Demographics
Wagga Wagga is the major city of the Riverina and the largest inland city in New South Wales. In 2011 the urban centre of Wagga Wagga was home to a population of 46,913 and the city is continuing to grow with population growth of 0.8% for the period 2001 to 2006. Much of this growth is attributable to the "sponge city" phenomenon as Wagga Wagga attracts residents from smaller towns in the region such as Urana. Other factors include Wagga's role as a regional centre and its hosting of major defence establishments and a Charles Sturt University campus.
The population is reasonably homogenous with only 6.4% of the population born outside of Australia as opposed to 21.9% for Australia as a whole and 93.8% of households in Wagga Wagga speaking English only at home. Wagga Wagga is home to small numbers of migrants from England, New Zealand, Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany and the Sudan. Wagga Wagga is also home to a sizeable indigenous population; at the 2001 census, Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders made up 3.4% of the city's population.
In religion, Wagga Wagga is predominantly Christian, with the major religious denominations being Catholic (33.9%) and Anglican (25.2%). 11.5% of the population professed no religion. The main sources of employment in Wagga Wagga include education, retailing, health and defence.
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