Stawell, Victoria towns in Victoria (Australia)]] [[Category:Populated places established in 1853]] [[Category:1853 establishments in Australia]] Stawell, Victoria Stawell (pronounced /stɔːl/, "Stawl"), is an Australian town in the Wimmera region of Victoria west-north-west of the state capital, Melbourne. Located within the Shire of Northern Grampians local government area, it is a seat of local government for the shire and its main administrative centre. At the , Stawell had a population of . It was founded in 1853 during the Victorian gold rush and is one of few towns in Victoria retaining an active gold mining industry. Stawell is famed for the Stawell Gift,
Victoria (Australia) the question as to which state had jurisdiction in the unlawful death of a man on an island in the middle of the river. The ruling clarified that no part of the watercourse is in Victoria. The border also rests at the southern end of the Great Dividing Range, which stretches along the east coast and terminates west of Ballarat. It is bordered by South Australia to the west and shares Australia's shortest land border with Tasmania. The official border between Victoria and Tasmania is at 39°12' S, which passes through Boundary Islet in the Bass Strait for 85 metres.