Editing Hunter Region (section)

{{Other uses|Hunter (disambiguation){{!}}Hunter}}
{{Redirect|Hunter Valley|the wine region within the valley|Hunter Valley wine}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type                = region
| name                = Hunter Region
| state               = nsw
| image               = Hunter panorama-1b-web-l.jpg
| caption             = View across the Hunter Valley
| image2              = Newcastle - Bulk carrier passing Nobbys.jpg
| caption2            = The mouth of the [[Hunter River (New South Wales)|Hunter River]] at {{NSWcity|Newcastle}}
| coordinates         = {{Coord|32|33|36|S|151|10|15|E|display=inline,title}}
| relief              = yes
| pushpin_map_caption = The Hunter Region
| pop                 = 682,465
| pop_year            = 2021
| pop_footnotes       = <ref name="auto">{{Cite web |date=2021-03-30 |title=Regional population, 2019–20 financial year |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/regional-population/latest-release |url-status=live |access-date=2021-12-18 |website=Australian Bureau of Statistics |language=en |archive-date=30 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330092152/https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/regional-population/latest-release }}</ref>{{NoteTag|Population figure is the combined population of all LGAs in the region.}}
| density             =
| density_footnotes   =
| area                = 22694.2
| area_footnotes      =
| timezone            = [[Australian Eastern Standard Time|AEST]]
| utc                 = +10
| timezone-dst        = [[Australian Eastern Daylight Time|AEDT]]
| utc-dst             = +11
| dist1               = 162
| dir1                = N
| location1           = Sydney
| lga                 = {{plainlist|
* '''Greater Newcastle LGAs'''
* [[City of Newcastle]]
* [[City of Lake Macquarie]]
* [[City of Maitland]]
* [[City of Cessnock]]
* [[Port Stephens Council]]
}}
| lga2                = {{plainlist|
* '''Other Hunter LGAs'''
* [[Singleton Council]]
* [[Dungog Shire]]
* [[Muswellbrook Shire]]
* [[Upper Hunter Shire]]
* [[MidCoast Council|Mid-Coast Council]]
}}
| stategov            = {{bulleted list|
| [[Electoral district of Cessnock|Cessnock]]
| [[Electoral district of Charlestown|Charlestown]]
| [[Electoral district of Lake Macquarie|Lake Macquarie]]
| [[Electoral district of Maitland|Maitland]] 
| [[Electoral district of Newcastle|Newcastle]]
| [[Electoral district of Port Stephens|Port Stephens]]
| [[Electoral district of Swansea|Swansea]]
| [[Electoral district of Upper Hunter|Upper Hunter]]
| [[Electoral district of Wallsend|Wallsend]]
}}
| fedgov              = {{bulleted list|
| [[Division of Hunter|Hunter]]
| [[Division of Lyne|Lyne]]
| [[Division of Newcastle|Newcastle]]
| [[Division of Paterson|Paterson]]
| [[Division of Shortland|Shortland]]            
}}
| near-n              = [[New England (Australia)|New England]]
| near-ne             = [[Mid North Coast]]
| near-e              = ''[[Tasman Sea]]''
| near-se             = ''[[Tasman Sea]]''
| near-s              = [[Central Coast (New South Wales)|Central Coast]]
| near-sw             = [[Sydney|Greater Sydney]]
| near-w              = [[Central West (New South Wales)|Central West]]
| near-nw             = [[North West Slopes (New South Wales)|North West Slopes]]
}}

The '''Hunter Region''', also commonly known as the '''Hunter Valley''', '''Newcastle Region''', or simply '''Hunter''', spans the region in northern [[New South Wales]], Australia, extending from approximately {{convert|162|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} to {{convert|310|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} north of [[Sydney]]. It contains the [[Hunter River (New South Wales)|Hunter River]] and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and south.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/dlg/dlghome/dlg_regions.asp |title=Department of Local Government – Regions |publisher=NSW Department of Local Government |access-date=5 August 2007 |archive-date=9 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070809021152/http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/dlg/dlghome/dlg_regions.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> Situated at the northern end of the [[Sydney Basin]] bioregion, the Hunter Valley is one of the largest river valleys on the NSW coast, and is most commonly known for its wineries and coal industry.

Most of the population of the Hunter Region lives within {{Convert|25|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} of the coast, with 55% of the entire population living in the cities of [[Newcastle, New South Wales|Newcastle]] and [[City of Lake Macquarie|Lake Macquarie]]. There are numerous other towns and villages scattered across the region in the eleven [[Local government in Australia|local government areas]] (LGAs) that make up the region. At the {{CensusAU|2021}} the combined population of the region was 682,465, and is expected to reach over 1,000,000 people by 2031.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-10/hunter2c-central-coast-population-to-top-million-mark-within-d/4947266 |title=Hunter, Central Coast population to top million mark within decades |newspaper=ABC News |date=9 September 2013 |access-date=3 May 2022 |archive-date=3 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503073618/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-10/hunter2c-central-coast-population-to-top-million-mark-within-d/4947266 |url-status=live }}</ref> Under Australia's wine [[appellation]] system, the Hunter Valley wine zone [[Australian Geographical Indication]] (GI) covers the entire catchment of the [[Hunter River (New South Wales)|Hunter River]] and its tributaries. Within that, the Hunter region is almost as large, and includes most of the wine-producing areas, excluding the metropolitan area of Newcastle and nearby coastal areas, some national parks, and any land that was in the Mudgee Shire (at the western heights of the catchment).

The [[Hunter wine region]] is one of [[Australia (wine)|Australia]]'s best known [[List of wine-producing regions#Australia|wine regions]], playing a pivotal role in the [[Australian wine#History|history of Australian wine]] as one of the first wine regions planted in the early 19th century. The success of the Hunter Valley wine industry has been dominated by its proximity to [[Sydney]] with its settlement and plantings in the 19th century fuelled by the trade network that linked the Hunter Valley to Sydney. The steady demand of consumers from Sydney continues to drive much of the Hunter Valley wine industry, including a factor in the economy by the tourism industry.<ref name="Wine Atlas">Johnson, Hugh, and Jancis Robinson. The World Atlas of Wine. London: Mitchell Beazley, 2005. Print.</ref> While the Hunter Valley has been supplanted by the massive [[Riverina#Wine|Riverina wine region]] as the largest producer of New South Wales wine, it still accounts for around 3% of Australia's total wine production and is one of the country's most recognisable regions.<ref name="Clarke and Rand, 2001">Clarke, Oz, and Margaret Rand. ''Oz Clarke's Encyclopedia of Grapes''. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.</ref>