Melbourne City - Australia
Melbourne is the state capital of Victoria State in Australia and happened to be the second most populous city in Australia. It is situated around the Port Philip Bay area along the South Eastern Coast of Australia. An inhabitant of this town is known as a Melbournian.
This city is also referred to as "Australia's sporting and cultural capital" and has a strong commercial and cultural presence on the map of Australia. Melbourne, in essence, has it all, from Victorian architecture and extensive tram networks to the Victorian Peaks and gardens, offering a vide variety of options for the inquisitive tourist. Melbourne was established by the British settlement as a pastoral town, owing to its nearness to the Yarra River and it grew rapidly since the 1880s and quickly became the most populous town in Australia, but was later over take by Sydney.
Melbourne had featured in the Economic Times' survey thrice as the world's most livable city, owing to the cultural influx, basic amenities, climatic conditions and the cost of living as compared to the general per capita income. The city is a sports hub with many famous sports complexes as the MCG and football stadiums. Melbourne has also produced some of the best players for Australia in many sports.
Melbourne's past dates to almost 40,000 years back. It is supposed to have been inhabited by the native Australians for a long period of time and it was not before the 1800s that first foreigners set foot on this land. The first British colony was formed here in 1805, but was soon abandoned due to inhospitable locals.
Later, in 1865, the area that in now the Central, was negotiated by the Agents of Port Phillip Association and was peacefully occupied. It is from that point onwards that Melbourne started to flourish as a center of trade and an optimum place to live.
When Australian government was formed in 1901, Melbourne was officially reinstated as the Seat of Government and remained as such till 1927.
No matter what reason you have for coming into Melbourne, you are bound to be swept away with its historic and fruitful past and the beauty of Victorian era architecture combined with the warmth of demographically split people mesmerizes one and all, no matter what ethnic or cultural group you belong to.