Canberra

About Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. Canberra has a population of about 358,000. Canberra was founded when Sydney and Melbourne, the two largest cities of Australia, wanted to be the capital. Canberra was said to be built between them to settle the two cities. Canberra is the largest city. Canberra also has the highest income rate in Australia. Beyond Canberra, the other settlements in the ACT are no bigger than villages.

Etymology

The word ‘Canberra’ comes from the aboriginal word ‘kanbera’ which means meeting place.

Geography

Canberra covers an area of 814.2 kilometres squared. The native forest was nearly wholly eucalyptus trees.

Economy

In May 2012, the unemployment rate of Canberra was 3.4% which is lower than the national 5.1%. Due to this, Canberra has a gross average weekly wage of $1,554.50 while the national average is $1,345.20.

Demographics

Of the population of 323,056 people, the 2006 census showed that 1.2% of Canberra's population was of indigenous origin and 21.7% were born overseas.

Arts 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, the National Library, the National Archives, the Australian Academy of Science, the National Film and Sound Archive and the National Museum. Many Commonwealth government buildings in Canberra are open to the public, including Parliament House, the High Court and the Royal Australian Mint.