Melbourne (pronounced /ˈmɛlbən/,^[3] locally [ˈmælbən] Australian English is a non-rhotic variety of English spoken by most native-born Australians. Phonologically, it is one of the most regionally homogeneous language varieties in the world. As with most dialects of English, it is distinguished primarily by its vowel phonology^[4]) is the capital There are eight capital cities in Australia, all of which function at a sub-national level. Canberra also serves as the national capital. Melbourne was the national capital from the Federation of Australia in 1901 until 1927, when the seat of national government was moved to the newly created city of Canberra and largest city of the State of Victoria After the founding of the colony of New South Wales in 1788, the continent was divided into an eastern half named New South Wales, and a western half named New Holland, under the administration of the colonial government in Sydney. The first European settlement in Victoria which was established in October 1803 under Lieutenant-Governor David, and the second most populous city Statistical Divisions are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as areas under the unifying influence of one or more major towns or cities. Each capital city forms its own Statistical Division, and in Australia the population of the SD is the most-often quoted figure for that city's population. Statistical Districts are defined as non- in Australia. The Melbourne city centre Melbourne also known as the Melbourne city centre (referred to as The City or The CBD or more recently in planning parlance, The CAD, or Central Activities District) is a locality surrounded by metropolitan Melbourne which comprises the original settlement, the central business district, parkland and other built-up areas. It is the oldest part of is the anchor of the larger geographic region and statistical division The Australian census is administered by the Australian Bureau of Statistics every five years. The most recent census was conducted on 8 August 2006. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they have also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933, 1947, and 1954. It is compulsory for all households to fill in all questions, except those known as the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area A metropolitan area is a large population center consisting of a large metropolis and its adjacent zone of influence, or of more than one closely adjoining neighboring central cities and their zone of influence. One or more large cities may serve as its hub or hubs, and the metropolitan area is normally named after either the largest or most^[5]—of which Melbourne is the common name. In 2008, it had a population of approximately 3.9 million.^[6]

Melbourne was named after the 2nd Viscount Melbourne, William Lamb William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, PC, FRS was a British Whig statesman who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841), and was a mentor of Queen Victoria. The city of Melbourne in Australia was named after him in 1837;^[7] the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom and the Head of Her Majesty's Government. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party, and ultimately to the electorate during the reigns of both King William IV William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death on 20 June 1837. William, the third son of George III and younger brother and successor to George IV, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the House of Hanover and Queen Victoria Victoria was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death. Her reign as the Queen lasted 63 years and 7 months, longer than that of any other British monarch before or since, and her reign is the longest of any female monarch in. It is located on the lower reaches of the Yarra River The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches. From its source in the Yarra Ranges, it flows 242 km west through the Yarra Valley which and on the northern and eastern shorelines of Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly Port Phillip Bay or just The Bay) is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia. Geographically, the bay covers 1,930 square kilometres (480,000 acres) and the shore stretches roughly 264 km (164 mi). Although it is extremely shallow for its size, most of the bay is navigable. The deepest portion is only 24 metres (79, extending into their hinterland The hinterland is the land or district behind the borders of a coast or river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast. The area from which products are delivered to a port for shipping elsewhere is that port's hinterland. Contrast.

It was established in 1835 (47 years after the first European settlement of Australia), by free settlers A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. Settlers are generally people who take up residence on land and cultivate it, as opposed to nomads. Settlers are sometimes termed "colonists" or "colonials" and -- in the United States -- "pioneers" from Van Diemen’s Land,^[7] as a pastoral Pastoral, as an adjective, refers to the lifestyle of shepherds and pastoralists, moving livestock around larger areas of land according to seasons and availability of water and food. "Pastoral" also describes literature, art and music which depicts the life of shepherds, often in a highly idealised manner. It may also be used as a noun township A township is a settlement which has the status and powers of a unit of local government. Specific use of the term to describe political subdivisions has varied by country around the estuary An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries are thus subject to both marine influences, such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of fresh water and sediment. As a result they may of the Yarra River. Melbourne was declared a city by Queen Victoria Victoria was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death. Her reign as the Queen lasted 63 years and 7 months, longer than that of any other British monarch before or since, and her reign is the longest of any female monarch in in 1847,^[8] and became the capital of Victoria After the founding of the colony of New South Wales in 1788, the continent was divided into an eastern half named New South Wales, and a western half named New Holland, under the administration of the colonial government in Sydney. The first European settlement in Victoria which was established in October 1803 under Lieutenant-Governor David when the district was declared a separate colony In politics and in history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception. The metropolitan state is the state that owns from New South Wales New South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia. It was founded in 1788 and originally comprised much of the Australian mainland, as well as Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island in 1851.

When gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (Latin: aurum) and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is dense, soft, shiny and the most malleable was discovered in the district during the 1850s (which sparked the Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled) Melbourne was transformed into a wealthy metropolis A metropolis is a big city, in most cases with over half a million inhabitants in the city proper, and with a population of at least one million living in its urban agglomeration. Big cities belonging to a larger urban agglomeration, but which are not the core of that agglomeration, are not generally considered a metropolis but a part of it. A, and one of the largest and richest cities in the world, by the 1880s.^[9][10]

Upon the Federation of Australia The federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed a federation. When the Constitution of Australia came into force, on 1 January 1901, the colonies collectively became states of the Commonwealth of in 1901, Melbourne served as the seat of government of the newly founded Commonwealth of Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the mainland, which is both the world's smallest continent and the world's largest island, the island of Tasmania, and numerous other islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.N4 Australia is the only place that is simultaneously considered a until 1927 while the new nation's capital A capital is the area of a country, province, region, or state, regarded as enjoying primary status; although there are exceptions, a capital is almost always a city which physically encompasses the offices and meeting places of the seat of government and fixed by law. Alternate terms include capital city and political capital; the latter phrase of Canberra Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth largest Australian city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory, 280 km (170 mi) south-west of Sydney, and 660 km (410 mi) north-east of Melbourne. The site of Canberra was was being built.

Melbourne is a centre for arts The arts is a broad subdivision of culture, composed of many expressive disciplines. It is a broader term than "art", which as a description of a field usually means only the visual arts . Art is a simulation of feelings, expressions, and ideas, which is used as a tool to provoke, inspire, and create those feelings, expresions, and ideas, commerce Commerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities. Commerce functions as the central mechanism which drives capitalism and certain other, education Education in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another, industry An industry is the manufacturing of a good or service within a category. Although industry is a broad term for any kind of economic production, in economics and urban planning industry is a synonym for the secondary sector, which is a type of economic activity involved in the manufacturing of raw materials into goods and products, sports Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome , but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports (a common name for some card games and and tourism Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity. Since 2002, it has been consistently ranked among the World's Most Livable Cities The World's Most Livable Cities is an informal name given to any list of cities as they rank on a reputable annual survey of living conditions. Two examples are the Mercer Quality of Living Survey and The Economist's World's Most Livable Cities by The Economist It is a research and advisory company providing country, industry and management analysis worldwide and incorporates the former Business International Corporation, a U.S. company acquired by the parent organization in 1986. It is particularly well known for its country profiles, monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts,.^[11] In 2008, it was also recognised as a beta world city+ A global city is a city deemed to be an important node point in the global economic system. The concept comes from geography and urban studies and rests on the idea that globalization can be understood as largely created, facilitated and enacted in strategic geographic locales according to a hierarchy of importance to the operation of the global in the World Cities Study’s inventory by Loughborough University Loughborough University is a campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England.^[12]

The city is notable for its distinct blend of Victorian The term Victorian architecture can refer to one of a number of architectural styles predominantly employed during the Victorian era. As with the latter, the period of building that it covers may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria after whom it is named and contemporary architecture The term contemporary architecture is also applied to a range of styles of recently built structures and spaces which are optimized for current use,^[13] expansive parks and gardens and multicultural society Multiculturalism refers to the acceptance of multiple ethnic cultures, for practical reasons and/or for the sake of diversity and applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g. schools, businesses, neighborhoods, cities or nations. In this context, multiculturalists advocate extending equitable.^[14] It is also home to the World’s largest tram network Trams in Melbourne, Australia, are a major form of public transport and Melbourne is home to the largest tram network in the world, . Melbourne's network consists of 245 km (152.2 mi) of track, 500 trams, 28 routes, and 1,813 tram stops.^[15] It is recognised as Australia's 'cultural and sporting capital' and is home to some of the nation’s most significant cultural and sporting institutions.^[16] In 2007, it was also ranked in the top five university cities in the Global University Cities Index by RMIT The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology is a reputed Australian public university and provider of vocational education, located in Melbourne, Victoria. It has two central branches: RMIT University (encompassing RMIT TAFE) and RMIT International University,^[17] and was classified as a City of Literature by UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945. Its stated purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through education, science, and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of in 2008.^[18]

Melbourne has also played host to a number of significant international and national events, including: the Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress. According to Section 1 of the Constitution of Australia, Parliament consists of's first sitting in 1901, 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations. Instead, those events were held five months earlier in Stockholm,, Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, abbreviated to CHOGM, is a biennial summit meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations. Every two years the meeting is held in a different member state, and is chaired by that nation's respective Prime Minister or President, who becomes the Commonwealth Chairperson-in-Office in 1981, World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum is a Geneva-based non-profit foundation best known for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland which brings together top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world including health and the environment. The Forum also in 2000, 2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held and G20 Summit in the same year.^[19][20]

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