The council area encompasses roughly 3,000 square kilometres,[6] the city is surrounded by smaller towns such as Castlemaine, Heathcote, Kyneton, Maryborough, Elmore, Rochester, Goornong and Axedale.

[7] The discovery of gold on Bendigo Creek in 1851 transformed the area from a sheep station into one of colonial Australia's largest boomtowns.

News of the finds intensified the Victorian gold rush, bringing an influx of migrants from around the world, particularly Europe and China.

Bendigo became eastern Australia's largest 19th-century gold-mining economy, and the wealth generated during this period is reflected today in the city's Victorian architectural heritage.

Bendigo's boom period lasted until the early 20th century and after a temporary decline in population and employment, renewed growth occurred from the 1930s as the city consolidated as a manufacturing and regional service centre.

They exploited the rich local hunting grounds from which they were displaced by the arrival by white settlers, who established the first of many vast sheep runs in 1837.

[10] Squatters in the area included: Donald Campbell at Bullock Creek in Ravenswood; J & R Bakewell to the north of Bendigo; Heap & Gryce to the north-west; Archibald McDougall to the west; Joseph Raleigh and James Robinson along the Campaspe River to the south; and Thomas, Jones, and William Barnett to the east.

Widespread gold mining caused environmental devastation and permanent damage in the district, decimating and displacing the Dja Dja Wurrung[15] and destroying the infrastructure they created over generations to maximise seasonal drainage patterns; the channels and weirs they built out of timber stakes, to slow receding summer flows, were wrecked; water holes where the people gathered in smaller groups during periods of scarce rainfall and from which they transported water in skin bags when moving, were muddied, polluted and drained; the soaks they had dug between banks into sandy sediment to tap into the water table were likewise obliterated.

Some of their waterholes in rock platforms of creeks that they found or enlarged, then covered with slabs to protect them from animals, may still remain, unidentified.

[16][15][17] Gold was officially discovered in the area in October 1851,[14] just after the other significant goldfields in neighbouring Castlemaine, from where many diggers migrated, bringing the total population to 40,000 in less than a year.

Urquhart, Melbourne, November 1852 recommended sites for national schools, churches, markets and other public purposes reserved from sale.

[18] In 1853, a massive protest called The Red Ribbon Rebellion was held over the cost of the licence fee for prospectors, though it passed off peacefully, due to good diplomacy by police and miners' leaders.

Vahland also designed more than 80 buildings, including the Alexandra Fountain, arguably the most prominent monument in Bendigo, with its granite dolphins, unicorns, nymphs and allegorical figures.

After a temporary drop in population, renewed growth occurred from the 1930s as the city consolidated as a manufacturing and regional service centre, though gold mining continues.

Under the Köppen-Geiger classification, it lies on a humid subtropical/cold semi-arid transitional climate zone (Cfa/BSk),[20] due to its location being on the boundary of the hot, sultry inland areas to the north and the cool, damp Southern Ocean to the south.

Heavy rains from the middle to later months of 2010 filled most reservoirs to capacity and only wasteful water use (e.g. hosing down footpaths) is currently banned.

[31] It destroyed about 58 houses in Bendigo's western suburbs and damaged an electricity transmission line, resulting in blackouts to substantial parts of the city.

[36] In 2019,[39] despite protests by several far-right and anti-Islam organisations,[40][41] construction began on Bendigo's first mosque and Islamic community centre.

Bendigo's Joss House, a historic temple, was built in the 1860s by Chinese miners and is the only surviving building of its kind in regional Victoria, which continues to be used as a place of worship.

The central city is skirted by Rosalind Park, a Victorian-style garden featuring statuary and a large blue stone viaduct.

The Charing Cross junction features the large and ornate Alexandra Fountain (1881) and is built on top of a wide bridge that spans the viaduct.

The gardens are home to many native species of animals, including brushtailed and ring-tailed possums, ducks, coots, purple swamp hens, microbats (small insect-eating bats), several species of lizards, owls, the tawny frogmouth, and though not native to the area,[44] a colony of endangered grey-headed flying foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus).

With over 80 artists from all over Australia, the not-for-profit festival is hosted in many of the venues around Bendigo, and is headlined by a large, family-friendly, free concert held in Rosalind Park.

The Festival of Light is a multicultural celebration of peace and harmony inspired by the Buddha's birthday held in May each year since 2013 at the Great Stupa.

[50] Musicians originally from Bendigo include Patrick Savage – film composer[51] and former principal first violin of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.

The Emu Valley Cricket Association organises matches for 13 clubs around the Bendigo district, from Marong in the north to Heathcote in the south.

[56] After the Victorian gold rush, the introduction of deep quartz mining in Bendigo caused the development of a heavy manufacturing industry.

Gold at Bendigo was found in quartz reef systems, hosted within highly deformed mudstones and sandstones or were washed away into channels of ancient rivers.

[65] The remaining section of highway nearest Bendigo has been upgraded to dual carriageway standard ensuring that motorists can travel up to speeds of 110 km/h (68 mph) for most of the journey.

The Bendigo Airport Strategic Plan was approved in 2010 for proposed infrastructure upgrades including runway extension and buildings to facilitate larger planes and the possibility of regular passenger services from major cities in other states.