VICTORIA
is located in the southeastern part of Australia and is the smallest of all other countries but is very urbanized and with its 5 million inhabitants is one of the most densely populated regions of Australia. It is the second most populous country in Australia, just behind New South Wales. The state capital is Melbourne. It is often called the capital of Australian culture because it is the center of Australian cinema, art, dance and music.
Before the arrival of the Europeans, Victoria was inhabited by Aborigines, mostly collectively known as Koori. Since Great Britain declared almost all of Eastern Australia its colony, Victoria has been included in the wider colony of New South Wales.
It achieved its self-government in 1855. After the discovery of gold in today’s city of Ballart, the Victorian gold rush officially began, which caused an increase in the population and the wealth of the state. Thanks to that, Melbourne became the financial center of Australia and New Zealand, as well as the capital between 1901 and 1927, while Canberra was still under construction.
MELBURN
is the capital of the state of Victoria and is the second largest and most populous city in Australia, just behind Sydney. This city is the leading financial center in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, and for the third year in a row, it has been declared the liveliest city in the world. Melbourne ranks extremely high in the fields of education, entertainment, health, research and development, tourism and sports. It is considered the capital of culture in Australia. It is home to Australian cinema, art, dance, football and sport. One of the most prestigious sporting events, the Grand Slam Australian Open in tennis, is being held right in Melbourne.
The biggest sights of the city are: Federation square, Queen Victoria Market, aquarium, zoo, Eureca Skydeck 88, etc.
Melbourne is one of the largest industrial cities in Australia. About 300,000 people are employed in the manufacturing sector, which includes the production of cars, chemicals, food, etc. Of the other industries that are also at the heart of the Australian economy, we single out finance, the IT industry and tourism. The sector where there is always a shortage of workers is health, so all medical experts from abroad are welcome in this city.
Interesting facts
- Before Melbourne became known by this name, it was called Batmania, Bearbras, Bearport, Bearhip and Bearbury.
- Melbourne is officially the largest fox capital in the world with between 6 and 23 foxes per square kilometer in the metropolitan area.
- Melbourne is the only city in the world to have five sports facilities by international standards (including three with retractable roofs). These are: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Docklands Stadium, Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena and Melbourne Park Olympic Park.
- The world’s first feature film, the story of Ned Kelly Gang, was shot and made in Melbourne in 1906.
- Kilda’s amusement park is the oldest privately run amusement park in the world.
- The famous tram system in Melbourne is the largest outside Europe and the fourth largest in the world. It stretches for 244 kilometers (152 miles) and has 450 trams.
- Melbourne is home to eight of Australia’s ten largest R&D investors.
- The first Olympic Games, hosted by Australia, were held in Melbourne in 1956.
- The largest stained glass ceiling in the world is located in Melbourne, in the National Gallery of Victoria.
- Melbourne has the largest number of cafes and restaurants per capita in the world.
- This city is the only city that has more Greeks outside Greece and Italians outside Italy.
