   wangaratta () is a cathedral city of over  people in the northeast of victoria, australia, approximately  from melbourne along the hume highway. the city of benalla in located  to the southwest, and albury-wodonga in located  to the northeast of wangaratta. the city is located at the junction of the ovens and king rivers, which drain the northwestern slopes of the victorian alps. wangaratta is the administrative centre and most populous city in the rural city of wangaratta local government area. colloquially, wangaratta is called wang. ==nomenclature== historically, there was disagreement about whether the first syllable should be pronounced "wong" or "wang". the "wong" pronunciation was never used by a majority of the population, and never received any wide currency outside the district. it was officially disavowed by the wangaratta city council's declaration in favour of the "wang" pronunciation in the 1980s. some locals, particularly the elderly, continue to use the "wong" pronunciation. ==history== the original inhabitants of the area were the pangerang aborigines (pallanganmiddang, waywurru, waveroohttp://www.abc.net.au/indigenous/map/), who spoke a gunai language. many of the pangerang were killed in the gippsland massacres. the first european explorers to pass through the wangaratta area were hume and
Cities_in_Victoria_(Australia) Wangaratta