   cooma is a town in the south of new south wales, australia. it is located  south of the national capital, canberra, via the monaro highway. it is also on the snowy mountains highway, connecting bega with the riverina. the town has a population of 6,301. cooma is the main town of the monaro region. it is  above sea level. the name could have derived from an aboriginal word coombah, meaning 'big lake' or 'open country'. ==history== cooma was explored by captain j. m. currie in 1823. it was first surveyed in 1840 and it was proclaimed a municipality in 1879. the railway from sydney was extended from royalla to cooma in 1889 under the supervision of john whitton. the line was closed to rail passenger traffic in 1986. 
Snowy_Mountains_Highway Snowy_Mountains_Scheme Towns_in_New_South_Wales