Canberra Tourism
Canberra is the capital city of Australia, located in the Australian Capital Territory (which is surrounded by the state of New South Wales), southwest of Australia’s largest city Sydney. It has a population of about 325,000 people.
Canberra was established in 1913 as a purpose-built capital for the newly federated Australian nation – this brought the rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne for national capital status to an end. The artificial creation of the city was not without critics however – many said that it was a “waste of a good sheep pasture”. Canberra is a highly planned city, its primary design conceived by the American architect Walter Burley Griffin and built on the shores of an artificial lake (Lake Burley Griffin). Populated at first largely by politicians and public servants, it has taken several decades to develop its own identity and culture. A building spree in the late 20th century and a concerted effort to develop public institutions in the city have made it a viable destination for the traveller.
Lake Burley Griffin divides central Canberra. The central shopping and commercial area, known as “Civic”, on the north side and the parliamentary and embassy area is on the south side. National institutions are likewise divided, examples being the National Museum of Australia and the Australian War Memorial on the north side and the National Library and National Gallery of Australia on the south side.
There are suburbs surrounding central Canberra, and also suburbs surrounding several outlying town centres. These town centres are Belconnen and Gungahlin to the north, and Tuggeranong and Woden to the south.
Many people who live in Canberra are not originally from Canberra, having usually moved there to study or take up employment with the Australian Government. A common pattern is that people from other parts of Australia move to Canberra, study or work for a few years and then return to their place of origin or move on to elsewhere. As this means a constant influx of new arrivals to Canberra, you should not be reluctant to ask for directions etc. from locals – they are more than used to it and usually only too happy to help.
Canberrans on the whole are easygoing, friendly and tolerant people who have the highest levels of education and income in Australia.
Ethnically, Canberra’s population is more diverse than most regional areas of Australia, but nowhere near as culturally and linguistically varied as Sydney and Melbourne.
Visiting Victoria