Grampians (region)

This article is about the administrative region in Victoria, Australia. For the former region of Scotland, see Grampian Region. For the Australian wine region, see Grampians (wine).

Grampians Region Victoria
Craigs Hotel, Lydiard Street, Ballarat.
The Balconies in the Grampians National Park at dawn.
Grampians Region The location of Grampians National Park, within the Grampians region
Coordinates
Population	220,875 (2011 census)
• Density	4.54046/km2 (11.75973/sq mi)
Area	48,646 km2 (18,782.3 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
• Summer (DST)	AEDT (UTC+11)
Location	200 km (124 mi) W of Melbourne
LGA(s)	(by population) Ballarat Moorabool Horsham Golden Plains Hepburn Northern Grampians Ararat Yarriambiack Pyrenees Hindmarsh West Wimmera
State electorate(s)	Buninyong Lowan Melton Mildura Murray Plains Polwarth Ripon Wendouree
Federal Division(s)	Ballarat Corangamite Mallee Wannon
Localities around Grampians Region: Loddon Mallee Loddon Mallee Loddon Mallee South Australia Grampians Region Greater Melbourne Barwon South West Barwon South West Barwon South West

The Grampians is an economic rural region located in the western part of Victoria, Australia. The 48,646-square-kilometre (18,782 sq mi) region lies to the northwest of the western suburbs of Greater Melbourne, to the state's western border with South Australia and includes the Grampians National Park and significant gold mining heritage assets. The Grampians region has two sub-regions, Grampians Central Highlands and Wimmera Southern Mallee.

As at the 2011 Australian census, the Grampians region had a population of 220,875, with the majority of the population located in the City of Ballarat. The principal centres of the region, in descending order of population, are Ballarat, Bacchus Marsh, Horsham, Ararat, and Stawell.

Administration

Political representation

For the purposes of Australian federal elections for the House of Representatives, the Grampians region is contained within all or part of the electoral divisions of Ballarat, Corangamite, Mallee, and Wannon.

For the purposes of Victorian elections for the Legislative Assembly, the Grampians region is contained within all or part of the electoral districts of Buninyong, Lowan, Melton, Mildura, Murray Plains, Polwarth, Ripon and Wendouree.

Local government areas

The region contains eleven local government areas, which are:

Grampians region LGA populations

Local government area	Area		Population (2011 census)	Source(s)
	km2	sq mi
Rural City of Ararat	4,230	1,630	11,183
City of Ballarat	740	290	93,501
Golden Plains Shire	2,704	1,044	18,770
Shire of Hepburn	1,470	570	14,367
Shire of Hindmarsh	7,527	2,906	5,798
Rural City of Horsham	4,249	1,641	19,279
Shire of Moorabool	2,110	810	28,124
Shire of Northern Grampians	5,918	2,285	11,845
Shire of Pyrenees	3,433	1,325	6,669
Shire of West Wimmera	9,107	3,516	4,251
Shire of Yarriambiack	7,158	2,764	7,088
Totals	48,646	18,782	220,875

Food and Wine Festival

The Grampians Region is home to one of Australia's longest running food and wine festivals, Grampians Grape Escape, held over the first weekend of May in Halls Gap every year. Launched in 1992, the Grampians Grape Escape is a hallmark event for Victoria and provides food and wine offerings by more than 100 local artisan producers, live music and family entertainment.

Environmental protection

The Grampians region contains the Grampians National Park and Little Desert National Park.