Canberra

Canberra is the capital of the Commonwealth of Australia and, with a population of just over 323,000, is also Australia's largest inland city. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory, 300 km southwest of Sydney, and 650 km northeast of Melbourne. Unique in Australia as an entirely purpose-built, planned city, Canberra was selected as the location of the National Capital in 1908. Following an international contest for the city's design, a design by Chicago architect Walter Burley Griffin was selected and construction commenced in 1913. The city's design was heavily influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra the title "bush capital". Although the growth and development of Canberra was hindered by the World Wars and the Great Depression, it emerged as a thriving city post-World War II.

History

Before European settlement, the area in which Canberra would eventually be constructed was inhabited by the Ngunnawal and Walgalu tribes. The Ngarigo lived south-east of the Canberra area, the Gundungurra to the north, the Yuin on the coast and the Wiradjuri to the west. Archaeological evidence from the Canberra region suggests human habitation of the area for at least 21,000 years. The word "Canberra" is said to be derived from the English placename Canberry, or alternatively from the word Kambera meaning 'meeting place' in the Ngunnawal language. The Ngunnawal name was apparently used as a reference to corroborees held during the seasonal migration of the Ngunawal people to feast on the Bogong Moths that pass through the region each spring.

Related Topics:
Ngunnawal - Corroborees - Bogong Moths

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European exploration and settlement started in the Canberra area as early as the 1820s. There were four expeditions between 1820 and 1824. White settlement of the area probably dates from 1824, when a homestead or station was built on what is now the Acton peninsula by stockmen employed by Joshua John Moore. He formally purchased the site in 1826, and named the property Canberry. The European population in the Canberra area continued to grow slowly throughout the 19th century. As the European presence increased, the indigenous population dwindled, mainly from disease such as smallpox and measles. By the 1870s, the indigenous population was largely absorbed into European culture through half-caste marriages.

Related Topics:
1820s - 1820 - 1824 - 1826

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The district's change from a New South Wales (NSW) rural area to the national capital started during debates over Federation in the late 19th century. Following a long dispute over whether Sydney or Melbourne should be the national capital, a compromise was reached: Melbourne would be the capital on a temporary basis while a new capital was built somewhere between Sydney and Melbourne. Canberra was chosen as the site in 1908, as a result of survey work done by the government surveyor Charles Scrivener. The NSW government ceded the Federal Capital Territory (as it was then known) to the federal government on 1 January 1910, which held an international competition in the following year for the design of the city. The design of Walter Burley Griffin was chosen and in 1913 Griffin was appointed Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction and construction began. On 12 March 1913, the city was officially given its name by Lady Denman, the wife of the then Governor-General Lord Denman at a ceremony at Kurrajong Hill, which has since become Capital Hill and the site of the present Parliament House. Canberra Day is a public holiday observed in the ACT on the third Monday in March to celebrate the founding of Canberra.

Related Topics:
Federation - Sydney - Melbourne - Surveyor - Charles Scrivener - 1 January - 1910 - Walter Burley Griffin - 12 March - 1913 - Governor-General - Lord Denman - Parliament House - Canberra Day

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The federal government moved to Canberra on 9 May 1927, with the opening of the Provisional Parliament House. The Prime Minister, Stanley Bruce, had officially taken up residence in The Lodge a few days earlier. The development of Canberra gained pace after World War II, and it has grown beyond the planners? expectations since then. On 27 January 1972 the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established on the grounds of Parliament House; it was created to draw attention to indigenous rights and land issues and remains there to this day. On 9 May 1988, a larger and permanent Parliament House was opened on Capital Hill as part of Australia's bicentenary celebrations, and the Federal Parliament moved there from the Provisional Parliament House, now known as Old Parliament House.

Related Topics:
9 May - 1927 - Stanley Bruce - The Lodge - World War II - 27 January - 1972 - Aboriginal Tent Embassy - 1988

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In December 1988, the ACT was granted full self-government through an Act of the Commonwealth Parliament that made the ACT a body politic under the crown. Following the first elections in February 1989, a 17-member Legislative Assembly sat at its offices in London Circuit, Civic, on 11 May 1989. The Australian Labor Party formed the ACT's first government, led by the Chief Minister Rosemary Follett, who made history as Australia's first female head of government.

Related Topics:
11 May - 1989 - Australian Labor Party - Rosemary Follett

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On 18 January 2003, parts of Canberra were engulfed by a bushfire that destroyed 491 homes and killed four people. Some 200 homes were destroyed in the suburb of Duffy alone. The major research telescopes and workshop at the Australian National University's Mount Stromlo Observatory were destroyed in the fire.

Related Topics:
18 January - 2003 - Bushfire - Duffy - Australian National University - Mount Stromlo Observatory

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