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Melbourne

City in AustraliaMelbourne lies in south-eastern Australia, around the northern and eastern shores of Port Phillip Bay. The bay opens to Bass Strait through a narrow channel called The Rip, and the city began on the north bank of the Yarra River.

What it's known for

Melbourne is the capital of the state of Victoria. The gold rush of the 1850s made it grow very fast, and by 1865 it had passed Sydney as Australia's most populous city. It hosts big sports events such as the Australian Open and the Australian Grand Prix, and is known for street art, live music and theatre.

Fun facts

  1. The settlement was named in 1837 after William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who was the British Prime Minister.
  2. In the local Aboriginal languages, the Port Phillip area was known as Narrm or Naarm.
  3. The 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne were the first Olympic Games held in the Southern Hemisphere.

Finding it on the globe

Look at Australia's south-east coast, across Bass Strait from Tasmania: Melbourne wraps around the top of a big, almost round bay, about 710 km south-west of Sydney.

Easy to mix up

Melbourne was Australia's interim seat of government from 1901, until Canberra became the permanent capital in 1927.

Sources: Wikipedia: Melbourne, Wikipedia: Port Phillip, Wikipedia: 1956 Summer Olympics