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image above used with permission http://www.globalimage.com.au
Melbourne is the capital city of the state of Victoria. About 3.5 million people live in the city. The city covers an area of 6109 square kilometres and is built on the Yarra River and Port Phillip Bay.
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 Woiworung people, consisting of 5 clans, including the Wurundjeri, claimed the area around the Yarra River.
The first European settlers were led by John Batman who signed a treaty with the Woiworung in 1835.
The city was officially named in 1837, after Lord Melbourne who was the British prime minister at the time.
The city is run by a city council, elected by the people of the city. A Lord Mayor leads the city council. The Parliament of Victoria is in Melbourne.
The weather in
Melbourne is temperate, which means that it is rarely very hot
or very cold. During the summer the average temperature is about
26C and the city is kept cool by breezes from Port Phillip Bay.
However, north winds sometimes push the temperature into the high
30C for several days in a row. In winter the average temperature
is about 14C and rarely falls below 10C. However southerly winds
add a chill factor to the cold of 
winter.
Terraced houses, dating from the 19th Century are a feature of suburbs close to Melbourne
Melbourne is the business centre for Victoria and is a modern city. It is famous in Australia for its thousands of hectares of parks and gardens which surround the city to the north and east.
Queen Victoria garden
Every day thousands of people travel to Melbourne
by tram, bus and train to work, shop or find entertainment in
the city.
Flinders Street Railway station, Melbourne
In the foreground a Melbourne tram. Trams travel in all directions from the city to the suburbs along 216 kilometres of track
A popular sport in Melbourne is Australian
Rules Football
Go here to read about Melbourne in more
detail
http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/
Read about the State of Victoria here: http://www.victoria.org.au/
Acknowledge
this source in your bibliography like this:
Melbourne,
Australia (2005).
[Online], Available: www.kidcyber.com.au
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updated October 2006