Menai is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 29 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire. History Menai is named after Menai Bridge, a town on the Menai Strait in Wales. The area now known as Menai was originally called Bangor in 1895 by the land's owner, a farmer named Owen Jones, after his birthplace Bangor in Wales. To avoid confusion with Bangor in Tasmania, the Postmaster General's Office changed the suburb name to Menai in 1910. Menai Bridge in Wales lies opposite Bangor on the Menai Strait. When Menai expanded, the eastern section became Bangor again. The suburb has been affected by bushfires on several occasions, including the 1994 Eastern seaboard fires and 2017–18 Australian bushfire season. Population According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 10,304 people in Menai. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.5% of the population. 77.4% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 2.6%, China 1.3%, South Africa 1.2% and New Zealand 1.1%. 80.3% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Greek 2.1%, Arabic 1.8%, Mandarin 1.5%, Bulgarian 1.5% and Cantonese 1.2%. The most common responses for religion were Catholic 32.1%, Anglican 19.1%, No Religion 19.0% and Eastern Orthodox 6.1%. Commercial area Menai contains three bustling shopping centre around Menai Road with many retail stores and fine restaurants: Menai Marketplace, Menai Metro and Menai Central. Menai Marketplace is located beside the Menai Community Buildings and features a Woolworths supermarket, Big W discount department store and many specialty shops including a Bakers Delight and formally Michel's Patisserie. Menai Library is located near the Menai Marketplace. Menai Metro consists of professional suites and restaurants and is located in Allison Crescent, Menai. Menai Metro comprises the dining out, restaurant, precinct in the area. Menai Central is located in Carter Rd, Menai and comprises larger bulky goods stores including supermarkets, liquor, pets, and homewares. Transport Transdev NSW operates four bus routes. 961 Sutherland to Barden Ridge 962 Miranda to 963 to Padstow M92 Sutherland to Parramatta Many people use drive-park-ride mode of transport to work. There are three well serviced train stations with parking facilities within 8–15 minutes driving (Padstow: 8.5 km, Jannali: 7.4 km, Sutherland: 7.2 km). Housing Menai is a newer suburb,