Wednesday, June 12, 2013

#819 Canberra, Australia

Melbourne, Victoria and Sydney, New South Wales fought over who would have the capital-ship of Australia, so a compromise was made, and it is its own territory, belonging to neither. It is a federal area (Australia Capital Territory - A.C.T.) controlled by the government, but with no state government, similar to Washington, DC, although it does have voting representatio

I always found the design of Canberra amazing. Like Brazilia in Brazil, it was created as a capital from scratch-- it did not naturally become a city organically. Canberra's design is a cool topographicsusing shape with the center being the Parliamentary Triangular, with its point being on the top of a hill, and it includes other geometric designs such as hexagons and circles.

Cool facts:

-It is Australia's largest inland city.

-Its population is quite small for a national capital... Only 347000 people

-Its site was selected in 1908

-Its design came from an international competition which was won by a Chicago firm

-Canberra means 'meeting place' in the language of the local Ngabri tribe, although one man in the 1860s claimed it translated from the word meaning between a woman's breasts

-Archaeological evidence shows in habitation of the area going back 21,000 years

-Building of the city was significantly hindered by the Great Depression

-2013 will see many centenary celebrations of its naming ceremon

-It covers an area of 814 square kilometers

-While snow is rare in the downtown area, it is a common site on the surrounding hills in winter and its lowest recorded temperature was -10 degrees in 1971

-Lake Burley Griffin was named after the city's American architect

-Aside from the various government buildings, it is also the home of ABC tv and many other important organizations.