Bondi Beach is located 7 kilometres (4 miles) east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Eastern Suburbs.

[2][3] The name "Bondi" is derived from the Dharawal language, spoken by the Aboriginal clans who lived further from Sydney Harbour southwards to Shoalhaven.

[11] Bondi Beach was a working-class suburb throughout most of the twentieth century with migrant people from New Zealand comprising the majority of the local population.

Following World War II, Bondi Beach, and the Eastern Suburbs became home to Jewish migrants from Poland, Russia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Germany.

The multicultural migration funded and drove the growth of the suburb throughout the 1990s into the turn of the century,[12][better source needed] moving it steadily from its working-class roots towards an upper/middle-class enclave[13] similar to its neighbours of Rose Bay and Bellevue Hill which was listed as the most expensive postcode in the country from 2003 to 2005.

The beach was a focal point of the 1907 Sydney bathing costume protests, organised to oppose proposed dress standards for beachgoers.

52 (1935)[16][better source needed] governed the decency of swimming costumes and was in force between 1935 and 1961, and resulted in public controversy as the two-piece "bikini" became popular after World War II.

While vacationing in Australia in 1951, American movie actress Jean Parker made international headlines when she was escorted off the beach after Laidlaw determined her bikini was too skimpy.

[17] The rule became increasingly anachronistic during the 1950s and was replaced in 1961 with one requiring bathers be "clad in a proper and adequate bathing costume", allowing for more subjective judgment of decency.

In March 2007, Waverley Council started proceedings to evict a hermit who was living in squalor on a cliff overlooking the beach.

Peter James Paul Millhouse, calling himself Jhyimy "Two Hats" Mhiyles, came to the beach during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and became a local celebrity for his lifestyle and poetry recitals to visitors.

[29] In 2007, the Guinness World Record for the largest swimsuit photo shoot was set at Bondi Beach, with 1,010 women wearing bikinis taking part.

[31][better source needed] In 2012 the Mayor of Waverley Sally Betts said that for the 2 million visitors annually, Wi-Fi offers access to local events and business information.

[32][better source needed] Bondi Beach is represented in one of the most popular sporting competitions across Australia, the National Rugby League competition, by the local team the Sydney Roosters, officially the Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club (ESDRLFC).

Bondi Beach is the end point of the City to Surf Fun Run which is held each year in August.

The race attracts over 63,000 entrants who complete the 14 km (9 mi) run from the Sydney central business district to Bondi Beach.

Other annual activities at Bondi Beach include Flickerfest, Australia's premier international short film festival in January, World Environment Day[33] in June, Sculpture by the Sea in November, and the Winter Magic Festival that attracted 60,000 visitors in 2016.

They formed the Bondi Icebergs Winter Swimming Club drew up a constitution and elected office bearers.

[41][42] Pacific Bondi Beach is a shopping centre that features Woolworths Metro, QT Hotel and 22 stores.

It combines Italianate, Federation and Free Classical elements and has been described as an "important landmark building in the Bondi Beach townscape."

The beach has long captured the attention of poets including Les Murray, Joanne Burns and Brook Emery.