Melbourne Tourist Information

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About Melbourne Australia
Melbourne is the capital of the Australian state of Victoria. Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia and is known for its fanatical sports fans, the Melbourne Cup, large natural harbour (Port Phillip), multicultural population and culture.

The Melbourne CBD, or City Centre is one of the world's most beautiful with 1800's gold rush architecture, wide streets and is also know as the Garden CIty. The population of Melbourne is in excess of four million people.

The city is situated around the huge bay called Port Phillip, while the Yarra River flows through the city itself and is adjacent to the Centre of Melbourne offering office workers and residents lovely walkways and parks along its banks.

Melbourne is a new city, being founded in 1835. Governor Richard Bourke named the settlement in 1837 after William Lamb who was the second Viscount Melbourne.

The Queen Victoria declared Melbourne a city in 1847 and it became the capital of Victoria in 1851. The 1850's gold rush in Victoria transformed the city into one of the greatest wealthiest cities in the World.

Australian states joined together in 1901 under the Commonwealth of Australia and Melbourne was the home of the Australian Federal Government until 1927 when the new parliament house was opened in Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory.

Melbourne is a home of culture, arts, edcation, entertainment, sport, commerce and tourism. Melbourne is famous for its sports, television, art and a new dance style such as the Melbourne Shuffle. Melbourne is regarded as the cultural capital of Australia.

Melbourne is rated as one of the world's best Cities by the Economist Group's Intelligence Unit and has been so since 2002 ranking at number 3 in the World.

Melbourne is home to the largest tram network in the world and this has shaped the culture and appearance of the city with tram lines and overhead cables decorating the city. Trams are cheap and reach most destinations in Melbourne. Tullamarine Airport of otherwise known as Melbourne Airport offers international flights to most destinations.

Sport in Melbourne
Melbourne hosted the Olympic Games in 1956. It was the first Olympic Games to be held in Australia and also the first to be held in the Southern Hemisphere. The Commonwealth Games were also held in Melbourne in 2006.

Melbourne is one of the world most fanatical sports cities. Melbourne is home to three major sporting events on the global sporting calendar. The Melbourne Cup which is one of the richest horse races, The Australian Open Tennis tournament and Australian Grand Prix Formula One motor race. It is regarded as the World's Ultimate Sports City. There is the Melbourne Cricket Ground which regularly sees crowds of in excess of 100,000 people watching Cricket and AFL.

AFL (Australian rules football) and cricket are attended by the most people in Melbourne. The Cricket Test Match in Melbourne and The AFL Grand Final see massive crowds and the city is transformed during these sporting events into a carnivale type atmosphere.

There are other major sporting clubs playing in National Competitions such as Soccer Club, Melbourne Victory and the Melbourne Heart. There is the Rugby League's Melbourne Storm who compete in the the National Rugby League competition and also the Melbourne Rebels who play in the Rugby Union Super 15's. The Melbourne Vixens play in the Netball ANZ Championship, plus the Melbourne Tigers play in the NBL Basketball competition.

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