Barassi Lineとは 意味・読み方・使い方

The Barassi Line was first suggested by Professor Ian Turner in his 1978 Ron Barassi Memorial Lecture to refer to a dividing line in Australia that divides areas where Australian rules is the dominant winter code of football from those where rugby football codes are most popular. The line runs from the Northern Territory-Queensland border, south through Birdsville, Queensland, through southern New South Wales north of the Riverina, bisecting Canberra and on to the Pacific Ocean at Cape Howe on the border of New South Wales and Victoria. Despite Australia's relatively homogeneous culture, the dichotomy existing in the country's sporting culture as represented by the line has endured since the founding of Australian Rules in the 1850s. Australian rules football is the most popular football code played to the west and south of the line, with centres in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, while the rugby football varieties, rugby league and rugby union are the most popular codes on the other side, with centres in Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane. Coincidentally, each side represents roughly half of the Australian population, due to the concentration of population on the east coast.