Ballarat, city in south-eastern Australia, in the state of Victoria, on the Yarrowee River. Ballarat is about 100 km (60 mi) north-west of Melbourne, and is a commercial, manufacturing, and transport centre. Products include machinery, chemicals, processed food, and paper goods. Gold is no longer mined here but clay is, and agriculture is also important. Sovereign Hill, a re-creation of Ballarat in the 1850s, is a popular tourist attraction. There is a university as well as a mining school that is the oldest technical training institute in Australia (founded 1870). Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals are also there. Ballarat was founded in 1852 after extremely rich alluvial gold deposits were discovered nearby. It quickly became Australia's largest inland settlement, and in 1854 was the scene of a famous uprising by miners at the Eureka Stockade. Population 81,100 (1999 estimate).
