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Canberra is the capital city of Australia. About 325 000 people live in the city.
image above used with permission http://www.globalimage.com.au
The city covers an area of 805 square kilometres. The city is built on a plain at the foot of the Australian Alps at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory. (ACT)
The first people to live in the area were the Aboriginal people. They had occupied the land for thousands of years before European settlers arrived. The Ngunnawal people lived on the land in the Canberra area. They hunted animals on the plains and in the mountain gullies. They also caught eels, fish and yabbies and ate plants as well as the Bogong moths which were plentiful in summer.
European settlement began in 1820s and there was conflict between settlers and the Ngunnawal people whose land was taken and whose lifestyle was disrupted. Many Aborigines worked as stockmen and on farms. By the 1900s when planning began for the development of Canberra most of the Ngunnawal people were living on government reserves.
The city was officially named in 1913. Canberra is thought to be an old Aboriginal word meaning 'meeting place'.
The Australian War Memorial in Canberra
The city is run
by the ACT Legislative Assembly which is elected by the people
of the city and all other people who live in the ACT. The Parliament
of Australia is in Canberra.
Australia's Parliament meets in Parliament House.
A competition was held in 1911 for a design for the city. Architect, Walter Burley Griffin won the competition and came to oversee construction from 1913 - 1920. Canberra is a modern city with many open garden spaces and parklands. Few people live in the city centre. Most live in houses or units in suburbs that surround the city. There are large shopping centres with cinemas located in the suburbs.
The weather in Canberra is temperate, which means that the summers are warm and the winters are cold. During the summer the average high temperature is about 26C. In winter the average temperature is about 10C.
About one out
of every three people who work in Canberra work for the government.
The city is a popular
tourist destination and a large number of people are employed
in industries such as hotels, restaurants and tour bus companies
which cater for the thousands of tourists. The city has many museums
and galleries.
Floriade is a popular Canberra garden and arts festival and thousands of people visit it.
Go here to read more about Australia's capital
and here...http://www.nationalcapital.gov.au/
The
Australian War Memorial is in Canberra. Go here to find
out about it.
http://www.awm.gov.au/
If you use any
of this information in your own work acknowledge this source in
your bibliography like this:
Thomas, Ron & Sydenham, Shirley. Canberra,
Australia [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2009)
go to Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Darwin, Brisbane,
or go
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July 2009 copyright © kidcyber [2009]