East Gippsland

Regions of Gippsland
East West South Central Latrobe Valley

East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Australia covering 31,740 square kilometres (14%) of Victoria. It has a population of 80,114.

The Shire of East Gippsland, also called Far East Gippsland, covers two-thirds (66%) of East Gippsland's area and holds half (50%) of its population. The Shire of East Gippsland is confusingly also referred to simply as East Gippsland. It excludes the Shire of Wellington (Central Gippsland). This article (currently) refers mainly to "Far East Gippsland".

East Gippsland's major towns include, from west to east, Bairnsdale (the largest town and administrative centre), Paynesville, Lakes Entrance, Orbost and Mallacoota. Smaller, but significant, towns in the more mountainous northern areas include Ensay, Swifts Creek, Omeo, and Buchan.

East Gippsland extends from the western watershed of the Mitchell and Thomson River catchments east and north to the New South Wales border. Rugged terrain makes farming difficult, even with fertilisers.

The major industry is often considered to be forestry, which provides less than 1 percent of employment for the region. The East Gippsland Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) was signed by Commonwealth and Victorian governments on 3 February 1997, and is Australia's first RFA. It covers a region similar, but not identical to the East Gippsland Shire. It sets aside 5,811 km² from logging, an increase of 1.3% over pre-RFA reserves. Central Gippsland is covered by the Gippsland RFA (signed 31 March 2000), which covers an area similar to the Shire of Wellington, and places 7,805 km² in reserves.

...
Wikipedia