Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne is the capital city of the State of Victoria. It covers an area of 6109 square kilometres.

The city is built along the Yarra River where it enters Port Phillip Bay. In the language of the Wurundjeri people, the river is called Birrarung. However the name Yarra was a mispronunciation by early settlers of another Wurundjeri name in the Boonwurrung language, Yarro-yarro, meaning ‘ever-flowing’.

The city is built on the banks of the Yarra River. © Getty Images

A capital city is where the government is, and Victoria’s Parliament House is a magnificent building that was first opened in 1856, built with the proceeds of the hugely successful Victorian gold rush.

Melbourne has often been voted the World’s Most Liveable City.

Find Melbourne on this map. Corbus images

The grand front of Victoria’s Parliament House in Melbourne. ©Getty Images

The first people who lived in this place

The first people to live in the area were the Wurundjeri People, Aboriginal people of the Woiwurung language group. They occupied the Birrarung (their name for the Yarra River) Valley before British colonisation of the area. They had occupied the land for about sixty thousand years before European settlers arrived.

The first European settlers were led by John Batman who signed a treaty with the Woiworung People in 1835. Batman paid them with clothing, blankets and food and thought he was buying the land. The Aboriginal people though, believed they were giving him permission to pass through their land, which was good manners among Aboriginal peoples. Conflict between the Aboriginal people and the settlers broke out and the Aboriginal people were soon moved off their own land.

The city was officially named in 1837, after Lord Melbourne who was the British Prime Minister at the time. Before this the city was sometimes called Bearbrass or Batmania!

City skyline across the Yarra River. © iSock

Melbourne: A short timeline of European settlement and development 1835 - 1906

1835

John Batman signed a treaty with the Woiworung to 'buy' their land. A settlement began at Port Phillip.

1837

Port Phillip officially named Melbourne. The first city land is sold. Robert Hoddle, who planned the layout of the streets, was the auctioneer.

1840

The first horse race meeting was held at Flemington, where races are still held today.

1842

The first town council election.

1845

The first wooden bridge was built across the Yarra. People had to pay to cross it!

1847

Melbourne is an official city.

1851

Gold is discovered in Ballarat and thousands of people left the city for the goldfields.

1854

The first steam train to operate in Australia ran between Flinders Street Station and Sandridge (now called Port Melbourne).

First electric telegraph line in Australia opened between Melbourne and Williamstown.

1857

Melbourne has gas street lights

1858

The first game of Australian Rules football played.

1861

First Melbourne Cup horse race was run. The winning horse was 'Archer'.

1870

Melbourne Town Hall opened.

First Australian Rules premiership match played between Melbourne and Carlton.

1871

First Melbourne Royal Show

1878

First tennis match played in Australia at Melbourne Cricket Club

1880

First Australian exhibition 'expo' held in Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton

1888

Princes Bridge opened.

1898

First steam driven motor car to be built in Australia by Herbert Thomson

1901

First Australian Parliament opened by the Duke of York at the Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton

1906

First electric tram ran from Brighton to St Kilda

1956

First television station HSV-7

1982

The City Loop railway subway is opened

2000

New Melbourne Museum officially opened.

The Yarra River in downtown Melbourne, with some of its bridges.© Getty Images

The modern city is run by a city council, elected by the people of the city. A Lord Mayor leads the city council.

Melbourne is famous for its eating places and variety of food styles. ©Getty Images

Melbourne is famous for its restaurants and cafes. There are fine dining restaurants, smaller restaurants, very small restaurants and fast food outlets. There are restaurants in interesting old buildings converted from their original purpose to create a restaurant, there are restaurants on boats and on piers. You can find food of every nation in Melbourne.

Melburnians, as Melbourne people are called, are also famous for their love of good coffee!

The weather in Melbourne is temperate, which means that it is rarely very hot or very cold. During the summer the average temperature is about 26C and the city is kept cool by breezes from Port Phillip Bay. However, north winds sometimes push the temperature into the high 30C for several days in a row. In winter the average temperature is about 14C and rarely falls below 10C. However southerly winds add a chill factor to the cold of winter.

Melbourne is the business centre for Victoria and is a modern city that also has magnificent historical buildings.

Part of the Royal Botanic Gardens. ©Getty

It is famous in Australia for its thousands of hectares of parks and gardens which surround the city to the north and east. The 38 hectare Royal Botanic Gardens in the heart of the city was opened in 1846.

Every day thousands of people travel to downtown Melbourne by tram, bus and train to work, shop or find entertainment in the city.

Trams travel in all directions from the city to the suburbs along 216 kilometres of track. It is the world's largest tram network!

Two Melbourne landmarks: Flinders Street Railway station, and Melbourne trams. ©Getty

The MCG

The ‘G’ as Melburnians call it, is the Melbourne Cricket Ground, an arena that dates back to 1853. It is the venue for Test Cricket and the Australian Rules Grand Final and games, as well as for some major events and concerts. Australian Rules football, now a national sport, began as a sport in Melbourne, originally as a way for cricketers to keep fit during winter. The MCG holds 100,000 people, was the main arena in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. There are other sporting arenas close by, but the MCG remains the iconic one.

The Melbourne Cup

This famous horse race is run at the Flemington race track. It is run every year on the first Tuesday in November. It is the main race of a Spring Racing Carnival that consists of a number of big races, all of which are also major fashion events.

Some facts about the Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne Cup race is run every year on the first Tuesday in November © Getty images

The 24 horses in the race, run a distance of 3200 metres.
The race takes just over 3 minutes.
Horses in the race must be 3 years or older.
The prize for the owners of the winning horse is the Melbourne Cup and millions of dollars.
People who live in Melbourne have a holiday on Melbourne Cup Day.
The race was first run in 1861. The winner of this race was a horse named 'Archer'.
The race now attracts entries from all over the world.

Melbourne, Victoria

Melbourne is the capital city of the state of Victoria.

Victoria is a state in the south of Australia.

About 5 million people live in the city and its suburbs.

It is the second largest city in Australia.