macquarie Marshes, an important bird-breeding area. Pop. (1981) 3,090.