1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Illawarra

ILLAWARRA, a beautiful and fertile district of New South Wales, Australia, extending from a point 33 m. S. of Sydney, along the coast southwards for 40 m. to Shoalhaven. It is thickly populated, and supplies Sydney with the greater part of its dairy produce. There are also numerous collieries, producing coal of superior quality, and iron ore, fireclay and freestone are plentiful. The Illawarra Lake, a salt lagoon, 9 m. long and 3 m. wide, is encircled by hills and is connected with the sea by a narrow channel; quantities of fish are caught in it and wild fowl are abundant along its shores. The chief towns in the district are Wollongong, Kiama, Clifton and Shellharbour.