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Ararat is a city in south-west Victoria, Australia, about west of Melbourne, on the Western Highway on the eastern slopes of the Ararat Hills and Cemetery Creek valley between Victoria's Western District and the Wimmera. Its urban population according to the Council's Website is 8,076 and services the region of 11,752 residents across the Rural City's boundaries 〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Statistics )〕 It is the largest settlement in the Rural City of Ararat local government area and is the administrative centre. The discovery of gold in 1857 during the Victorian gold rush transformed it into a boomtown which continued to prosper until the turn of the 20th century after which it has steadily declined in population. It was proclaimed as a city on 24 May 1950. After a decline in population over the 1980s and 90s, there has been a small but steady increase in the population,〔http://abs.vic.gov.au〕 and it is the site of many existing and future, large infrastructure projects including the Hopkins Correctional Facility development project〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Hopkins Correctional Centre (Ararat) Precinct Development Plan )〕 It is named after Mount Ararat 10 kilometres south west of the town which was named by Horatio Wills in 1841. == History == Prior to the European settlement of Australia, Ararat was inhabited by the Tjapwurong Indigenous Australian people.〔http://profile.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=333&pg=101&gid=10&type=enum〕 Europeans first settled in the Grampians region in the 1840s after surveyor Thomas Mitchell passed through the area in 1836. In 1841, Horatio Wills, on his way to selecting country further south, wrote in his diary, "like the Ark we rested" and named a nearby hill Mt Ararat. It is from this entry and the nearby Mount that the town takes its name. The Post Office opened 1 February 1856 although known as Cathcart until 31 August 1857. In 1857, a party of Chinese miners en route to the Central Victorian gold fields struck gold at the Canton Lead which marked the beginning of great growth in Ararat. The Chinese community was substantial in Ararat, the (Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre ) commemorates the history of the community. Rapid growth brought about a municipality, which was incorporated as a borough on 24 September 1858. Ararat became a city of asylums, with a large facility Aradale Mental Hospital was opened in 1865 and J Ward, a lunatic asylum for criminally insane (formerly the Ararat County Gaol), opened in 1887. Both have been closed but remain as significant reminders of the city's role in the treatment of mentally ill patients. Vines were planted in 1863 by French settlers. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ararat, Victoria」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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