Buninyong
Buninyong | |||||||||||||
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Main Street, Buninyong | |||||||||||||
Buninyong | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates: 37°39′01″S 143°53′02″E / 37.65028°S 143.88389°E | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Victoria | ||||||||||||
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| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
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| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 3,797 (2021 census) | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 3357 | ||||||||||||
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Buninyong /ˈbʌnɪnjɒŋ/ is a town 11 km from Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. The town is on the Midland Highway, south of Ballarat on the road to Geelong.
Buninyong was proclaimed a town on 27 June 1851 on the same day as Winchelsea, Portarlington, Longwood, Avenel, Cavendish, Euroa and Gisborne. All were preceded by Benalla and Wangaratta that were proclaimed on 7 and 11 April 1849 respectively.
Gold was reported "within a mile or two of the township of Buninyong" on 12 August 1851. Gold had been reported earlier at Clunes on 25 July 1851, The major gold rush to the Ballarat region had begun.
The population at the 2021 census was 3,797.
The name originates from an Aboriginal word also recorded as 'Buninyouang', said to mean 'man lying on his back with his knees raised', which is in reference to the shape of Mount Buninyong. European settlers named it Bunnenyong and the name later simplified to its current form.