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{{Infobox Australian Place | type = city| name = Melbourne || state = vic || image = Melbourne locator-MJC.png || caption = Location of Melbourne in Australia [1835 ]| lga = Local Government Areas of Victoria#Municipalities of Greater Melbourne (31)| stategov = :Image:Vic inner regions.jpg (54)| fedgov = :Image:Map4.gif (23)| timezone = Australian Eastern Standard Time| utc = +10| timezone-dst= Australian Eastern Daylight Time| utc-dst = +11| location1= Adelaide| dist2= 876| location3= [Brisbane| dist4= 3412| maxtemp = 19.8| mintemp = 10.2| rainfall = 646.9-->Melbourne (pronounced ) is the second most populous city in [Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 3.74 million (2006 estimate). Regional Population Growth, Australia, 1996 to 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics, July 2007]Located around Port Phillip Bay in the country's south-east, Melbourne is the List of Australian capital cities of Victoria (Australia).

Melbourne is a major centre of commerce, industry and cultural activity.The city is often referred to as Australia's "sporting and cultural capital" Australian Government Culture and Recreation Portaland it is home to many of the nation's most significant cultural and sporting events and institutions.It has been recognised as a global city by the Loughborough University group's 1999 inventory.Melbourne is notable for its mix of Victorian architecture and contemporary architecture, its extensive Trams in Melbourne and Victorian Melbourne parks and gardens, and its diverse, multicultural society.It was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Melbourne was founded by free settlers in 1835, 47 years after the first European settlement of Australia, as a small pastoral settlement situated around the Yarra River.Transformed rapidly into a major metropolis by the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s, "Marvellous Melbourne" became Australia's largest and most important city by 1865, but was overtaken by Sydney as the largest city in Australia during the early 20th century.

Melbourne served as the capital city of Australia from the time of the new nation's Federation of Australia in 1901, until Federal Parliament of Australia moved to the new, purpose-built capital, Canberra, in 1927. When Melbourne was Australia’s capital city

History , one of the surviving grand buildings from the 1880s boom. , intersection of Swanston and Flinders Streets, 1927., commenced in 1955, was a powerful symbol of the 1956 Summer Olympics modern aspirations.

The area of the Yarra River and Port Phillip that is now Melbourne was first settled by the British in 1835. These settlers came from Launceston, Tasmania, Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land). The area was already inhabited by the Indigenous Australians Kulin people. A transaction was negotiated for 600,000 acres (2,400 km²) of land from eight Wurundjeri chiefs; this was later annulled by the New South Wales government (then governing all of eastern mainland Australia), which compensated the settlers.

In 1836, Governor Bourke declared the city the administrative capital of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales, and commissioned the first plan for the Hoddle Grid in 1837. The settlement was named Melbourne in the same year after the United Kingdom Prime Minister of the United Kingdom William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who resided in the village of Melbourne, Derbyshire in Derbyshire. Melbourne was declared a city by Queen Victoria on 25 June 1847.Melbourne the city's history and development, 2nd ed pg 5, Miles Lewis, 1995

The state of Victoria was established as a separate colony in 1851 with Melbourne as its capital. With the discovery of gold in Victoria in the 1850s, leading to the Victorian gold rush, Melbourne grew rapidly, providing the majority of Service industry and serving as the major port for the region. The city became a major finance centre, home to several banks and to Australia's first stock exchange (founded in 1861). During the 1880s Melbourne was one of the largest cities in the British Empire, and reputedly the richest city in the world.Robert B. Cervero, The Transit Metropolis: A Global Inquiry, 1998, Island Press, ISBN 1559635916, p.320 This period saw the construction of many high-rise Victorian buildings, Coffee Palaces, terrace house, grand boulevards and gardens throughout the city. Examples of this Victorian architecture still abound in Melbourne. So impressed was journalist George Augustus Henry Sala during his visit in 1885 that he coined the phrase "Marvellous Melbourne" to describe the booming city, a phrase which stuck and is used by its locals and the media to this day.

The brash boosterism which typified Melbourne during this time came to a halt in 1891 when a world Depression (economics) hit the city's economy, sending the finance and property industries into chaos. The effects of the depression on the city were profound, although it did continue to grow slowly during the early 20th century.

At the time of Australia's Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, Melbourne was specified as the temporary seat of government and remained the List of historical national capitals until 1927, when the Federal Australian Parliament was moved to the planned city of Canberra. The first Federal parliament was convened on 9 May 1901 in the Royal Exhibition Building.

Melbourne was the Allied Pacific Headquarters from 1942 to 1944 as General Douglas MacArthur established Australia as a launch base for Pacific operations. During World War II, Melbourne industries thrived on wartime production and the city became Australia's leading manufacturing centre. After the war, Melbourne expanded rapidly, with its growth boosted by an influx of Immigration to Australia and the prestige of hosting the 1956 Summer Olympics. Australia's mining boom between 1969 and 1970 proved beneficial to Melbourne, with the headquarters of many of the major companies (BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto Group and many others) based in the city. Nauru's booming mineral economy fuelled several ambitious investments in Melbourne such as Nauru House. Melbourne remained Australia's business and finance capital until the late 1970s, when it began to lose this primacy to Sydney.Elias, David Tell Melbourne it's over, we won The Sydney Morning Herald, December 31, 2003

Melbourne experienced the worst of Victoria's economic slump between 1989 to 1992. In 1992, a newly elected Victorian government began a campaign to restore the economy with an aggressive development campaign of public works and major events centred on Melbourne and the promotion of the city as a tourist destination. Major projects included the Melbourne Museum, Federation Square, the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, Crown Casino and CityLink tollway. Other strategies included the privatisation of some of Melbourne's services including power and public transport, and a reduction in funding to public services such as health and education.

Since 1997, Melbourne has maintained significant population and employment growth. There has been substantial international investment in the city's industries and Real estate, and 2006 figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that since 2000 Melbourne has sustained the highest population and Economic growth of any Australian capital city.Marino, Melissa; Colebatch, Tim Melbourne's population booms The Age, March 24, 2005accessed November 7, 2006

Geography . lined streets in Melbourne.Melbourne is located in the south-eastern part of mainland Australia. Geologically it is built on the confluence of Quaternary lava flows to the west, Silurian mudstones to the east City of Monash:Background Information accessed November 7, 2006 and Holocene sand accumulation to the southeast along Port Phillip. The city's suburbs extend along the Yarra Valley toward the Yarra Ranges and Dandenong Ranges to the east, down towards the Mornington Peninsula and the city of Frankston, along the Maribyrnong River and its tributaries north towards the foothills of the Macedon Ranges Shire, and along the flat volcanic plain country towards Werribee and Geelong to the south-west.

Urban structure Melbourne is typical of Australian capital cities in that after the turn of the century, it expanded with the underlying notion of a "quarter acre home and garden" for every family, often referred to locally as the Australian Dream. Much of Metropolitan area Melbourne is accordingly characterised by low density sprawl. The provision of an extensive railway and tram service in the earlier years of development encouraged this low density development, mostly in radial lines along the transport corridors.

The original city (known today as the central business district or CBD) is laid out in the mile-by-half-a-mile Melbourne central business district, its southern edge fronting onto the Yarra. The city centre is well known for its historic and attractive lanes and arcades which contain a variety of shops and cafes.Suzy Freeman-Greene, Melbourne's love affair with lanes , The Age, August 10, 2005, accessed September 21, 2007 The CBD and surrounds contain many historic buildings such as the Royal Exhibition Building, the Melbourne Town Hall and Parliament House.

Melbourne is often referred to as Australia's garden city, and the state of Victoria was once known as "the garden state". There is an abundance of Melbourne parks and gardens, many close to the Melbourne Central Business District with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways and tree-lined avenues. There are also many parks in the surrounding suburbs of Melbourne, such as in the municipalities of City of Stonnington, City of Boroondara and City of Port Phillip, south east of the CBD.

Climate Melbourne has a moderate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb).Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., 4, 439–473, 2007, 'Updated world map of the Koppen-Geiger climate classification system' accessed March 10, 2007 Melbourne's climate is notable for its changeable weather conditions. This is due in part to the city's flat topography, its situation on Port Phillip Bay, and the presence of the Dandenong Ranges to the east, a combination that creates weather systems that often circle the bay. The phrase "four seasons in one day" is part of popular culture and observed by many visitors to the city.

Melbourne is colder than most other Australian capital cities in winter. The lowest maximum on record is 4.4 degrees Celsius, on July 4, 1901.Waldon, Steve and Medew, Julia, 'Snow misses CBD lunch appointment' article from The Age dated August 10, 2005, accessed November 7, 2006 However, snowfalls are extremely rare: the most recent occurrence of sleet in the CBD was on July 25, 1986 and the most recent snowfalls in the Dandenongs were on August 10, 2005 Snow falls in Melbourne Sydney Morning Herald, August 10, 2005 accessed online November 7, 2006 and November 15, 2006. Rain hits the target from the Herald Sun There has not been a major snowfall in Melbourne since 1951, when moderate cover was recorded in both the CBD and suburbs.Waldon and Medew, loc. cit. More commonly, Melbourne experiences frosts and fog in winter.

During the spring (season), Melbourne commonly enjoys extended periods of mild weather and clear skies. Melbourne is also known to have hot, dry summers, with maximum temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. The hottest temperature on record was 45.6 degrees Celsius on 13 January 1939 during a four-day nationwide heat wave. Record heat and stupidity as Melbourne swelters, The Age, January 25 2003

In 2006, Melbourne, like most of Australia, experienced one of the worst droughts on record, with virtually no rainfall in September and October, despite October being on average the wettest month of the year. Higher than average temperatures were recorded. In a very rare occurrence, snow fell in more elevated parts of the metropolitan area on 25 December 2006, in the early stages of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

It was officially announced on May 15, 2007 that the previous 12 months had seen a record low rainfall. The official results of 316mm from May 16 2006 to May 15 2007 show the lowest amount of rainfall since records began in 1855. The normal average rainfall is 653.2mm. Because of this record low rainfall, Melbourne has experienced ever increasing levels of water restrictions for over 9 months.

{{Infobox Weather|metric_first= Yes |single_line= Yes |location = Melbourne|Jan_Hi_°C = 25.8|Feb_Hi_°C = 25.8|Mar_Hi_°C = 23.8|Apr_Hi_°C = 20.3|May_Hi_°C = 16.7|Jun_Hi_°C = 14.0|Jul_Hi_°C = 13.4|Aug_Hi_°C = 14.9|Sep_Hi_°C = 17.2|Oct_Hi_°C = 19.6|Nov_Hi_°C = 21.9|Dec_Hi_°C = 24.2|Year_Hi_°C = 19.8

|Jan_Lo_°C = 14.2|Feb_Lo_°C = 14.5|Mar_Lo_°C = 13.2|Apr_Lo_°C = 10.7|May_Lo_°C = 8.6|Jun_Lo_°C = 6.9|Jul_Lo_°C = 6.0|Aug_Lo_°C = 6.6|Sep_Lo_°C = 7.9|Oct_Lo_°C = 9.5|Nov_Lo_°C = 11.1|Dec_Lo_°C = 12.9|Year_Lo_°C = 10.2

|Jan_Precip_mm = 48.0|Feb_Precip_mm = 47.7|Mar_Precip_mm = 50.1|Apr_Precip_mm = 57.7|May_Precip_mm = 56.3|Jun_Precip_mm = 49.4|Jul_Precip_mm = 47.7|Aug_Precip_mm = 50.2|Sep_Precip_mm = 58.5|Oct_Precip_mm = 66.8|Nov_Precip_mm = 59.5|Dec_Precip_mm = 59.0|Year_Precip_mm = 650.9|source = Bureau of Meteorology {{cite web| url = http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_086071.shtml | title = Climate statistics for Australian locations | accessmonthday = Sept 5 | accessyear = 2007 | publisher=| language = English -->|accessdate = Sept 2007-->

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0 auto 0 auto; text-align:right"|+ Other daily elements|-!   !! Jan !! Feb !! Mar !! Apr !! May !! Jun !! Jul !! Aug !! Sep !! Oct !! Nov !! Dec !! Yearly|-! Mean number of rain days| 8.3 || 7.4 || 9.3 || 11.5 || 14.0 || 14.2 || 15.1 || 15.6 || 14.8 || 14.3 || 11.8 || 10.5 || 146.7|-! Mean number of clear days|6.3 || 6.3 || 5.7 || 4.4 || 3.0 || 2.5 || 2.7 || 2.9 || 3.4 || 3.6 || 3.5 || 4.4 || 48.5|-! Mean number of cloudy days|11.2 || 9.7 || 13.4 || 14.9 || 18.0 || 16.8 || 17.2 || 16.8 || 15.7 || 16.4 || 15.1 || 14.2 || 179.5|-| colspan="15" style="text-align: center;" | Source: Bureau of Meteorology|}

Government South Melbourne Town Hall. South Melbourne was the oldest of several municipalities which have since been amalgamated, List of Town Halls in Melbourne rivalled the Melbourne Town Hall in terms of size and grandeur.

The Melbourne City Council governs the City of Melbourne, which takes in the CBD and a few adjoining inner suburbs. However the head of the Melbourne City Council, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, is frequently treated as a representative of greater Melbourne (the entire metropolitan area),Dunstan, David The evolution of 'Clown Hall', The Age, November 12, 2004, accessed online November 7, 2006 particularly when interstate or overseas. The current Lord Mayor is John So.

The rest of the metropolitan area is divided into Local Government Areas of Victoria. All these are designated as Cities, except for five on the city's outer fringes which have the title of Shire. The local government authorities have elected councils and are responsible for a range of functions (delegated to them from the State Government of Victoria under the Local Government Act of 1989 Local Government Act 1989), such as urban planning and waste management.

Most city-wide government activities are controlled by the government of Victoria, which governs from Parliament House, Melbourne in Spring Street, Melbourne. These include public transport, main roads, traffic control, policing, education above preschool level, and planning of major infrastructure projects. Because three quarters of Victoria's population lives in Melbourne, state governments have traditionally been reluctant to allow the development of citywide governmental bodies, which would tend to rival the state government. The semi-autonomous Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works was abolished in 1992 for this reason. This is not dissimilar to other Australian states where State Governments have similar powers in greater metropolitan areas.

Economy . precinct and city skyline, viewed across Melbourne Docklands#Victoria Harbour from Melbourne Docklands#Waterfront City.

Melbourne is the southernmost city in the Globalization and World Cities group's 1999 inventory of global city and is home to many of Australia's largest corporations: Telstra, BHP Billiton, Australia_and_New_Zealand_Banking_Group and the National Australia Bank, and also to the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Council of Trade Unions and many of the companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Many multinational corporations (approximately one-third of the 100 largest multinationals operating in Australia as of 2002) also have their main Australian office in Melbourne. The demand for office space means that there are many tall buildings in Melbourne (although the tallest, the Eureka Tower (at 300m above street level) is mostly residential). The tallest Skyscraper, the Rialto Towers (251m above street level) is also the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere. Rialto Tower Both of these tall buildings house observation decks.

Melbourne is home to Australia's largest seaport and much of Australia's Automaker, which include Ford Motor Company and Toyota manufacturing facilities, and the engine manufacturing facility of Holden. It is also home to many other manufacturing industries. Business Victoria In mid-November 2006, Melbourne was host to the summit of G20 industrial nations finance ministers, amid violent protests.

Melbourne is also a major technology hub, with a strong Information and Communication Technology industry that employs over 60,000 people (one third of Australia's ICT workforce), has a turnover of AUD$19.8 billion, and has export revenues of AUD615 million. Industry Snapshot from Multimedia Victoria In a recent study, out of the world's 50 most influential financial cities, Melbourne was placed at number 34, ahead of major cities such as Dubai, Bangkok and KualaLumpur. http://www.mastercard.com/us/company/en/wcoc/pdf/index_2007_us.pdf

While Australia's financial services industry is generally centred in Sydney, Melbourne still has a significant presence. Two of the Big Four (banks) banks, NAB and ANZ, are headquartered in Melbourne. Within the area of money management, Melbourne has carved out a niche as Australia’s leading centre for Superannuation in Australia (pension) funds, with 40% of the total, and 65% of Industry superannuation. Funds Management Fact Sheet Melbourne is also home to the $40b Federal Government Future Fund.

Most recent major infrastructure projects, such as the redevelopment of Southern Cross Station (formerly Spencer Street Station), have been centred around the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which were held in the city from 15 March to 26 March 2006. The centrepiece of the Commonwealth Games projects was the redevelopment of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the stadium used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games. The project involved rebuilding the northern half of the stadium and laying a temporary athletics track at a cost of AUD434 million.

Construction began in February 2006 of a AUD1 billion 5000-seat international convention centre, Hilton Hotel and commercial precinct adjacent to the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre to link development along the Yarra River with the Southbank, Victoria and multi-billion dollar Melbourne Docklands redevelopment. Councillors furious about convention centre deal, The Age, May 1, 2006

International freight is an important industry to Melbourne. The Port of Melbourne, Australia's largest, handles more than A$75 billion in trade every year and 39% of the nation's container trade. Port Of Melbourne Sets Shipping Record Growth of Australia's largest port essential, The Age, December 18, 2004

Melbourne tourism plays an important role in Melbourne's economy, with approximately 7.6 million domestic visitors and 1.88 million international visitors in 2004. Melbourne Airport Passenger Figures Strongest on Record

Demographics ], established in 1854, is not only the oldest in Australia but one of the oldest in the world

Today Melbourne is a diverse and multicultural city. Almost a quarter of Victoria's population was born overseas, and the city is home to residents from 233 countries, who speak over 180 languages and dialects and follow 116 religious faiths. Victiorian Cultural Diversity Week

A person from Melbourne is referred to as a Melburnian.The variant spelling 'Melbournian' is sometimes found but is considered grammatically incorrect. The term 'Melbournite' is also sometimes used. Right Words: A Guide to English Usage in Australia. Stephen Murray-Smith. 2nd ed. Ringwood, Vic. Viking, 1989

Melbourne was transformed by the 1850s Australian gold rush; within months of the discovery of gold in August 1852, the city's population had increased by nearly three-quarters — from 25,000 to 40,000 inhabitants. Thereafter, growth was exponential and by 1865, Melbourne had overtaken Sydney as Australia's most populous city. The Snowy Mountains Scheme and Multicultural Australia By 1900, however, Sydney and Melbourne were the same size, and by 1902, a year after Australian federation, Sydney had overtaken Melbourne as the largest urban centre in Australia. Linking a Nation: Australia's Transport and Communications 1788 - 1970

In common with the rest of the continent, the earliest inhabitants of the broad area that later became Melbourne were Indigenous Australians — specifically, the Bunurong, Wurundjeri and Wathaurong peoples. Melbourne is still a centre of Aboriginal life — consisting of local groups and indigenes from other parts of Australia — with the Aboriginal community in the city numbering over 20,000 persons (0.6 per cent of the population).

Immigrants {| class="infobox" align=right|Major overseas born populationshttp://www.voma.vic.gov.au/web17/voma/rwpgslib.nsf/549C66914048D264CA2569D600063620/3BE8BA3F8A659FA3CA2570C00011B4D4/$File/Metro%20Melb%20local%20gov%20areas.pdf|-! Country of Birth || Population (2001)|-| Australia ] ||139,836|-| Italy ] ||55,859|-| Greece ] ||45,749|-| China ] ||29,439|-| Sri Lanka ] ||23,648|-| Germany ] ||20,507|}As with the rest of Australia, the first European settlers in Melbourne were Briton and Irish people. These two groups accounted for nearly all arrivals before the gold rush, and supplied the predominant number of Immigration to Australia to the city until the Second World War. (Indeed, Victoria — and Melbourne in particular — attracted a greater proportion of Irish Australian than other Australasian colonies.) Nonetheless, large numbers of Chinese Australian, German Australian and American Australian were to be found on the goldfields and subsequently in Melbourne. The various nationalities involved in the Eureka Stockade revolt nearby give some indication of the migration flows in the second half of the nineteenth century.

In the first half of the twentieth century, alongside the usual British and Irish migrants, Melbourne began to receive steady trickles of Italian Australian and Greek Australian, as did rural New South Wales and Western Australia. At the time, these inflows were considered insignificant, but with hindsight these early groups were effectively pioneers of two of the city's more numerous contemporary communities.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Melbourne experienced an unprecedented influx of arrivals from Mediterranean Europe — primarily Greece and Italy, but also Cyprus and Turkey. The sheer numbers of Greeks and Italians — and their Greek Australian and Italian Australian children — soon led to Melbourne being referred to as "the third largest Greek city in the world" or "largest Greek city out side of Greece" and "Little Italy". Certainly, Melbourne is the centre of Greek Australian life. According to the 2001 Census, there were 151,785 ethnic Greeks in the metropolitan area, although some estimates put this number close to 300,000. Nearly half of all Greek Australians call Melbourne home.

However, the Greek proportion of city's population (3.8 per cent) is in fact second to that of the Italian: in 2001, 247,719 persons stated they were of Italian ancestry, accounting for 31.0 per cent of all Italian Australians and 6.2 per cent of Melbourne's population. What is more, both groups are outnumbered by those claiming Australian — 959,822 persons or 24.0 per cent — English people — 929,314 persons or 23.2 per cent — or Irish Australian — 319,977 persons or 8.0 per cent — ancestry. Those claiming a Chinese Australian background are the sixth largest ethnic group in Melbourne, accounting for 146,287 census responses and 3.7 per cent of the city's total inhabitants. Vietnamese and Vietnamese Australians are also a significant presence in the city.

Birthplaces With regard to birthplace, a far higher proportion of Melbourne residents in 2001 were born overseas than the Australian average: 34.8 per cent compared to a national average of 23.1 per cent. In common with the rest of Australia, UK was the most commonly reported country of birth, with 158,139 responses (4.7 per cent). This was followed by Italy with 80,109 (2.4 per cent), Greece with 55,574 (1.7 per cent) and the People's Republic of China with 35,844 (1.1 per cent).

Languages and urban renewal since the 1970s

Linguistically, Melbourne is one of Australia's most diverse urban centres, though according to 2001 Census data, over two-thirds of people in Melbourne speak English language only at home — 2,316,755 persons or 68.8 per cent. Italian language is the second most common home language, spoken by 133,907 residents or 4.0 per cent. Greek language is third with 118,394 habitual users (3.5 percent) and the Chinese languages are fourth with 110,645 speakers (3.3 per cent). 84.2 per cent of those born overseas living in the city spoke English exclusively, "very well" or "well".

Religion In terms of religion, Christianity is the most professed faith in Melbourne with 2,097,493 followers accounting for 62.3 per cent of residents. The largest Christian denominations are:

• Catholicism — 981,974 (29.2 per cent)
• Anglicanism — 458,848 (13.6 per cent)
• Greek Orthodoxy — 206,877 (6.2 per cent)

However the largest churches in Melbourne, are generally Assemblies of God:Wikipedia Article: List of the largest churches in Australia

• CityLife Church, Knox — 4,600 attending weekly (independent Pentecostal)
• Planetshakers — 3,000 attending weekly
• Faith! Christian Church — 2,000 attending weekly

According to further census data, Melbourne residents include:

• 106,570 Buddhism (3.2 per cent)
• 87,755 Islam (2.6 per cent)
• 37,779 Judaism (1.1 per cent)
• 23,334 Hinduism (0.7 per cent)

Melbourne is also home to the largest Jewish community in Oceania: four out of ten of History of the Jews in Australia (40.4 per cent) live in the metropolitan area. Melbourne also has the largest number of Holocaust survivors of any Australian city, Holocaust Remembrance in Australian Jewish Communities Judith Berman and the highest per capita concentration of holocaust survivors anywhere in the world except Israel.

Population growth {| class="wikitable" style="float:left; clear: right; margin:7px; text-size:80%; text-align:right"!align=center colspan=3| Melbourne
Urban density
(people/hectare)|-|1951 || 23.4Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme 1954, p. 23|-|1961 || 21.4Australian Bureau of Statistics 1961|-|1971 || 18.1Australian Bureau of Statistics 1971|-|1976 || 16.75Melbourne Social Atlas, 1976 (ABS)|-|1981 || 15.9Social Atlas, 1981|-|1986 || 16.05Soc. Atlas/"Supermap" Census Data, 1986|-|1991 || 16.8Social Atlas/Supermap, 1991|-|1996 || 17.9Department of Infrastructure, 1998|}

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; clear: right; margin:3px; text-size:80%; text-align:right"!align=center colspan=3| Melbourne
Population by year|-|1836 || 177 |||-|1851 || 29,000 |||-|1854 || 123,000|| (gold rush)|-|1860 || 140,000|||-|1880 || 280,000|| (property boom)|-|1890 || 490,000|||-|1956 || 1,500,000 |||-|1981 || 2,806,000 |||-|1991 || 3,156,700 || (economic slump)|-|2001 || 3,366,542 |||-|2004 || 3,592,975 |||-|2006 || 3,744,373 |||-|2021 || 4,400,000 || (projected)|-|2030 || > 5,000,000 || (projected)|}

Although Brisbane and Perth, Western Australia are growing faster in percentage terms, and Victoria's net interstate migration has fluctuated, the Melbourne statistical division has grown by approximately 50,000 people a year since 2003, more than any other Australian city. Attraction of a large proportion of overseas immigrants and interstate migration from Sydney due to more affordable housing are two recent key factors. The Resurgence of Marvellous Melbourne Trends in Population Distribution in Victoria, 1991-1996. Article by John O'Leary. Monash University Press In recent years, Melton, Victoria, City of Wyndham and City of Casey, part of the Melbourne statistical division, have recorded the highest growth rate of all Local Government Areas in Australias in Australia.

Melbourne's population density declined following World War II, with the private Automobile and the lures of space and property ownership causing an exodus to the suburbs, mainly to the east. After much discussion (both at general public and planning levels) in the 1980s, the decline has been reversed since the recession of the early 1990s, and the city has seen increased density in the inner and western suburbs. Since the 1970s, Victorian Government planning blueprints such as Postcode 3000 and Melbourne 2030 have aimed to curtail the urban sprawl.

Education is the largest in Australia, based in Melbourne it now has several international campuses.

Melbourne is home to some of the nation's oldest educational institutions, including the oldest Law school (1857), Engineering (1860), Medical school (1862), Dentistry (1897) and Music school (1891) schools, all at the University of Melbourne. The University of Melbourne is also the oldest university in Victoria and the second oldest university in Australia. St. Mary's Primary School, Williamstown, is the oldest school in Victoria and Scotch College, Melbourne (1851) is the oldest secondary school. Ormiston House, the junior school of Camberwell Girls Grammar School, established in 1848, is the oldest girls' primary school on the Australian mainland. Melbourne is home to the largest secondary school in Australia, Haileybury, Melbourne.

Melbourne's two largest and most prestigious tertiary institutions are the University of Melbourne and Monash University. Both are members of the Group of Eight (Australian universities). Melbourne University ranked second among Australian universities in the 2006 THES international rankings. While The Times Higher Education Supplement ranked the University of Melbourne as the 22nd best university in the world, Monash University was ranked the 38th best university in the world. Monash University is said to be Australia's largest University, based on student numbers.

Other universities located in Melbourne include La Trobe University, RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria University of Technology and the St Patrick's campus of the Australian Catholic University. Deakin University maintains two major campuses in Melbourne and Geelong, and is the third largest university in Victoria. In recent years, the number of international students at Melbourne's universities has risen rapidly, a result of an increasing number of places being made available to full fee paying students. University of Melbourne's international student offers rise - as its demand leaps

Although non-tertiary public education is free, 35% of students attend a private primary or secondary school.Australian Bureau of Statistics - Schools, 2005 The most numerous private schools are Catholic school, and the rest are Independent schools (see Public and Private Education in Australia). The most prestigious independent schools are members of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) or the Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria (AGSV). The main purpose of these two groups is sporting competition.Private schools achieve better results on average in the Victorian Certificate of Education (the final year certificate) than public schools. The exceptions to this rule are the two academically selective public high schools, Melbourne High School (Victoria) and MacRobertson Girls High School. Because of this, private school students dominate admissions into tertiary institutions.

Most high schools in Melbourne are called 'Secondary Colleges', a remnant of the Joan Kirner Australian Labor Party government. There are two selective public schools in Melbourne (mentioned above), but all public schools may restrict entry to students living in their regional 'zone'. Schools inequality calls for bold reform, The Age, October 17, 2003 How Much Do Public Schools Really Cost? Estimating the Relationship Between House Prices and School Quality, ANU, 6 August 2006

Culture , which has a capacity of over 100,000 people.

Melbourne is known as an Australian cultural and sport capital, and is the spiritual home of Australian rules football.

It has thrice The Age: "Melbourne 'world's top city'" - February 6, 2004 shared top position in a survey by The Economist of the World's Most Livable Cities on the basis of its cultural attributes, Melbourne#climate, cost of living, and social conditions such as crime rates and health care, in 2002, Melbourne and Vancouver are the world’s best cities to live in Economist Intelligence Unit (2002). 2004 and 2005. Vancouver Melbourne and Vienna named worlds most liveable cities Economist Intelligence Unit (2005).

The city celebrates a wide variety of annual cultural events, performing arts and architecture. Melbourne is also considered to be Australia's live music capital with a large proportion of successful Australian artists emerging from the Melbourne live music scene.

Infrastructure Health The Government of Victoria's Department of Human Services oversees approximately 30 public hospitals in the Melbourne metropolitan region, and 13 health services organisations. Melbourne public hospitals and Metropolitan Health Services Victorian Department of Health The major public hospitals are the Royal Melbourne Hospital, The Alfred Hospital and Austin Hospital, Melbourne, while major private hospitals include Epworth Hospital and St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne. The city is also home to major medical and biotechnology research centres such as St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, the Burnet Institute, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, The Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Baker Heart Institute and the Australian Synchrotron.

Transport

Melbourne has an integrated public transport system known as Metlink, originally laid out late in the 19th century when trains and trams were the primary methods of travelling to the suburbs. The 1950s saw an increase in private vehicles and freeway construction. The cars that ate Melbourne article from the Age This trend has continued with successive governments despite relentless traffic congestion. Bid to end traffic chaos Melbourne's traffic on the move? article from the ABC The result has been a significant drop in public transport modeshare from the 1940s level of around 25% to the current level of around 9%. Trial by public transport: why the system is failing article from The Age Melbourne's public transport system was privatization in 1999.

Trams in Melbourne is both one of the world's most extensive and the only one comprising more than a single line remaining in Australia, a distinctive feature of the city.Trams are not only a form of transport, but a tourist icon of Melbourne.Visitors are served by a free City Circle Tram, taking in many tourist sights and there is also a fleet of Colonial Tramcar Restaurant, the first of its kind in the world.

There are almost 300 bus routes and a mostly-electric train system with more than 15 lines.Flinders Street Station is a prominent Melbourne landmark and meeting place.In 1926 it was the world's busiest passenger station. Melbourne and scenes in Victoria 1925-1926 from Victorian Government Railways From the National Library of AustraliaThe city has rail connections with several regional cities in the state, as well as interstate rail services to Sydney and Adelaide, which depart from Melbourne's other major rail terminus, Southern Cross Station.

Melbourne has a high dependency on private cars for transport, with 7.1% of trips made by public transport. Most Liveable and Best Connected? The Economic Benefits of Investing in Public Transport in Melbourne, by Jan Scheurer, Jeff Kenworthy, and Peter Newman (Australian)However there has been a significant rise in patronage in the last two years mostly due to higher fuel prices. 2006 figures showed 12% cummute using public transport. Still Addicted to Cars from heraldsun.com.au Melbourne has a total of 3.6 million private vehicles using 22,320 km of road, and one of the highest lengths of road per capita. Most Liveable and Best Connected? The Economic Benefits of Investing in Public Transport in Melbourne, by Jan Scheurer, Jeff Kenworthy, and Peter Newman (Australian)Major highways feeding into the city include the Eastern Freeway, Monash Freeway and West Gate Freeway (which spans the spectacular Westgate Bridge), whilst other road systems include CityLink and the Western Ring Road, Melbourne, Calder Freeway, Tullamarine Freeway (main airport link) and the Hume Freeway which links Melbourne to Sydney.

The Port of Melbourne is Australia's largest container and general cargo port and also its busiest. In 2007, the port handled two million shipping containers in a 12 month period, making it one of the top five ports in the Southern Hemisphere. Port Of Melbourne Sets Shipping Record Station Pier in Port Phillip Bay handles cruise ships and the Spirit of Tasmania ferries which cross Bass Strait to Tasmania.

Melbourne has four airports. Melbourne Airport located at Tullamarine is the city's main international and domestic (Qantas and Virgin Blue and Jetstar) gateway. Tullamarine is the headquarters for low cost airlines Jetstar and Tiger Airways Australia. Avalon Airport, located between Melbourne and Geelong, is a secondary hub of Jetstar. It is also used as a freight and maintenance facility. {{Infobox Australian Place | type = city| name = Melbourne || state = vic || image = Melbourne locator-MJC.png || caption = Location of Melbourne in Australia [1835 ]| lga = Local Government Areas of Victoria#Municipalities of Greater Melbourne (31)| stategov = :Image:Vic inner regions.jpg (54)| fedgov = :Image:Map4.gif (23)| timezone = Australian Eastern Standard Time| utc = +10| timezone-dst= Australian Eastern Daylight Time| utc-dst = +11| location1= Adelaide| dist2= 876| location3= [Brisbane| dist4= 3412| maxtemp = 19.8| mintemp = 10.2| rainfall = 646.9-->Melbourne (pronounced ) is the second most populous city in [Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 3.74 million (2006 estimate). Regional Population Growth, Australia, 1996 to 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics, July 2007]Located around Port Phillip Bay in the country's south-east, Melbourne is the List of Australian capital cities of Victoria (Australia).

Melbourne is a major centre of commerce, industry and cultural activity.The city is often referred to as Australia's "sporting and cultural capital" Australian Government Culture and Recreation Portaland it is home to many of the nation's most significant cultural and sporting events and institutions.It has been recognised as a global city by the Loughborough University group's 1999 inventory.Melbourne is notable for its mix of Victorian architecture and contemporary architecture, its extensive Trams in Melbourne and Victorian Melbourne parks and gardens, and its diverse, multicultural society.It was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Melbourne was founded by free settlers in 1835, 47 years after the first European settlement of Australia, as a small pastoral settlement situated around the Yarra River.Transformed rapidly into a major metropolis by the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s, "Marvellous Melbourne" became Australia's largest and most important city by 1865, but was overtaken by Sydney as the largest city in Australia during the early 20th century.

Melbourne served as the capital city of Australia from the time of the new nation's Federation of Australia in 1901, until Federal Parliament of Australia moved to the new, purpose-built capital, Canberra, in 1927. When Melbourne was Australia’s capital city

History , one of the surviving grand buildings from the 1880s boom. , intersection of Swanston and Flinders Streets, 1927., commenced in 1955, was a powerful symbol of the 1956 Summer Olympics modern aspirations.

The area of the Yarra River and Port Phillip that is now Melbourne was first settled by the British in 1835. These settlers came from Launceston, Tasmania, Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land). The area was already inhabited by the Indigenous Australians Kulin people. A transaction was negotiated for 600,000 acres (2,400 km²) of land from eight Wurundjeri chiefs; this was later annulled by the New South Wales government (then governing all of eastern mainland Australia), which compensated the settlers.

In 1836, Governor Bourke declared the city the administrative capital of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales, and commissioned the first plan for the Hoddle Grid in 1837. The settlement was named Melbourne in the same year after the United Kingdom Prime Minister of the United Kingdom William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who resided in the village of Melbourne, Derbyshire in Derbyshire. Melbourne was declared a city by Queen Victoria on 25 June 1847.Melbourne the city's history and development, 2nd ed pg 5, Miles Lewis, 1995

The state of Victoria was established as a separate colony in 1851 with Melbourne as its capital. With the discovery of gold in Victoria in the 1850s, leading to the Victorian gold rush, Melbourne grew rapidly, providing the majority of Service industry and serving as the major port for the region. The city became a major finance centre, home to several banks and to Australia's first stock exchange (founded in 1861). During the 1880s Melbourne was one of the largest cities in the British Empire, and reputedly the richest city in the world.Robert B. Cervero, The Transit Metropolis: A Global Inquiry, 1998, Island Press, ISBN 1559635916, p.320 This period saw the construction of many high-rise Victorian buildings, Coffee Palaces, terrace house, grand boulevards and gardens throughout the city. Examples of this Victorian architecture still abound in Melbourne. So impressed was journalist George Augustus Henry Sala during his visit in 1885 that he coined the phrase "Marvellous Melbourne" to describe the booming city, a phrase which stuck and is used by its locals and the media to this day.

The brash boosterism which typified Melbourne during this time came to a halt in 1891 when a world Depression (economics) hit the city's economy, sending the finance and property industries into chaos. The effects of the depression on the city were profound, although it did continue to grow slowly during the early 20th century.

At the time of Australia's Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, Melbourne was specified as the temporary seat of government and remained the List of historical national capitals until 1927, when the Federal Australian Parliament was moved to the planned city of Canberra. The first Federal parliament was convened on 9 May 1901 in the Royal Exhibition Building.

Melbourne was the Allied Pacific Headquarters from 1942 to 1944 as General Douglas MacArthur established Australia as a launch base for Pacific operations. During World War II, Melbourne industries thrived on wartime production and the city became Australia's leading manufacturing centre. After the war, Melbourne expanded rapidly, with its growth boosted by an influx of Immigration to Australia and the prestige of hosting the 1956 Summer Olympics. Australia's mining boom between 1969 and 1970 proved beneficial to Melbourne, with the headquarters of many of the major companies (BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto Group and many others) based in the city. Nauru's booming mineral economy fuelled several ambitious investments in Melbourne such as Nauru House. Melbourne remained Australia's business and finance capital until the late 1970s, when it began to lose this primacy to Sydney.Elias, David Tell Melbourne it's over, we won The Sydney Morning Herald, December 31, 2003

Melbourne experienced the worst of Victoria's economic slump between 1989 to 1992. In 1992, a newly elected Victorian government began a campaign to restore the economy with an aggressive development campaign of public works and major events centred on Melbourne and the promotion of the city as a tourist destination. Major projects included the Melbourne Museum, Federation Square, the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, Crown Casino and CityLink tollway. Other strategies included the privatisation of some of Melbourne's services including power and public transport, and a reduction in funding to public services such as health and education.

Since 1997, Melbourne has maintained significant population and employment growth. There has been substantial international investment in the city's industries and Real estate, and 2006 figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that since 2000 Melbourne has sustained the highest population and Economic growth of any Australian capital city.Marino, Melissa; Colebatch, Tim Melbourne's population booms The Age, March 24, 2005accessed November 7, 2006

Geography . lined streets in Melbourne.Melbourne is located in the south-eastern part of mainland Australia. Geologically it is built on the confluence of Quaternary lava flows to the west, Silurian mudstones to the east City of Monash:Background Information accessed November 7, 2006 and Holocene sand accumulation to the southeast along Port Phillip. The city's suburbs extend along the Yarra Valley toward the Yarra Ranges and Dandenong Ranges to the east, down towards the Mornington Peninsula and the city of Frankston, along the Maribyrnong River and its tributaries north towards the foothills of the Macedon Ranges Shire, and along the flat volcanic plain country towards Werribee and Geelong to the south-west.

Urban structure Melbourne is typical of Australian capital cities in that after the turn of the century, it expanded with the underlying notion of a "quarter acre home and garden" for every family, often referred to locally as the Australian Dream. Much of Metropolitan area Melbourne is accordingly characterised by low density sprawl. The provision of an extensive railway and tram service in the earlier years of development encouraged this low density development, mostly in radial lines along the transport corridors.

The original city (known today as the central business district or CBD) is laid out in the mile-by-half-a-mile Melbourne central business district, its southern edge fronting onto the Yarra. The city centre is well known for its historic and attractive lanes and arcades which contain a variety of shops and cafes.Suzy Freeman-Greene, Melbourne's love affair with lanes , The Age, August 10, 2005, accessed September 21, 2007 The CBD and surrounds contain many historic buildings such as the Royal Exhibition Building, the Melbourne Town Hall and Parliament House.

Melbourne is often referred to as Australia's garden city, and the state of Victoria was once known as "the garden state". There is an abundance of Melbourne parks and gardens, many close to the Melbourne Central Business District with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways and tree-lined avenues. There are also many parks in the surrounding suburbs of Melbourne, such as in the municipalities of City of Stonnington, City of Boroondara and City of Port Phillip, south east of the CBD.

Climate Melbourne has a moderate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb).Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., 4, 439–473, 2007, 'Updated world map of the Koppen-Geiger climate classification system' accessed March 10, 2007 Melbourne's climate is notable for its changeable weather conditions. This is due in part to the city's flat topography, its situation on Port Phillip Bay, and the presence of the Dandenong Ranges to the east, a combination that creates weather systems that often circle the bay. The phrase "four seasons in one day" is part of popular culture and observed by many visitors to the city.

Melbourne is colder than most other Australian capital cities in winter. The lowest maximum on record is 4.4 degrees Celsius, on July 4, 1901.Waldon, Steve and Medew, Julia, 'Snow misses CBD lunch appointment' article from The Age dated August 10, 2005, accessed November 7, 2006 However, snowfalls are extremely rare: the most recent occurrence of sleet in the CBD was on July 25, 1986 and the most recent snowfalls in the Dandenongs were on August 10, 2005 Snow falls in Melbourne Sydney Morning Herald, August 10, 2005 accessed online November 7, 2006 and November 15, 2006. Rain hits the target from the Herald Sun There has not been a major snowfall in Melbourne since 1951, when moderate cover was recorded in both the CBD and suburbs.Waldon and Medew, loc. cit. More commonly, Melbourne experiences frosts and fog in winter.

During the spring (season), Melbourne commonly enjoys extended periods of mild weather and clear skies. Melbourne is also known to have hot, dry summers, with maximum temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. The hottest temperature on record was 45.6 degrees Celsius on 13 January 1939 during a four-day nationwide heat wave. Record heat and stupidity as Melbourne swelters, The Age, January 25 2003

In 2006, Melbourne, like most of Australia, experienced one of the worst droughts on record, with virtually no rainfall in September and October, despite October being on average the wettest month of the year. Higher than average temperatures were recorded. In a very rare occurrence, snow fell in more elevated parts of the metropolitan area on 25 December 2006, in the early stages of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

It was officially announced on May 15, 2007 that the previous 12 months had seen a record low rainfall. The official results of 316mm from May 16 2006 to May 15 2007 show the lowest amount of rainfall since records began in 1855. The normal average rainfall is 653.2mm. Because of this record low rainfall, Melbourne has experienced ever increasing levels of water restrictions for over 9 months.

{{Infobox Weather|metric_first= Yes |single_line= Yes |location = Melbourne|Jan_Hi_°C = 25.8|Feb_Hi_°C = 25.8|Mar_Hi_°C = 23.8|Apr_Hi_°C = 20.3|May_Hi_°C = 16.7|Jun_Hi_°C = 14.0|Jul_Hi_°C = 13.4|Aug_Hi_°C = 14.9|Sep_Hi_°C = 17.2|Oct_Hi_°C = 19.6|Nov_Hi_°C = 21.9|Dec_Hi_°C = 24.2|Year_Hi_°C = 19.8

|Jan_Lo_°C = 14.2|Feb_Lo_°C = 14.5|Mar_Lo_°C = 13.2|Apr_Lo_°C = 10.7|May_Lo_°C = 8.6|Jun_Lo_°C = 6.9|Jul_Lo_°C = 6.0|Aug_Lo_°C = 6.6|Sep_Lo_°C = 7.9|Oct_Lo_°C = 9.5|Nov_Lo_°C = 11.1|Dec_Lo_°C = 12.9|Year_Lo_°C = 10.2

|Jan_Precip_mm = 48.0|Feb_Precip_mm = 47.7|Mar_Precip_mm = 50.1|Apr_Precip_mm = 57.7|May_Precip_mm = 56.3|Jun_Precip_mm = 49.4|Jul_Precip_mm = 47.7|Aug_Precip_mm = 50.2|Sep_Precip_mm = 58.5|Oct_Precip_mm = 66.8|Nov_Precip_mm = 59.5|Dec_Precip_mm = 59.0|Year_Precip_mm = 650.9|source = Bureau of Meteorology {{cite web| url = http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_086071.shtml | title = Climate statistics for Australian locations | accessmonthday = Sept 5 | accessyear = 2007 | publisher=| language = English -->|accessdate = Sept 2007-->

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0 auto 0 auto; text-align:right"|+ Other daily elements|-!   !! Jan !! Feb !! Mar !! Apr !! May !! Jun !! Jul !! Aug !! Sep !! Oct !! Nov !! Dec !! Yearly|-! Mean number of rain days| 8.3 || 7.4 || 9.3 || 11.5 || 14.0 || 14.2 || 15.1 || 15.6 || 14.8 || 14.3 || 11.8 || 10.5 || 146.7|-! Mean number of clear days|6.3 || 6.3 || 5.7 || 4.4 || 3.0 || 2.5 || 2.7 || 2.9 || 3.4 || 3.6 || 3.5 || 4.4 || 48.5|-! Mean number of cloudy days|11.2 || 9.7 || 13.4 || 14.9 || 18.0 || 16.8 || 17.2 || 16.8 || 15.7 || 16.4 || 15.1 || 14.2 || 179.5|-| colspan="15" style="text-align: center;" | Source: Bureau of Meteorology|}

Government South Melbourne Town Hall. South Melbourne was the oldest of several municipalities which have since been amalgamated, List of Town Halls in Melbourne rivalled the Melbourne Town Hall in terms of size and grandeur.

The Melbourne City Council governs the City of Melbourne, which takes in the CBD and a few adjoining inner suburbs. However the head of the Melbourne City Council, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, is frequently treated as a representative of greater Melbourne (the entire metropolitan area),Dunstan, David The evolution of 'Clown Hall', The Age, November 12, 2004, accessed online November 7, 2006 particularly when interstate or overseas. The current Lord Mayor is John So.

The rest of the metropolitan area is divided into Local Government Areas of Victoria. All these are designated as Cities, except for five on the city's outer fringes which have the title of Shire. The local government authorities have elected councils and are responsible for a range of functions (delegated to them from the State Government of Victoria under the Local Government Act of 1989 Local Government Act 1989), such as urban planning and waste management.

Most city-wide government activities are controlled by the government of Victoria, which governs from Parliament House, Melbourne in Spring Street, Melbourne. These include public transport, main roads, traffic control, policing, education above preschool level, and planning of major infrastructure projects. Because three quarters of Victoria's population lives in Melbourne, state governments have traditionally been reluctant to allow the development of citywide governmental bodies, which would tend to rival the state government. The semi-autonomous Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works was abolished in 1992 for this reason. This is not dissimilar to other Australian states where State Governments have similar powers in greater metropolitan areas.

Economy . precinct and city skyline, viewed across Melbourne Docklands#Victoria Harbour from Melbourne Docklands#Waterfront City.

Melbourne is the southernmost city in the Globalization and World Cities group's 1999 inventory of global city and is home to many of Australia's largest corporations: Telstra, BHP Billiton, Australia_and_New_Zealand_Banking_Group and the National Australia Bank, and also to the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Council of Trade Unions and many of the companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Many multinational corporations (approximately one-third of the 100 largest multinationals operating in Australia as of 2002) also have their main Australian office in Melbourne. The demand for office space means that there are many tall buildings in Melbourne (although the tallest, the Eureka Tower (at 300m above street level) is mostly residential). The tallest Skyscraper, the Rialto Towers (251m above street level) is also the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere. Rialto Tower Both of these tall buildings house observation decks.

Melbourne is home to Australia's largest seaport and much of Australia's Automaker, which include Ford Motor Company and Toyota manufacturing facilities, and the engine manufacturing facility of Holden. It is also home to many other manufacturing industries. Business Victoria In mid-November 2006, Melbourne was host to the summit of G20 industrial nations finance ministers, amid violent protests.

Melbourne is also a major technology hub, with a strong Information and Communication Technology industry that employs over 60,000 people (one third of Australia's ICT workforce), has a turnover of AUD$19.8 billion, and has export revenues of AUD615 million. Industry Snapshot from Multimedia Victoria In a recent study, out of the world's 50 most influential financial cities, Melbourne was placed at number 34, ahead of major cities such as Dubai, Bangkok and KualaLumpur. http://www.mastercard.com/us/company/en/wcoc/pdf/index_2007_us.pdf

While Australia's financial services industry is generally centred in Sydney, Melbourne still has a significant presence. Two of the Big Four (banks) banks, NAB and ANZ, are headquartered in Melbourne. Within the area of money management, Melbourne has carved out a niche as Australia’s leading centre for Superannuation in Australia (pension) funds, with 40% of the total, and 65% of Industry superannuation. Funds Management Fact Sheet Melbourne is also home to the $40b Federal Government Future Fund.

Most recent major infrastructure projects, such as the redevelopment of Southern Cross Station (formerly Spencer Street Station), have been centred around the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which were held in the city from 15 March to 26 March 2006. The centrepiece of the Commonwealth Games projects was the redevelopment of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the stadium used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games. The project involved rebuilding the northern half of the stadium and laying a temporary athletics track at a cost of AUD434 million.

Construction began in February 2006 of a AUD1 billion 5000-seat international convention centre, Hilton Hotel and commercial precinct adjacent to the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre to link development along the Yarra River with the Southbank, Victoria and multi-billion dollar Melbourne Docklands redevelopment. Councillors furious about convention centre deal, The Age, May 1, 2006

International freight is an important industry to Melbourne. The Port of Melbourne, Australia's largest, handles more than A$75 billion in trade every year and 39% of the nation's container trade. Port Of Melbourne Sets Shipping Record Growth of Australia's largest port essential, The Age, December 18, 2004

Melbourne tourism plays an important role in Melbourne's economy, with approximately 7.6 million domestic visitors and 1.88 million international visitors in 2004. Melbourne Airport Passenger Figures Strongest on Record

Demographics ], established in 1854, is not only the oldest in Australia but one of the oldest in the world

Today Melbourne is a diverse and multicultural city. Almost a quarter of Victoria's population was born overseas, and the city is home to residents from 233 countries, who speak over 180 languages and dialects and follow 116 religious faiths. Victiorian Cultural Diversity Week

A person from Melbourne is referred to as a Melburnian.The variant spelling 'Melbournian' is sometimes found but is considered grammatically incorrect. The term 'Melbournite' is also sometimes used. Right Words: A Guide to English Usage in Australia. Stephen Murray-Smith. 2nd ed. Ringwood, Vic. Viking, 1989

Melbourne was transformed by the 1850s Australian gold rush; within months of the discovery of gold in August 1852, the city's population had increased by nearly three-quarters — from 25,000 to 40,000 inhabitants. Thereafter, growth was exponential and by 1865, Melbourne had overtaken Sydney as Australia's most populous city. The Snowy Mountains Scheme and Multicultural Australia By 1900, however, Sydney and Melbourne were the same size, and by 1902, a year after Australian federation, Sydney had overtaken Melbourne as the largest urban centre in Australia. Linking a Nation: Australia's Transport and Communications 1788 - 1970

In common with the rest of the continent, the earliest inhabitants of the broad area that later became Melbourne were Indigenous Australians — specifically, the Bunurong, Wurundjeri and Wathaurong peoples. Melbourne is still a centre of Aboriginal life — consisting of local groups and indigenes from other parts of Australia — with the Aboriginal community in the city numbering over 20,000 persons (0.6 per cent of the population).

Immigrants {| class="infobox" align=right|Major overseas born populationshttp://www.voma.vic.gov.au/web17/voma/rwpgslib.nsf/549C66914048D264CA2569D600063620/3BE8BA3F8A659FA3CA2570C00011B4D4/$File/Metro%20Melb%20local%20gov%20areas.pdf|-! Country of Birth || Population (2001)|-| Australia ] ||139,836|-| Italy ] ||55,859|-| Greece ] ||45,749|-| China ] ||29,439|-| Sri Lanka ] ||23,648|-| Germany ] ||20,507|}As with the rest of Australia, the first European settlers in Melbourne were Briton and Irish people. These two groups accounted for nearly all arrivals before the gold rush, and supplied the predominant number of Immigration to Australia to the city until the Second World War. (Indeed, Victoria — and Melbourne in particular — attracted a greater proportion of Irish Australian than other Australasian colonies.) Nonetheless, large numbers of Chinese Australian, German Australian and American Australian were to be found on the goldfields and subsequently in Melbourne. The various nationalities involved in the Eureka Stockade revolt nearby give some indication of the migration flows in the second half of the nineteenth century.

In the first half of the twentieth century, alongside the usual British and Irish migrants, Melbourne began to receive steady trickles of Italian Australian and Greek Australian, as did rural New South Wales and Western Australia. At the time, these inflows were considered insignificant, but with hindsight these early groups were effectively pioneers of two of the city's more numerous contemporary communities.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Melbourne experienced an unprecedented influx of arrivals from Mediterranean Europe — primarily Greece and Italy, but also Cyprus and Turkey. The sheer numbers of Greeks and Italians — and their Greek Australian and Italian Australian children — soon led to Melbourne being referred to as "the third largest Greek city in the world" or "largest Greek city out side of Greece" and "Little Italy". Certainly, Melbourne is the centre of Greek Australian life. According to the 2001 Census, there were 151,785 ethnic Greeks in the metropolitan area, although some estimates put this number close to 300,000. Nearly half of all Greek Australians call Melbourne home.

However, the Greek proportion of city's population (3.8 per cent) is in fact second to that of the Italian: in 2001, 247,719 persons stated they were of Italian ancestry, accounting for 31.0 per cent of all Italian Australians and 6.2 per cent of Melbourne's population. What is more, both groups are outnumbered by those claiming Australian — 959,822 persons or 24.0 per cent — English people — 929,314 persons or 23.2 per cent — or Irish Australian — 319,977 persons or 8.0 per cent — ancestry. Those claiming a Chinese Australian background are the sixth largest ethnic group in Melbourne, accounting for 146,287 census responses and 3.7 per cent of the city's total inhabitants. Vietnamese and Vietnamese Australians are also a significant presence in the city.

Birthplaces With regard to birthplace, a far higher proportion of Melbourne residents in 2001 were born overseas than the Australian average: 34.8 per cent compared to a national average of 23.1 per cent. In common with the rest of Australia, UK was the most commonly reported country of birth, with 158,139 responses (4.7 per cent). This was followed by Italy with 80,109 (2.4 per cent), Greece with 55,574 (1.7 per cent) and the People's Republic of China with 35,844 (1.1 per cent).

Languages and urban renewal since the 1970s

Linguistically, Melbourne is one of Australia's most diverse urban centres, though according to 2001 Census data, over two-thirds of people in Melbourne speak English language only at home — 2,316,755 persons or 68.8 per cent. Italian language is the second most common home language, spoken by 133,907 residents or 4.0 per cent. Greek language is third with 118,394 habitual users (3.5 percent) and the Chinese languages are fourth with 110,645 speakers (3.3 per cent). 84.2 per cent of those born overseas living in the city spoke English exclusively, "very well" or "well".

Religion In terms of religion, Christianity is the most professed faith in Melbourne with 2,097,493 followers accounting for 62.3 per cent of residents. The largest Christian denominations are:

• Catholicism — 981,974 (29.2 per cent)
• Anglicanism — 458,848 (13.6 per cent)
• Greek Orthodoxy — 206,877 (6.2 per cent)

However the largest churches in Melbourne, are generally Assemblies of God:Wikipedia Article: List of the largest churches in Australia

• CityLife Church, Knox — 4,600 attending weekly (independent Pentecostal)
• Planetshakers — 3,000 attending weekly
• Faith! Christian Church — 2,000 attending weekly

According to further census data, Melbourne residents include:

• 106,570 Buddhism (3.2 per cent)
• 87,755 Islam (2.6 per cent)
• 37,779 Judaism (1.1 per cent)
• 23,334 Hinduism (0.7 per cent)

Melbourne is also home to the largest Jewish community in Oceania: four out of ten of History of the Jews in Australia (40.4 per cent) live in the metropolitan area. Melbourne also has the largest number of Holocaust survivors of any Australian city, Holocaust Remembrance in Australian Jewish Communities Judith Berman and the highest per capita concentration of holocaust survivors anywhere in the world except Israel.

Population growth {| class="wikitable" style="float:left; clear: right; margin:7px; text-size:80%; text-align:right"!align=center colspan=3| Melbourne
Urban density
(people/hectare)|-|1951 || 23.4Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme 1954, p. 23|-|1961 || 21.4Australian Bureau of Statistics 1961|-|1971 || 18.1Australian Bureau of Statistics 1971|-|1976 || 16.75Melbourne Social Atlas, 1976 (ABS)|-|1981 || 15.9Social Atlas, 1981|-|1986 || 16.05Soc. Atlas/"Supermap" Census Data, 1986|-|1991 || 16.8Social Atlas/Supermap, 1991|-|1996 || 17.9Department of Infrastructure, 1998|}

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; clear: right; margin:3px; text-size:80%; text-align:right"!align=center colspan=3| Melbourne
Population by year|-|1836 || 177 |||-|1851 || 29,000 |||-|1854 || 123,000|| (gold rush)|-|1860 || 140,000|||-|1880 || 280,000|| (property boom)|-|1890 || 490,000|||-|1956 || 1,500,000 |||-|1981 || 2,806,000 |||-|1991 || 3,156,700 || (economic slump)|-|2001 || 3,366,542 |||-|2004 || 3,592,975 |||-|2006 || 3,744,373 |||-|2021 || 4,400,000 || (projected)|-|2030 || > 5,000,000 || (projected)|}

Although Brisbane and Perth, Western Australia are growing faster in percentage terms, and Victoria's net interstate migration has fluctuated, the Melbourne statistical division has grown by approximately 50,000 people a year since 2003, more than any other Australian city. Attraction of a large proportion of overseas immigrants and interstate migration from Sydney due to more affordable housing are two recent key factors. The Resurgence of Marvellous Melbourne Trends in Population Distribution in Victoria, 1991-1996. Article by John O'Leary. Monash University Press In recent years, Melton, Victoria, City of Wyndham and City of Casey, part of the Melbourne statistical division, have recorded the highest growth rate of all Local Government Areas in Australias in Australia.

Melbourne's population density declined following World War II, with the private Automobile and the lures of space and property ownership causing an exodus to the suburbs, mainly to the east. After much discussion (both at general public and planning levels) in the 1980s, the decline has been reversed since the recession of the early 1990s, and the city has seen increased density in the inner and western suburbs. Since the 1970s, Victorian Government planning blueprints such as Postcode 3000 and Melbourne 2030 have aimed to curtail the urban sprawl.

Education is the largest in Australia, based in Melbourne it now has several international campuses.

Melbourne is home to some of the nation's oldest educational institutions, including the oldest Law school (1857), Engineering (1860), Medical school (1862), Dentistry (1897) and Music school (1891) schools, all at the University of Melbourne. The University of Melbourne is also the oldest university in Victoria and the second oldest university in Australia. St. Mary's Primary School, Williamstown, is the oldest school in Victoria and Scotch College, Melbourne (1851) is the oldest secondary school. Ormiston House, the junior school of Camberwell Girls Grammar School, established in 1848, is the oldest girls' primary school on the Australian mainland. Melbourne is home to the largest secondary school in Australia, Haileybury, Melbourne.

Melbourne's two largest and most prestigious tertiary institutions are the University of Melbourne and Monash University. Both are members of the Group of Eight (Australian universities). Melbourne University ranked second among Australian universities in the 2006 THES international rankings. While The Times Higher Education Supplement ranked the University of Melbourne as the 22nd best university in the world, Monash University was ranked the 38th best university in the world. Monash University is said to be Australia's largest University, based on student numbers.

Other universities located in Melbourne include La Trobe University, RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria University of Technology and the St Patrick's campus of the Australian Catholic University. Deakin University maintains two major campuses in Melbourne and Geelong, and is the third largest university in Victoria. In recent years, the number of international students at Melbourne's universities has risen rapidly, a result of an increasing number of places being made available to full fee paying students. University of Melbourne's international student offers rise - as its demand leaps

Although non-tertiary public education is free, 35% of students attend a private primary or secondary school.Australian Bureau of Statistics - Schools, 2005 The most numerous private schools are Catholic school, and the rest are Independent schools (see Public and Private Education in Australia). The most prestigious independent schools are members of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) or the Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria (AGSV). The main purpose of these two groups is sporting competition.Private schools achieve better results on average in the Victorian Certificate of Education (the final year certificate) than public schools. The exceptions to this rule are the two academically selective public high schools, Melbourne High School (Victoria) and MacRobertson Girls High School. Because of this, private school students dominate admissions into tertiary institutions.

Most high schools in Melbourne are called 'Secondary Colleges', a remnant of the Joan Kirner Australian Labor Party government. There are two selective public schools in Melbourne (mentioned above), but all public schools may restrict entry to students living in their regional 'zone'. Schools inequality calls for bold reform, The Age, October 17, 2003 How Much Do Public Schools Really Cost? Estimating the Relationship Between House Prices and School Quality, ANU, 6 August 2006

Culture , which has a capacity of over 100,000 people.

Melbourne is known as an Australian cultural and sport capital, and is the spiritual home of Australian rules football.

It has thrice The Age: "Melbourne 'world's top city'" - February 6, 2004 shared top position in a survey by The Economist of the World's Most Livable Cities on the basis of its cultural attributes, Melbourne#climate, cost of living, and social conditions such as crime rates and health care, in 2002, Melbourne and Vancouver are the world’s best cities to live in Economist Intelligence Unit (2002). 2004 and 2005. Vancouver Melbourne and Vienna named worlds most liveable cities Economist Intelligence Unit (2005).

The city celebrates a wide variety of annual cultural events, performing arts and architecture. Melbourne is also considered to be Australia's live music capital with a large proportion of successful Australian artists emerging from the Melbourne live music scene.

Infrastructure Health The Government of Victoria's Department of Human Services oversees approximately 30 public hospitals in the Melbourne metropolitan region, and 13 health services organisations. Melbourne public hospitals and Metropolitan Health Services Victorian Department of Health The major public hospitals are the Royal Melbourne Hospital, The Alfred Hospital and Austin Hospital, Melbourne, while major private hospitals include Epworth Hospital and St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne. The city is also home to major medical and biotechnology research centres such as St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, the Burnet Institute, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, The Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Baker Heart Institute and the Australian Synchrotron.

Transport

Melbourne has an integrated public transport system known as Metlink, originally laid out late in the 19th century when trains and trams were the primary methods of travelling to the suburbs. The 1950s saw an increase in private vehicles and freeway construction. The cars that ate Melbourne article from the Age This trend has continued with successive governments despite relentless traffic congestion. Bid to end traffic chaos Melbourne's traffic on the move? article from the ABC The result has been a significant drop in public transport modeshare from the 1940s level of around 25% to the current level of around 9%. Trial by public transport: why the system is failing article from The Age Melbourne's public transport system was privatization in 1999.

Trams in Melbourne is both one of the world's most extensive and the only one comprising more than a single line remaining in Australia, a distinctive feature of the city.Trams are not only a form of transport, but a tourist icon of Melbourne.Visitors are served by a free City Circle Tram, taking in many tourist sights and there is also a fleet of Colonial Tramcar Restaurant, the first of its kind in the world.

There are almost 300 bus routes and a mostly-electric train system with more than 15 lines.Flinders Street Station is a prominent Melbourne landmark and meeting place.In 1926 it was the world's busiest passenger station. Melbourne and scenes in Victoria 1925-1926 from Victorian Government Railways From the National Library of AustraliaThe city has rail connections with several regional cities in the state, as well as interstate rail services to Sydney and Adelaide, which depart from Melbourne's other major rail terminus, Southern Cross Station.

Melbourne has a high dependency on private cars for transport, with 7.1% of trips made by public transport. Most Liveable and Best Connected? The Economic Benefits of Investing in Public Transport in Melbourne, by Jan Scheurer, Jeff Kenworthy, and Peter Newman (Australian)However there has been a significant rise in patronage in the last two years mostly due to higher fuel prices. 2006 figures showed 12% cummute using public transport. Still Addicted to Cars from heraldsun.com.au Melbourne has a total of 3.6 million private vehicles using 22,320 km of road, and one of the highest lengths of road per capita. Most Liveable and Best Connected? The Economic Benefits of Investing in Public Transport in Melbourne, by Jan Scheurer, Jeff Kenworthy, and Peter Newman (Australian)Major highways feeding into the city include the Eastern Freeway, Monash Freeway and West Gate Freeway (which spans the spectacular Westgate Bridge), whilst other road systems include CityLink and the Western Ring Road, Melbourne, Calder Freeway, Tullamarine Freeway (main airport link) and the Hume Freeway which links Melbourne to Sydney.

The Port of Melbourne is Australia's largest container and general cargo port and also its busiest. In 2007, the port handled two million shipping containers in a 12 month period, making it one of the top five ports in the Southern Hemisphere. Port Of Melbourne Sets Shipping Record Station Pier in Port Phillip Bay handles cruise ships and the Spirit of Tasmania ferries which cross Bass Strait to Tasmania.

Melbourne has four airports. Melbourne Airport located at Tullamarine is the city's main international and domestic (Qantas and Virgin Blue and Jetstar) gateway. Tullamarine is the headquarters for low cost airlines Jetstar and Tiger Airways Australia. Avalon Airport, located between Melbourne and Geelong, is a secondary hub of Jetstar. It is also used as a freight and maintenance facility.

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Melbourne (pronounced /ˈmelbən/) is the second most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 3.8 million (2007 estimate). [1]

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