Cooma facts for kids
Quick facts for kids CoomaNew South Wales |
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Cooma Court House
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 Cooma
Location in New South Wales
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| Established | 1849 | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 2630 | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 800 m (2,625 ft) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | Snowy Monaro Regional Council | ||||||||||||||
| County | Beresford | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Monaro | ||||||||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Eden-Monaro | ||||||||||||||
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Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is about 114 kilometres (71 mi) south of Canberra, Australia's capital city. You can reach Cooma by following the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, which connects Bega to the Riverina area.
In 2021, Cooma had a population of 6,715 people. It is the main town in the Monaro region. The town is located 800 metres (2,620 ft) above sea level. The name 'Cooma' might come from an Aboriginal word Coombah. This word means 'big lake' or 'open country'.
Cooma is about 5 kilometres (3 mi) south of the Murrumbidgee River. This river is an important part of the Murray–Darling basin. Cooma gets its water supply from this river.
Contents
- Cooma's Past: A Quick Look at History
- Important Places: Heritage Listings
- Who Lives in Cooma? Population Facts
- Learning in Cooma: Schools and Education
- Cooma's Weather: Climate Information
- Art and History: The Mosaic Time Walk
- Staying Connected: Media in Cooma
- Fun and Games: Sports in Cooma
- Getting Around: Transport in Cooma
- Famous Faces: Notable People from Cooma
Cooma's Past: A Quick Look at History
The land where Cooma now stands traditionally belongs to the Ngarigo people.
Captain J. M. Currie explored the Cooma area in 1823. The town was first mapped out in 1840. It officially became a town in 1849. Cooma was declared a municipality, meaning it could govern itself, in 1879.
The railway line from Sydney reached Cooma in 1889. This helped the town grow. However, passenger train services stopped in 1989. Cooma's population changed a lot over the years. It grew from 47 people in 1851 to over 9,000 in 1966.
In 1949, Cooma became the main office for the huge Snowy Mountains Scheme. This was a big project to build dams and power stations. The town grew very fast because of this. Between 1949 and 1974, about 65,000 workers came to Cooma. These workers came from over 30 different countries. In 1959, an avenue of flags was put up. It showed the flags of 27 countries that workers came from.
Today, Cooma is a popular stop for tourists. Many people heading to the NSW snow fields in winter stop here. Because of this, Cooma is known as the 'Gateway to the Snowy Mountains'.
There is a special memorial in Cooma for aviation pioneers. It has parts from the Avro 618 Ten aircraft called Southern Cloud. This plane crashed in 1931 and was not found until 1958.
Important Places: Heritage Listings
Cooma has several sites that are important to its history. These are called heritage-listed sites. They include:
- Bradley Street: The Cooma railway station
- 59–61 Lambie Street: The Royal Hotel
- Sharp Street: The Rock Bolting Development Site
Who Lives in Cooma? Population Facts
| Historical population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1921 | 1,834 | — |
| 1933 | 1,969 | +7.4% |
| 1947 | 2,249 | +14.2% |
| 1954 | 6,506 | +189.3% |
| 1961 | 8,716 | +34.0% |
| 1966 | 9,106 | +4.5% |
| 1971 | 7,788 | −14.5% |
| 1976 | 7,353 | −5.6% |
| 1981 | 7,978 | +8.5% |
| 1986 | 7,406 | −7.2% |
| 1991 | 7,385 | −0.3% |
| 1996 | 7,150 | −3.2% |
| 2001 | 6,914 | −3.3% |
| 2006 | 6,587 | −4.7% |
| 2011 | 6,664 | +1.2% |
| 2016 | 6,681 | +0.3% |
| 2021 | 6,715 | +0.5% |
| Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics data. | ||
The 2021 census showed that 6,715 people lived in Cooma.
- About 4.5% of the people were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
- Most people (77.8%) were born in Australia. Other countries of birth included England (2.2%) and New Zealand (1.6%).
- Most people (82.7%) spoke only English at home. Other languages included Italian (0.8%) and German (0.7%).
- When asked about religion, 36.3% said they had no religion. 23.6% were Catholic, and 18.7% were Anglican.
Learning in Cooma: Schools and Education
Cooma has several schools for different age groups.
- Public Schools:
- Monaro High School is a high school for students in Cooma and nearby towns.
- Cooma Public School and Cooma North Public School teach younger students from Kindergarten to Year 6.
- Private Schools:
- St Patrick's Parish School is a Roman Catholic school for students from Kindergarten to Year 10.
- Snowy Mountains Christian School is an independent Christian school for students from Kindergarten to Year 10.
For older students, TAFE NSW has a campus in Cooma. The Cooma Universities Centre also opened in 2014. It helps students study university courses locally.
Cooma's Weather: Climate Information
Cooma has a dry oceanic climate. This means summers are warm, but temperatures can change a lot. Winters are cold, especially at night. This is because Cooma is in a valley and high up. It often has clear skies, which makes nights colder. Cooma can sometimes have the coldest temperatures in Australia.
The area is very dry because it is in a rain shadow. This means mountains block most of the rain. Even though it's dry, Cooma only has about 90 clear days a year. This is less than coastal cities like Sydney. Snow can fall in Cooma from June to September. It is usually light and does not stay for long. Frost happens often, especially from April to October. In summer, strong thunderstorms can occur. They sometimes bring a lot of hail because of the town's high elevation.
The average lowest temperature in July is −2.7 °C (27.1 °F). In January, it is 10.8 °C (51.4 °F). The average highest temperature in July is 11.4 °C (52.5 °F). In January, it is 27.3 °C (81.1 °F).
| Climate data for Cooma Visitors Centre (1973–2020); 778 m AMSL; 36.23° S, 149.12° E | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 40.0 (104.0) |
38.9 (102.0) |
35.2 (95.4) |
30.4 (86.7) |
24.2 (75.6) |
19.6 (67.3) |
20.9 (69.6) |
24.5 (76.1) |
29.4 (84.9) |
33.1 (91.6) |
36.5 (97.7) |
37.8 (100.0) |
40.0 (104.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 27.5 (81.5) |
26.3 (79.3) |
23.7 (74.7) |
19.5 (67.1) |
15.6 (60.1) |
11.9 (53.4) |
11.5 (52.7) |
13.3 (55.9) |
16.4 (61.5) |
19.6 (67.3) |
22.5 (72.5) |
25.2 (77.4) |
19.4 (67.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 10.9 (51.6) |
10.6 (51.1) |
8.2 (46.8) |
4.1 (39.4) |
0.7 (33.3) |
−1.3 (29.7) |
−2.7 (27.1) |
−1.9 (28.6) |
1.2 (34.2) |
3.8 (38.8) |
7.1 (44.8) |
9.2 (48.6) |
4.2 (39.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −0.2 (31.6) |
−1.0 (30.2) |
−1.9 (28.6) |
−6.5 (20.3) |
−8.6 (16.5) |
−11.5 (11.3) |
−11.4 (11.5) |
−10.5 (13.1) |
−8.6 (16.5) |
−6.8 (19.8) |
−3.9 (25.0) |
−3.0 (26.6) |
−11.5 (11.3) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 56.9 (2.24) |
60.5 (2.38) |
57.8 (2.28) |
38.7 (1.52) |
29.3 (1.15) |
39.0 (1.54) |
27.8 (1.09) |
27.7 (1.09) |
33.7 (1.33) |
44.5 (1.75) |
62.6 (2.46) |
55.1 (2.17) |
536.9 (21.14) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 8.0 | 7.8 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 7.8 | 9.7 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 9.6 | 9.5 | 10.8 | 8.9 | 105.7 |
| Average afternoon relative humidity (%) | 40 | 44 | 45 | 49 | 54 | 59 | 54 | 48 | 45 | 44 | 43 | 41 | 47 |
| Source: , and | |||||||||||||
Art and History: The Mosaic Time Walk
The Cooma–Monaro Time Walk is in Centennial Park. It is a community art project from 1988. It tells the history of the area through beautiful mosaics.
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Staying Connected: Media in Cooma
Cooma has its own local newspaper and several radio stations. You can also watch television channels from Canberra.
Local News: Newspapers
- The Monaro Post is Cooma's local newspaper. It started in 2006.
Listening In: Radio Stations
You can listen to many radio stations in Cooma, including:
- XLFM 96.1 FM
- Snow FM 97.7 FM
- Triple J 100.1 FM
- ABC South-East 810 AM/1602 AM
- Radio National 95.3 FM/100.9 FM
- Classic FM 99.3
- Monaro FM 90.5 (a community radio station)
Watching TV: Television Channels
Cooma receives five free-to-air television networks. These channels are sent from Canberra. They include:
Fun and Games: Sports in Cooma
Cooma loves sports! The most popular sports are Rugby League, Rugby Union, Cricket, Soccer, and Australian rules football.
- Rugby League: The Cooma Colts are the junior team. The Stallions (started in 1973) are the senior team. The Fillies play Rugby League Tag.
- Soccer: The Cooma Tigers soccer team (started in 1952) plays in local games.
- Australian Rules Football: The Southern Cats (once called Cooma Cats) play at the Snowy Oval. They are part of the AFL Canberra league.
Getting Around: Transport in Cooma
Cooma has different ways to get around.
- Airport: Cooma–Snowy Mountains Airport is about 15 kilometres from the town centre.
- Buses: Cooma Coaches runs a bus service in town three times a day. Snowliner Coaches also offers services.
- Taxis: Cooma Radio Taxis provides taxi services.
- Train History: The Cooma Monaro Railway is a heritage railway. It uses old trains from the 1920s. It used to offer weekend rides on a part of the Bombala railway line.
Famous Faces: Notable People from Cooma
Many interesting people have connections to Cooma, including:
- Samantha Armytage – a TV breakfast show host.
- Torah Bright – an Olympic snowboarder.
- Nick Cotric – a rugby league player.
- Carmen Duncan and Paula Duncan – actresses.
- Michael Gordon – a rugby league player.
- A. D. Hope – a famous poet.
- Keegan Joyce – an actor and singer who even has a song called "Cooma."
- Steve Liebmann – a journalist.
- Joan Richmond – a racing car driver.
- Anneliese Seubert – a model.
- Brett White, Jack Williams, and Sam Williams – rugby league players.
- Charlotte Wood – a writer.
