State of Victoria and Melbourne
State of Victoria is located in the south of Australia. Melbourne is the capital city and its most populous city. It is considered as the second most populous city in Australia too.
Melbourne used to be the capital city of Australia when in 1901 the Australian colonies came together to form a new nation which, for the next twenty-six years, was governed from Melbourne. It was a small city, a place where people knew each other sharing a close bond. After such a long time, now it has become a cultural hub of Australia that comprises different aspects of a happening life and must visit for all tourists.
Melbourne was founded in 1835 and it was named in honour of William Lamb, the 2nd Viscount Melbourne. Melbourne was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria in 1847. In 1851, it became the capital city of the newly created colony of Victoria. During the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the world's largest and wealthiest cities. Today, it is a centre for arts, commerce, industry, education, entertainment, sport and tourism. It is the birthplace of cultural institutions such as Australian film, Australian television and also the Australian dance styles e.g. New Vogue and the Melbourne Shuffle. It is also a major centre for contemporary and traditional Australian music. It is often referred to as the "cultural capital of Australia" and was ranked as the world's most liveable city in the World's Most Liveable Cities magazine.
Melbourne is situated on the south-eastern fringe of the Australian landmass and in the north-eastern part of the state of Victoria. More precisely, Melbourne stands in a region of alpine forests known as the High Country and is at the union of the Quaternary lava deposits in the west, the Silurian mudstones in the east and the Holocene sand dregs along Port Phillip in the southeast. This is the Melbourne geography in a nutshell. Statistically, Melbourne approximately covers an area of 8,694 square kilometres.
Melbourne has a moderate oceanic climate and is known for its changeable weather conditions. This is mainly due to Melbourne being situated on the boundary of the very hot inland areas and the cold southern ocean. This temperature differential is most marked in the spring and summer months and can cause very strong cold frosts to form. These cold frosts can be responsible for all sorts of severe weather from gales to severe thunderstorms and hail, large temperature drops, and heavy rain. Melbourne is also prone to isolated convective showers forming when a cold pool crosses the state, especially if there is considerable daytime heating. These showers are often heavy and can contain hail and squalls and significant drops in temperature, but they pass through very quickly at times with a rapid clearing trend to sunny and relatively calm weather and the temperature rising back to what it was before the shower. So be careful about the weather while traveling to Melbourne!
Melbourne is an international cultural centre, with cultural activities spanning major events and festivals, drama, musicals, comedy, music, art, architecture, literature, film and television. It was the second city after Edinburgh to be named a UNESCO City of Literature and has shared top position in a survey by The Economist of the world's most liveable cities on the basis of a number of attributes which include its broad cultural offerings.
The city celebrates a wide variety of annual cultural events and festivals of all types, including the Melbourne International Arts Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Melbourne Fringe Festival. The Australian Ballet is based in Melbourne, as is the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Melbourne is the second home of Opera Australia after it merged with "Victoria State Opera" in 1996. The Victorian Opera had its inaugural season in 2006 and operates out of various venues in Melbourne.
The city is also famous for its education as well. Melbourne was ranked the world's fourth top University City in 2008 after London, Boston and Tokyo in a poll commissioned by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. It is the home of the University of Melbourne, as well as Monash University, the largest university in Australia. The University of Melbourne is the second oldest university in Australia which was ranked as the first among Australian universities in the 2010. The Times Higher Education Supplement ranked the University of Melbourne as the 36th best university in the world while Monash University was ranked the 178th best university in the world. Both universities are members of the Group of Eight. Other universities located in Melbourne include La Trobe University, RMIT University, and Swinburne University of Technology. If you are student and looking for a decent university in Australia, definitely Melbourne will be very good place to start you hunt for a good university.
Melburne also is rich in terms of the recreational spots. If you have just arrived at Melbourne, head off to Chapel Street and enjoy the shops and cafes there. Crown Casino along with it's satelite shops,restaurants and bars are also places that you must not miss.
The following video will give you more details about Melbourne:
4 Comments
hajibandeh said
Hi Aref,
this is the first comment ;) and melbourne will be my destination.
IAmAref said
Hi Elham
Glad to see you here. Would be great if you told us why Melbourne is your destination? Is there any specific reason for that?
sirat said
Nice choise hajibandeh! Stick to it as it's the best city in Australia. I'm gonna move to Melbourne soon too, hopefully!
hajibandeh said
Not any, just I've been sponserd by victoria and I have to live in Melbourne for 2 years ;)