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Car Rental Locations Canberra
Places of interest to visit in Canberra
- Port Arthur
- Coles Bay
- Cradle Mountain
- Mt. Wellington
- Strahan
- Richmond
- Tahune Forest
- Lake St. Clair
- Lake Pedder
- Swansea
- St. Helens
- Bicheno
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Canberra (pronounced /'kæn.b??/[1])
is the capital city of Australia and with
a population of just over 325,000, is Australia's
largest inland city. The city is located at
the northern end of the Australian Capital
Territory, 300 kilometres (190 mi) southwest
of Sydney, and 650 kilometres (400 mi) north-east
of Melbourne. The site of Canberra was selected
for the location of the nation's capital in
1908 as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne,
the two largest cities. It is unusual among
Australian cities as an entirely purpose-built,
planned city. Following an international contest
for the city's design, a design by Chicago
architect Walter Burley Griffin was selected
and construction commenced in 1913. The city's
design was heavily influenced by the garden
city movement and incorporates significant
areas of natural vegetation that have earned
Canberra the title "bush capital".
Although the growth and development of Canberra
was hindered by the World Wars and the Great
Depression, it emerged as a thriving city
after World War II.
As the seat of the government of Australia,
Canberra is the site of Parliament House,
the High Court of Australia and numerous government
departments and agencies. It is also the location
of several social and cultural institutions
of national significance. The federal government
contributes the largest percentage of Gross
State Product and is the largest employer
in Canberra. Canberra is also a popular destination
for domestic and international tourists
Before European settlement, the area in which
Canberra would eventually be constructed was
seasonally 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 name of the local Ngabri people,
one of the Ngunnawal family groups, or alternatively
from the word Kambera meaning "meeting
place" in the Ngunnawal language. The
Ngunnawal name was apparently used as a 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.
Foremost among them was the Campbell family
of "Duntroon"; their imposing stone
house is now the officers' mess of the Royal
Military College, Duntroon. The Campbells
sponsored settlement by other Scottish farmer
families to work their land, such as the Southwells
of "Weetangera". As the European
presence increased, the indigenous population
dwindled, mainly from disease such as smallpox
and measles.
Opening of Parliament House in May 1927The
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:
the new capital would be built in New South
Wales, so long as it was no closer than 100
miles to Sydney, with Melbourne to be the
temporary capital while the new capital was
built. 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.
In an international design competition conducted
by the Department of Home Affairs, on 1 January
1910, the design of Walter Burley Griffin
was chosen for the city, 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 city and the surrounding
Australian Capital Territory (ACT) on the
third Monday in March to celebrate the founding
of Canberra.
Two of Canberra's best-known landmarks, Parliament
House and Old Parliament House (foreground).
Commonwealth Place runs alongside the lake
and includes the International Flag DisplayThe
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. Planned development
of the city slowed significantly during the
depression of the 1930s and during World War
II. Some projects planned for that time, for
example, Roman Catholic and Anglican cathedrals,
were never completed. The development of Canberra
gained pace after the Second World War, and
it has grown beyond the original planners’
expectations since then. Several Government
departments, together with public servants,
were moved to Canberra from Melbourne following
the war. Government housing projects were
undertaken to accommodate the city's growing
population. Parts of Canberra's north and
south were further developed in the 1950s,
and urban development in the districts of
Woden Valley and Belconnen commenced in the
mid and late 1960s, respectively. Lake Burley
Griffin was completed in 1963.
On 27 January 1972 the Aboriginal Tent Embassy
was first established on the grounds of Parliament
House; it was created to draw attention to
indigenous rights and land issues and has
been continuously occupied since 1992. On
9 May 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. Following
the first elections in February 1989, a 17-member
Legislative Assembly sat at its offices in
London Circuit, Civic, on 11 May 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 18 January 2003, parts of Canberra were
engulfed by a bushfire that killed four people
and destroyed 491 homes and the major research
telescopes and workshop at the Australian
National University's Mount Stromlo Observatory.
Canberra covers an area of 805.6 square kilometres
(311.0 sq. mi) and is located near the Brindabella
Ranges, approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi)
inland from Australia's east coast. It is
located at altitudes that range from 550 metres
to 700 metres (1,800 to 2,300 ft) AHD. The
highest point is Mount Majura at 888 metres
(2,913 ft). Other large hills include Mt Taylor,
Mt Ainslie, Mt Mugga Mugga and Black Mountain.
The surrounding bushland and the original
bushland that Canberra was built in is a mixture
of eucalyptus savanna, open grassland, 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 north-west of Canberra, which
in turn flows north-west toward the New South
Wales town of Yass. The Queanbeyan River joins
the Molonglo River at Oaks Estate just within
the ACT. A number of creeks, including Jerrabomberra
and Yarralumla Creeks, flow into the Molonglo
and Murrumbidgee. Two of these creeks, the
Ginninderra and Tuggeranong, have similarly
been dammed to form Lakes Ginninderra and
Tuggeranong. Until recently the Molonglo had
a history of sometimes lethal floods; the
area was a flood plain prior to the filling
of Lake Burley Griffin.
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