Cooma
Cooma | |||||||||||||
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Cooma Court House | |||||||||||||
Cooma | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates: 36°14′06″S 149°07′33″E / 36.23500°S 149.12583°E | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | New South Wales | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||
| Established | 1849 | ||||||||||||
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| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Elevation | 800 m (2,600 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 6,715 (SAL 2021) | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 2630 | ||||||||||||
| County | Beresford | ||||||||||||
| Mean max temp | 19.4 °C (66.9 °F) | ||||||||||||
| Mean min temp | 4.1 °C (39.4 °F) | ||||||||||||
| Annual rainfall | 541.6 mm (21.32 in) | ||||||||||||
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Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 114 kilometres (71 mi) south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega with the Riverina.
At the 2021 census, Cooma had a population of 6,715. Cooma is the main town of the Monaro region. It is 800 metres (2,620 ft) above sea level. The name could have derived from an Aboriginal word Coombah, meaning 'big lake' or 'open country'.
Cooma is 5 kilometres (3 mi) south of the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, a main tributary of the Murray–Darling basin. Cooma sources its water from the river.