| Melbourne
is the state capital and largest city in the Australian
state of Victoria, and the second-largest city in Australia
(after Sydney), with a population of approximately 3.8
million (2006 estimate) in the Melbourne metropolitan
area and 69,670 in the City of Melbourne (which covers
only the central city area).
The city's name is pronounced as either
/mel.bn/ or /mæl.bn/. Melbourne was the capital
city of Australia from 1901 until 1927.
Melbourne is the business capital of
Australia and is often declared to be one of the most
liveable cities in the world. Melbourne is home to Australia's
three largest corporations, Telstra, BHPBilliton and the
National Australia Bank. It is also home to the Business
Council of Australia, the Australian Council of Trade
Unions and the majority of companies listed on the Australian
Stock Exchange.
Melbourne is also home to Australia's
biggest events including: The Melbourne
Cup, Australian F1 Grand Prix, Australian Open, AFL
Grand Final and MotoGP Motorcycle Grand Prix, and
will host the Commonwealth Games in 2006. The city also
hosted the first Olympics in the southern hemisphere in
1956.
Melbourne has twice ranked first in
a survey by The Economist of The World's Most Livable
Cities on the basis of its cultural attributes, climate,
cost of living, and social conditions such as crime rates
and health care, once in 2002, and again in 2004. The
US's Utne Reader puts it thus: "Add a long tradition
of civic pride, communities of new immigrants from around
the world, and the best food in Australia, and you have
a recipe for what many claim is the hippest city in the
Southern Hemisphere" (Nov/Dec 2001).
Melbourne has undergone a major urban
'revival', such that it is sometimes classed as being
in a second tier of "world cities"; the GaWC
study group in the UK ranks Melbourne, on the basis of
relative availability of specialised "advanced services,"
as a "minor world city" comparable to cities
such as Montreal, Osaka, and Prague. It has one of the
highest numbers of international students studying in
its universities, after London, New York City, and Paris.
Information courtesy of Wikipedia.
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