Melbourne

Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia. It is the capital of Victoria, which is a
state in the south-east of Australia. The population of Melbourne is 3,720,300.

Melbourne is a multicultural city (it welcomes people and cultures from all over the
world). It is famous for its trams (small short trains) which move along many streets in
the city. The centre of Melbourne is around a river called the Yarra River. Melbourne
also has many big parks and gardens and some beaches.

There are many things to do in Melbourne. Visitors in Melbourne can go to museums,

look at art, eat food at restaurants, go to shops, and go to many large sport events.

There is a lot of industry (factories) and commerce (buying and selling) in Melbourne.
Many of Australia's largest companies and many large companies from other countries
work there. It is home to Australia's largest seaport. There are seven universities (the
University of Melbourne, Monash University, Deakin University, Victoria University,
La Trobe University, RMIT University, and Swinburne University). Much of Australia's
automotive (car) industry is there, for example the engine maker "Holden", and "Ford"
and "Toyota" car builders.

Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner. In 1851,
some people found gold near Melbourne. Melbourne grew very quickly because people
came from all over the world to look for gold. At the end of the 19th century,
Melbourne was called "Marvellous Melbourne" ("marvellous" means "wonderful").
Melbourne was the biggest and most important city in Australia for many years, but
now Sydney is bigger. The first Australian government was in Melbourne.

Population
Many people from different countries live in Melbourne. In fact 43% of the
Melburnians were born outside Australia or have parents from another country. All
together people from 233 countries live in Melborne and people with 116 different
religions.

Melbourne
Population by year

1
177
836

1
29,000
851

1
123,000 (gold rush)
854

1
140,000
860
 1
280,000
880

1
490,000
890

1
900,000 (economic collapse)
895

1
1,500,000
956

1
2,806,000
981

1
3,156,700 (economic slump)
991

2
3,366,542
001

2
3,592,975
004

2
3,720,300 (2006 estimate)
006

2
4,500,000 (projected)
030

Events
• 1956 - The Olympic Games were in Melbourne.
• 2006 - The Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games

Sister cities
Melbourne has six sister cities. They are:

- Osaka, Japan (1978)

- Tianjin, China (PRC) (1980)
- Thessaloniki, Greece (1984)
- Boston, United States (1985)
- Saint Petersburg, Russia (1989)
- Milan, Italy (2004)