Melbourne

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A view of the Yarra River at twilight
A view of the Yarra River at twilight

Melbourne is a city in Australia in Victoria. It is the state's capital and it has a 3,720,300 inhabitants (2001). It is the second largest city in Australia.

There is a lot of industry (factories) and commerce (buying and selling) in Melbourne. Many of Australia's largest companies and many multinational companies work there. (In 2002, about one-third of the 100 largest multinational companies in Australia were in Melbourne.) 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 1834 by John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner. Melbourne grew very quickly because people went there around 1850 after they heard that gold had been found. At the end of the 19th century, Melbourne was called "Marvellous Melbourne"; "marvellous" means "wonderful". The first Australian government was in Melbourne.

[edit] 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
1836 177
1851 29,000
1854 123,000 (gold rush)
1860 140,000
1880 280,000
1890 490,000
1895 900,000 (economic collapse)
1956 1,500,000
1981 2,806,000
1991 3,156,700 (economic slump)
2001 3,366,542
2004 3,592,975
2006 3,720,300 (2006 estimate)
2030 4,500,000 (projected)

[edit] Events

[edit] 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)