On This day – 30th August

Melbourne (About this soundlisten) MEL-bərn) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia and Oceania.
Its name refers to an urban agglomeration of 2,080 km2 (800 sq mi), comprising a metropolitan area with 31 municipalities, and is also the common name for its city centre. The city occupies much of the coastline of Port Phillip bay and spreads into the hinterlands towards the Dandenong and Macedon ranges, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley. It has a population of 5 million (19% of the population of Australia), and its inhabitants are referred to as "Melburnians".

The city was founded on 30 August 1835, in the then-British colony of New South Wales, by free settlers from the colony of Van Diemen's Land (modern-day Tasmania).It was incorporated as a Crown settlement in 1837, and named Melbourne by Governor General Richard Bourke on 10 April 1837 in honour of the British Prime Minister, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne.

In 1851, four years after Queen Victoria declared it a city, Melbourne became the capital of the new colony of Victoria.In the wake of the 1850s Victorian gold rush, the city entered a lengthy boom period that, by the late 1880s, had transformed it into one of the world's largest and wealthiest metropolises.

After the federation of Australia in 1901, it served as interim seat of government of the new nation until Canberra became the permanent capital in 1927.Today, it is a leading financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region and ranks 15th in the Global Financial Centres Index.

The city is home to many of the best-known cultural institutions in the nation, such as the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the National Gallery of Victoria and the World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building. It is also the birthplace of Australian impressionism, Australian rules football, the Australian film and television industries and Australian contemporary dance. More recently, it has been recognised as a UNESCO City of Literature and a global centre for street art, live music and theatre.

It is the host city of annual international events such as the Australian Grand Prix, the Australian Open and the Melbourne Cup, and has also hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Due to it rating highly in entertainment, tourism and sport, as well as education, health care, research and development, the EIU currently ranks it the second most liveable city in the world, and it was ranked as the world's most liveable city for seven years in a row, from 2011 until 2017.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.