Canberra is the capital of the Commonwealth of Australia and, with a population of just over 320,000, its largest inland city. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory, about 150 km inland, 300 km southwest of Sydney, and 650 km northeast of Melbourne. Canberra is unique among Australia's cities as a purpose-built, planned city. Its design was heavily influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation; for this reason, Canberra is known as the "bush capital". As Australia's seat of government, Canberra is the site of Parliament House, the High Court of Australia and numerous government departments; it is also the location of numerous social and cultural institutions of national significance. Most Australians pronounce the city's name in two syllables, (in IPA) as either /'kæn.bɹə/ or /'kæm.bɹə/. A minority pronounce it /'kæn.bə.ɹə/ and a few use /kæn.'be.ɹə/, although the last is generally considered incorrect.
| Canberra | |
| Coordinates | 35°18′S 149°08′E / 35.300°S 149.133°E |
| State or territory | Australian Capital Territory |
| Area | 805.6 km² |
| Time zone Summer (DST) |
+10 UTC +11 UTC |
| Population 2003 Density |
323,004 401.0 persons/km² |
| Government Governing body Chief Minister |
ACT LA Jon Stanhope |
History
Before European settlement, the area in which Canberra would eventually be constructed was inhabited by the Ngunnawal and Walgalu tribes. The Ngarigo lived south-east of the Canberra area, the Gundungurra to the north, the Yuin on the coast and the Wiradjuri to the west. Archaeological evidence from the Canberra region suggests human habitation of the area for at least 21,000 years. The word Canberra is said to be derived from the word 'Canberry', or 'meeting place' in the Ngunnawal language. The name was apparently used either in relation to the Molonglo River which, along with the Murrumbidgee River, flows through Canberra, or as reference to corroborees held during the seasonal migration of the Ngunawal people to feast on the Bogong Moths that pass through the region each spring.
European exploration and settlement started in the Canberra area as early as the 1820s. There were four expeditions between 1820 and 1824. White settlement of the area probably dates from 1824, when a homestead or station was built on what is now the Acton peninsula by stockmen employed by Joshua John Moore. He formally purchased the site in 1826, and named the property Canberry. The European population in the Canberra area continued to grow slowly throughout the 19th century. As the European presence increased, the indigenous population dwindled, mainly from disease such as smallpox and measles. By the 1870s, the indigenous population was largely absorbed into European culture through half-caste marriages.
The district's change from a New South Wales (NSW) rural area to the national capital started during debates over Federation in the late 19th century. Following a long dispute over whether Sydney or Melbourne should be the national capital, a compromise was reached: Melbourne would be the capital on a temporary basis while a new capital was built somewhere between Sydney and Melbourne. Canberra was chosen as the site in 1908, as a result of survey work done by the government surveyor Charles Scrivener. The NSW government ceded the Federal Capital Territory (as it was then known) to the federal government on 1 January 1910, which held an international competition in the following year for the design of the city. The design of Walter Burley Griffin was chosen and in 1913 Griffin was appointed Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction and construction began. On 12 March 1913, the city was officially given its name by Lady Denman, the wife of the then Governor-General Lord Denman at a ceremony at Kurrajong Hill, which has since become Capital Hill and the site of the present Parliament House. Canberra Day is a public holiday observed in the ACT during March to celebrate the founding of Canberra.
The federal government moved to Canberra on 9 May 1927, with the opening of the Provisional Parliament House. The Prime Minister, Stanley Bruce, had officially taken up residence in The Lodge a few days earlier. On January 27, 1972 the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established on the grounds of Parliament House where it exists to this day. In spite of its name, it is not a diplomatic mission, but rather exists to draw attention to indigenous rights and land issues. On May 9, 1988, a larger and permanent Parliament House was opened on Capital Hill as part of Australia's bicentenary celebrations, and the Federal Parliament moved there from the Provisional Parliament House, now known as Old Parliament House.
In December 1988, the ACT was granted full self-government through an Act of the Commonwealth Parliament that made the ACT a body politic under the crown. Following the first elections in February 1989, a 17-member Legislative Assembly sat at its offices in London Circuit, Civic, on May 11, 1989. The Australian Labor Party formed the ACT's first government, led by the Chief Minister Rosemary Follett, who made history as Australia's first female head of government.
On January 18, 2003, parts of Canberra were engulfed by a bushfire that destroyed 491 homes and killed four people. Some 200 homes were destroyed in the suburb of Duffy alone. The major research telescopes and workshop at the Australian National University's Mount Stromlo Observatory were destroyed in the fire.
Geography
Canberra is located near the Brindabella Ranges, approximately 150 km inland from Australia's east coast. It is located at altitudes that range from 550m to 700m above sea level. The highest point is Mt Ainslie which is one of several large hills that also include Mt Mugga Mugga, Mt Taylor and Black Mountain. The surrounding bushland and the original bushland that Canberra was built in is a mixture of eucalyptus savannah, scrubland, swamp and dry eucalyptus forests.
The Molonglo River flows through Canberra and has been dammed to form the body of water in the centre of the city called Lake Burley Griffin. The Molonglo then flows into the Murrumbidgee northwest of Canberra, which in turn flows along Canberra's south-western outskirts. The Queanbeyan River joins the Molonglo River at Oaks Estate just within the ACT. A number of creeks flow into the Molonglo and Murrumbidgee, such as Jerrabomberra and Yarralumla Creeks. Two of these creeks, the Ginninderra and Tuggeranong, have similarly been dammed to form Lakes Ginninderra and Tuggeranong. The area has had a history of sometimes lethal floods until recently; prior to its formation, the Lake Burley Griffin area was a flood plain. The Jerrabomberra Wetlands, a nature reserve, lie directly east of South Canberra.
Because of its elevation and distance from the coast, Canberra has four distinct seasons, unlike many other Australian cities whose climates are moderated by the sea. Canberra is notorious for hot, dry summers, and cold winters with heavy fog and frequent frosts. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, January is Canberra's hottest month, with a mean daily maximum temperature of 27.7 °C—the highest recorded maximum temperature was 42.2 °C on 1 February 1968.Template:Mn In about one winter in three, snow falls in the city; the mean daily maximum for July, the coldest month, is 11.2 °C and the mean daily minimum is −0.2 °C. Thunderstorms can occur between October and March, and annual rainfall is 629 mm, distributed throughout the year.
Governance
& Ethos statue (Tom Bass, 1961)
Outside the city of Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory has no settlements larger than a village. The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly performs the roles of both a city council and territory government. The Assembly consists of 17 members, elected from three districts using proportional representation. The three districts are Molongolo, Gininderra and Brindabella, which elect seven, five and five members, respectively. The Chief Minister is elected by the members of the Assembly and selects four MLAs to serve as Ministers to form an Executive, or cabinet. At the 2004 election the Australian Labor Party, headed by Chief Minister Jon Stanhope, won nine of the 17 seats and formed the ACT's first majority government. The Commonwealth Government retains some influence over the ACT government; the Commonwealth can overrule the laws of the territories, although this rarely happens, and its National Capital Authority is responsible for many aspects of the planning of Canberra's urban development and growth.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) provides all of the police services of a state police force under a contractual agreement with the Australian Capital Territory Government. People who have been charged with offences are tried either in the ACT Magistrate's Court or, depending on the severity of the offence, the ACT Supreme Court. Prisoners can be held in remand in the ACT. People who have been sentenced to imprisonment are sent to a NSW jail as there are no prisons in Canberra. Courts such as a Small Claims Tribunal and a Family Court exist for civil law actions and other non-criminal legal matters.
Economy
As of July 2005, there are 182,000 employed people in Canberra, and although labour shortages have been reported in some sectors, the unemployment rate is only 3.3%, well below the national unemployment rate of 5.0%.Template:Mn As a result of low unemployment and substantial levels of public sector and commercial employment, Canberra has the highest mean weekly disposable income of any Australian capital city.Template:Mn
The city's main industry is government administration and defence, which accounted for 26.1% of Gross State Product in 2003-04.Template:Mn The major public-sector employers in Canberra include the parliament, government departments such as Department of Defence, Finance, Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Treasury. A number of Australian Defence Force establishments are located in or near Canberra, most notably RAAF Fairbairn, which now services VIP flights almost exclusively. HMAS Harman is a naval communications centre located within Canberra that is being converted into a tri-service multi-user depot.
Property and business services, construction, health and community services, and education are other significant contributors to the economy of Canberra. A large amount of Australian and international visitors make tourism a significant contributor to the economy. The most popular seasons are spring and autumn; the annual Floriade spring flower display in September is a major attraction.
Demographics
The 2001 census showed that 1.2% of Canberra's population were of indigenous origin and 21.6% were born overseas. Template:Mn The largest group of people born overseas came from English-speaking countries, led by England and then New Zealand. Significant numbers of immigrants have also come from Germany, Scotland, Italy and Vietnam. Recent immigrants have arrived from countries in east and south Asia.Template:Mn Most Canberrans are native speakers of English; many have a second language, the most common being Chinese, Italian and Croatian.
Canberrans are relatively young, highly mobile, and well educated. The average age is 32 years, and only 8.3% of the population is aged over 65 years.Template:Mn Between 1996 and 2001, 61.9% of the population turned over, which is the second highest rate of any Australian capital city.Template:Mn As of May 2004, 30% of people in the ACT aged 15–64 had a level of educational attainment equal to at least an bachelor's degree, significantly higher that the national average of 19%. Template:Mn
Transport
The car is the dominant form of transport in Canberra, partly because of the low population density and large area of the city, and partly because of the high income levels of its residents. A publicly run bus service—ACTION, the Australian Capital Territory Internal Omnibus Network—provides comprehensive public transport throughout the city; a well-designed network of cycle ways has been established as another alternative to the car. However, only 4.6% of the population use the bus system and 5.5% walk or cycle to work.Template:Mn There is no urban rail network in the ACT.
A private bus service operates between Canberra and Queanbeyan, a nearby town in New South Wales. An interstate CountryLink railway service connects Canberra to Melbourne. Canberra's railway station is in the inner south suburb of Kingston. There is a rail service between Sydney and Yass, about one hour's drive from Canberra. Plans to establish a very fast train service between Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney have been contemplated, but not implemented, mainly because the large distances, modest populations, and cultural/political preference for road transport make the investment difficult to justify.
Canberra is about three hours by road from Sydney on the Federal Highway, which connects with the Hume Highway (National Highway 23) near Goulburn, and seven hours by road from Melbourne on the Barton Highway (National Highway 25), which joins the Hume Highway at Yass. It is a two hour drive on the Monaro Highway (National Highway 23) to the ski fields of the Snowy Mountains and the Kosciuszko National Park. Batemans Bay, a popular holiday spot on the New South Wales coast, is reached via the Kings Highway.
Canberra International Airport provides direct domestic services to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, with connections to other domestic centres. There are direct daily flights to Albury and Newcastle in New South Wales. Regular international flights have been considered, but to date only chartered international flights have connected Canberra directly with overseas destinations. The civilian airport shares runways with RAAF Base Fairbairn, which regularly receives international dignitaries and handles VIP flights such as those carrying federal ministers.
Suburbs
Canberra is a planned city that was originally designed by Walter Burley Griffin, a major American architect of the 20th century. The city centre is laid out on two perpendicular axes: a water axis stretching along Lake Burley Griffin, and a ceremonial land axis stretching from Parliament House on Capital Hill north-eastward to the Australian War Memorial at the foot of Mt Ainslie. The area known as the Parliamentary Triangle is formed by three of Burley Griffin's axes, stretching from Capital Hill along Commonwealth Avenue to the Civic Centre around City Hill, along Constitution Avenue to the Defence precinct on Russell Hill, and along Kings Avenue back to Capital Hill.
The urban areas of Canberra are divided into seven districts. In chronological order of development, they are:
- North Canberra, mostly settled in the 1920s and 30s, with expansion up to the 1960s (now 15 suburbs)
- South Canberra, settled from the 1920s to 60s, 13 suburbs
- Woden, settled in 1963, 13 suburbs
- Belconnen, first settled in 1967, 25 suburbs
- Weston Creek, settled in 1969, 8 suburbs
- Tuggeranong, settled in 1974, 19 suburbs
- Gungahlin, settled in the early 1990s, 5 suburbs
Oaks Estate is a small suburb located near the ACT/NSW border; it is not part of any of the districts and has close ties with the neighbouring NSW town of Queanbeyan. The North and South Canberra districts are based on Walter Burley Griffin's designs. The others are based on land contour design, each with a central shopping area known as the town centre. The districts are typically separated from each other by natural parklands—some 30 Canberra Nature Parks in all. Although the urban development of Canberra after World War II did not follow Burley Griffin's plan, strict urban planning rules still govern the development in the city.
Many of Canberra's suburbs are named after famous Australians, early settlers, or use Aboriginal words for their title. Street names typically follow a particular theme; for example, the streets of Duffy are named after Australian dams and weirs, the streets of Page are named after biologists and naturalists, and the streets of Gowrie are named after Australian recipients of the Victoria Cross. Most foreign embassies and high commissions are located in the suburbs of Yarralumla, Deakin and O'Malley. Three suburbs are considered to be industrial districts: Fyshwick, Mitchell and Hume.
Culture and entertainment
Canberra is home to many national monuments and institutions such as the Australian War Memorial, the National Gallery of Australia, the National Portrait Gallery currently housed at Old Parliament House, the National Library of Australia, the National Archives of Australia and the National Museum of Australia. Many Commonwealth government buildings in Canberra are open to the public, including Parliament House, the High Court and the Royal Australian Mint. Lake Burley Griffin is the site of the Captain Cook Memorial and the National Carillon. Other sites of interest include the Telstra Tower and the Australian National Botanic Gardens on Black Mountain, the National Zoo and Aquarium on Scrivener Dam, and Questacon, the National Science and Technology Centre.
The Canberra Museum and Gallery in Parkes is a repository of local history and art. Several historic homes are open to the public: Lanyon and Tuggeranong Homesteads in the Tuggeranong Valley, Mugga-Mugga in Symonston, and Blundells' Cottage in Parkes all display the lifestyle of the early European settlers. Calthorpes' House in Red Hill is a well preserved example of a 1920s house from Canberra's very early days. Duntroon House, in the suburb of Campbell, was one of the district's earliest homesteads and is now the officers' mess at Royal Military College; it is occasionally open to the public.
Canberra has many venues for live entertainment including the Street Theatre and Llewellyn Hall. Most town centres have facilites for a community theatre and a cinema, and they all have and a library. Popular cultural events include the National Folk Festival, the Royal Canberra Show, the Summernats car festival amd the Celebrate Canberra festival which is held over 10 days in March in conjunction with Canberra Day.
Media
As Australia's political centre, Canberra is an important centre for much of Australia's political reportage and thus all the major media organisations, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the commercial television networks, and the metropolitan newspapers maintain local bureaus. Many news organisations are represented in the "press gallery", a group of journalists who report on the national parliament. The National Press Club in Barton has regular television broadcasts of its weekly lunches at which a prominent guest, typically a politician, delivers a half-hour speech followed by a question-and-answer session.
Canberra has a daily newspaper, the Canberra Times which was established in 1926. There are also a number of free weekly suburban and special interest publications. Canberra has five free-to-air television stations including two government funded (ABC and SBS) and three commercial stations (Prime, WIN and Southern Cross Ten). Subscription (pay) television services are available from Foxtel via satellite service, and cable by local telecommunications company TransACT who also offer telephone and broadband internet services on their fibre-optic cable network covering many suburbs.
There are a number of community radio stations broadcasting in Canberra, including Radio 2XX FM, which offers a multicultural radio broadcast featuring weekly programmes in twenty languages as well as community service and specialty music programmes. There are a number of other commercial AM and FM radio stations including Austereo Radio Network, ABC networks and Radio 1RPH which offers broadcasts for the print handicapped.
Education
The two main tertiary institutions are the Australian National University in Acton and the University of Canberra in Bruce. Both these universities also have campuses interstate and overseas. There are also two religious university campuses in Canberra: Signadou in the North Canberra suburb of Watson is a campus of the Australian Catholic University; St Mark's Theological College adjacent to the Parliament House is a campus of Charles Sturt University.
The Australian Defence Force Academy (or ADFA) and the Royal Military College, Duntroon (or RMC) is near the suburb of Campbell in Canberra's inner northeast. ADFA teaches military undergraduates and postgraduates and is officially a campus of the University of New South Wales; Duntroon provides Australian Army Officer training. Tertiary level vocational education is also available through the multi-campus Canberra Institute of Technology.
There are numerous public and non-governmental schools in Canberra. Most suburbs are planned to include a primary school and schools are usually located near open areas for play and sports. Primary school consists of seven grades: kindergarten and years 1 to 6. From years 7 to 10 children attend high school and in years 11 to 12 attend a college.
Sports
In addition to local sporting leagues, Canberra has a number of sporting teams that compete in national leagues. The best known teams are the Canberra Raiders and the ACT Brumbies who play rugby league and rugby union respectively and who have both been champions of their leagues. Both teams play their home games at Canberra Stadium, which is Canberra's largest stadium and was used to hold preliminary soccer matches for the 2000 Summer Olympics and matches for the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup. Manuka Oval is another large outdoor sporting facility where cricket and Australian Rules football are played. The Melbourne based AFL team the Kangaroos plays some home games at Manuka Oval and the historic "Prime Minister's XI" cricket match is played there annually. Other significant annual sporting events include the Canberra Marathon, the City of Canberra Half Ironman Triathlon and the Canberra Women's Tennis Classic held in the lead up to the Australian Open.
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is located in the Canberra suburb of Bruce, the AIS is a specialised educational and training institution providing coaching for elite junior and senior athletes in a number of sports. The AIS has been operating since 1981 and has achieved significant success in producing elite athletes. The AIS is also a popular tourist destination.
Canberra has numerous sporting ovals, golf courses, skate parks, tennis courts and swimming pools that are open to the public. A Canberra-wide series of bicycle paths are available to cyclists for recreational and sporting purposes. Canberra Nature Parks have a large range of walking paths, horse and mountain bike trails. Water sports like sailing, rowing and water skiing are popular activities on Canberra's lakes. The Rally of Canberra is an annual motor sport event and a facility for drag racing is currently being planned.
See also
Notes
Template:MnbAustralian Bureau of Meterology. 2005. Climate of Canberra Area
Template:MnbACT Department of Treasury. 2004. Economics Branch Publication, Labour Force — July 2005
Template:MnbAustralian Bureau of Statistics. 2000. Income and Expenditure - Income Distribution: Interstate income inequality
Template:MnbACT Department of Treasury. 2004. Economics Branch Publication, Gross State Product 2003–04
Template:MnbAustralian Bureau of Statistics. 2002. Canberra - Basic Community Profile and Snapshot - 2001 Census
Template:MnbAustralian Capital Territory Government. 2003. A social and demographic profile of
multicultural Canberra, Chapter 2 Multicultural Population
Template:MnbAustralian Bureau of Statistics. 2003. Australian Demographic Statistics, Population Mobility
Template:MnbAustralian Bureau of Statistics. 2005. Education in the ACT
External links
