Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital city of the state of Victoria, located in the coutry's south-east and is home to over 70% of all Victorians, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 3.7 million. Founded by free-settlers in 1835, and named after lord Melbourne William Lamb also Prime Minister of Great Bitain at the time, 47 years after the first European settlement of Australia, Melbourne was transformed from a small pastoral settlement situated around the Yarra River into a growing metropolis by the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s. By 1865, "Marvellous Melbourne" was Australia's most populous and important city. It served as the temporary national capital from the Federation of Australia in 1901 until the construction of Canberra in 1927. Today, Melbourne is a major centre of commerce, industry and cultural activity. Often referred to as the "cultural capital of Australia", the "sporting capital of Australia" and the "fashion capital" it is home to many of Australia's major annual sporting and cultural events such as the ALF Grand Final, Australian Grand Prix, the Australian Open, the Melbourne Cup and was the host of the 1956 Summer Olympics, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2007 FINA World Chapinonships. Melbourne is renowned for its Victorian architecture including the World Heritage Royal Exhibition Building as well as its notable landmarks which include the iconic Flinders Street Station, the MCG, and the extensive tram network, the third largest in the world and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere as well as Chadston the largest shoping center and Eureka Tower the talest resadentional building in the Southern Hemisphere. Melbourne has been voted the World's Most Liveable City on a number of occasions and Lord Mayor John So was named World Mayor for 2006