Melbourne


Melbourne is the state capital and largest city in the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-largest city in Australia (after Sydney), with a population of approximately 3.8 million (2006 estimate) in the Melbourne metropolitan area and 69,670 in the City of Melbourne (which covers only the central city area). The city's name is pronounced as either /ˈmel.bən/ or /ˈmæl.bən/. Melbourne was the capital city of Australia from 1901 until 1927.
Melbourne is considered by most Australians to be the sporting capital of Australia, as it is home to The Melbourne Cup, Australian F1 Grand Prix, Australian Open Tennis, AFL Grand Final and MotoGP Motorcycle Grand Prix, and will host the Commonwealth Games in 2006. It is also considered to be the fashion, shopping, dining and cultural capital of Australia.
Melbourne has twice ranked first in a survey by The Economist of The World's Most Livable Cities on the basis of its cultural attributes, climate, cost of living, and social conditions such as crime rates and health care, once in 2002 [1], and again in 2004 – a year in which the Economist truly took a shine to Australian cities, with the five largest cities in Australia given rankings of 6 or better. In 2005, however, it was ranked 2nd, behind Vancouver, Canada. The US's Utne Reader puts it thus: "Add a long tradition of civic pride, communities of new immigrants from around the world, and the best food in Australia, and you have a recipe for what many claim is the hippest city in the Southern Hemisphere" (Nov/Dec 2001).
Melbourne has undergone a major urban 'revival', such that it is sometimes classed as being in a second tier of "world cities"; the GaWC study group in the UK ranks Melbourne, on the basis of relative availability of specialised "advanced services," as a "minor world city" comparable to cities such as Montreal, Osaka, and Prague. It has one of the highest numbers of international students studying in its universities, after London, New York City, and Paris.
A resident of Melbourne is referred to as a Melburnian.

History
The city was named after the British Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, whose home was near the village of Melbourne in Derbyshire. Melbourne in Derbyshire derives its name from the Old English for Mill Stream (Mylla Burne).
The European settlement at Melbourne was founded in 1835 by settlers coming from Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land), where they had difficulty finding available land.
The area was already inhabited by the Kulin people, then indigenous to the area. A transaction was negotiated for 600,000 acres of land from eight of their representatives; this was later anulled by the New South Wales government (then governing all of eastern mainland Australia), who compensated the settlers in exchange. Ultimately, settlement continued regardless [2].
It was the capital first of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales and then of the separate colony of Victoria. With the discovery of gold in Victoria in the 1850s, leading to the Victorian gold rush, Melbourne quickly grew as a port and service centre. Later it became Australia's leading manufacturing centre. During the 1880s, Melbourne was the second largest city in the British Empire, and came to be known as "Marvellous Melbourne". Victorian architecture abounds in Melbourne and today the city is home to the largest number of surviving Victorian era buildings of any city in the world other than London.
Melbourne became Australia's national capital at Federation on 1 January 1901. The first Federal parliament was opened on 9 May of that year in the Royal Exhibition Building. The seat of government and the national capital remained in Melbourne until 1927 when it moved to the new capital city of Canberra. Melbourne continued to expand steadily throughout the first half of the 20th century, particularly with the post-World War II influx of immigrants and the prestige of hosting the Olympic Games in 1956. Even after the national capital moved to Canberra, Melbourne remained Australia's business and finance capital until the 1970s, when it began to lose this primacy to Sydney. Melbourne also developed as a centre of the arts.
After a boom in the 1980s Melbourne experienced a largely property market and manufacturing driven slump from 1989 to 1992, with a loss of employment and a drain of population to New South Wales and Queensland. In the 1990s, the Victorian state government of Premier Jeff Kennett (Liberal) sought to reverse this trend with the aggressive development of new public buildings, such as the Melbourne Museum, the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre (nicknamed "Jeff's Shed"), Crown Casino, capital works (most notably the City Link tollway), the selling off state assets (the State Electricity Commission and redundant state schools), the pruning back of state services and the publicising of Melbourne's merits both to outsiders and Melburnians. This has continued under the government of current Premier Steve Bracks (Labor).

Transport
Melbourne is served with an extensive public transport network. Like many major cities in the world, Melbourne has an integrated public transport system, however some of its outlying suburbs still face transport difficulties. It has one of the world's most extensive tram networks, almost 300 bus routes and a train system with more than 15 lines. Flinders Street Station is a prominent Melbourne landmark and meeting place. From the 1920s to the 1940s it was the world's busiest passenger station. The city has rail connections wth several regional cities in the state, as well as interstate rail services to Sydney and Adelaide.
The Port of Melbourne is Australia's largest container and general cargo port. Melbourne Airport is the nation's second busiest. Station Pier in Port Phillip Bay handles cruise ships and the Spirit of Tasmania ferries which cross Bass Strait to Tasmania.
Melbourne has four significant airports. Melbourne International Airport located at Tullamarine is the city's main international and domestic gateway. Moorabbin Airport is a significant general aviation airport in the city's south east. Essendon Airport, which was once the city's main airport before the construction of Tullamarine, handles general aviation and some cargo flights, and is the base of the Victoria Police air wing and air ambulance. Avalon Airport located between Melbourne and Geelong is a freight and maintenance facility and handles some low cost flights.

Tourism
Melbourne attracts large numbers of tourists, particularly young backpackers. The Fitzroy Gardens in East Melbourne has many attractions including Captain Cook's Cottage. Along St Kilda Road there are many cultural attractions, including the National Gallery of Victoria, the Shrine of Remembrance, King's Domain and the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, the Arts Centre, and Victoria Barracks. Southbank on the southern bank of the Yarra River attracts locals and tourists alike for its mix of dining, shopping and recreational facilities. The Crown Casino entertainment complex can also be found in the Southbank precinct.
Melbourne hosts a disproportionately large number of spectator sports. Melbourne's best-known sporting events are the Australian F1 Grand Prix, numerous international Cricket matches, the Australian Football League Grand Final and the Spring Racing Carnival wheich culminates with the running of the Melbourne Cup horse race at Flemington. Melbourne will host the Commonwealth Games in 2006.
Melbourne's restaurants are numerous, and are generally of reasonable quality and good value. Some of the best restraunts can be found in St Kilda along Fitzroy Street, South Yarra along Chapel Street, Fitzroy along Brunswick Street, Carlton along Lygon St, South Melbourne along Clarendon St, Richmond along Bridge Rd and Victoria St and Collingwood along Smith Street, as well as in the CBD and Southbank precincts. As one would expect from a city its size, Melbourne has a wide variety of pubs, bars and nightclubs, which can be found all over the metropolitan area.
There are a variety of interesting things to see outside Melbourne proper but still within a day trip of Melbourne.
 
From: www.wikipedia.org