Melbourne (Australia)

I

Introduction

Melbourne (Australia), capital city of the state of Victoria, in southeastern Australia, located on Port Phillip Bay at the mouth of the Yarra River. Melbourne is Australia’s second most populous city, after Sydney, and is a major economic, cultural, and administrative center. Sea breezes from Port Phillip Bay temper Melbourne’s hottest months (January and February when the average maximum temperature is 26°C/79°F). Melbourne’s winters are also mild.

II

Melbourne and Its Metropolitan Area

The Melbourne metropolitan area, which is what most Australians mean when they refer to the city of Melbourne, covers an area of more than 6,000 sq km (more than 2,300 sq mi). The city proper, a small section in the center of the metropolis, covers only a few square kilometers. The city center occupies a compact area on the northern bank of the Yarra and is laid out in a grid between La Trobe and Flinders streets to the north and south, respectively, and Spencer and Spring streets to the west and east, respectively. High-rise buildings have replaced Melbourne’s formerly low-rise skyline, though the central area remains famous for its 19th-century architecture, including Gothic-style churches, neoclassical public buildings, and terraced houses decorated with cast iron. The terrain rises steeply on the east side of the city center, where Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Parliament House, the Treasury, and the Fitzroy Gardens are found. On the southern bank of the Yarra the Victorian Arts Centre adds the Victorian Arts Centre to the charm of the city’s southern entrance along Saint Kilda Road. The complex is home to the National Gallery of Victoria, the Melbourne Concert Hall, and the Theatres Building.

Eureka Tower, a 91-story residential skyscraper located in Melbourne’s docklands, was completed in 2006. The tower ranks as one of the tallest apartment buildings in the world, rising to a height of 297 m (975 ft). Rialto Towers, located in Melbourne’s Central Business District, is another imposing skyscraper with 63 stories and a height of 251 m (824 ft).

Greater Melbourne sprawls east and west around the shores of Port Phillip Bay and extends inland to the Dandenong Ranges in a vast network of suburbs. The suburbs include the inner-city, formerly working-class areas of Richmond, Collingwood, and Fitzroy; distant bayside areas such as Mordialloc, Frankston, and Mornington; and the once semirural retreats in the foothills of the Dandenongs like Fern Tree Gully, Nunawading, and Belgrave. The satellite city Geelong lies 65 km (40 mi) southwest of Melbourne.

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Melbourne’s parks include the Domain, the Victoria and Alexandra Gardens, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, among the finest of their kind in the world. Established in 1845, the Royal Botanic Gardens are stocked with more than 10,000 species of plants, trees, and shrubs. Melbourne is distinguished from other Australian cities in its use of trams (streetcars) for public transportation. Quaint, older trams, whose historical importance has been recognized by the National Trust, operate within a fleet of brightly painted, quieter, and modernized trams.

III

Economy

Industries of the Melbourne metropolitan area range from shipbuilding and petroleum refining along Port Phillip Bay to the manufacture of metals, motor vehicles, electrical and electronic equipment, machinery, chemicals, printed materials, textiles, clothing, paper, and processed food. Broken Hill Propietary Company, Ltd. (BHP), Australia’s largest company, has its headquarters in Melbourne. BHP manufactures steel and operates mines. National Australian Bank and Pacific Dunlop, a manufacturer and distributor of various consumer goods, are also based in Melbourne. Road and rail networks focus on the city, and a large international airport is in nearby Broadmeadows.

IV

Population

Greater Melbourne has a population (2006) of 3,592,591. Since the 1960s large numbers of southern European and Asian immigrants have come to the city, giving it Australia’s greatest concentration of Italians and significant numbers of Lebanese, Vietnamese, Greeks, Chinese, Irish, and Jews. The immigrants have contributed to a huge social, architectural, and cultural transformation of the city. Melbourne’s Aboriginal residents make up about 0.2 percent of the population.

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