Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia, the capital of Victoria, with the reputation of "Garden State" and an important industrial town in Australia. Melbourne is famous for its greening, fashion, food, entertainment, culture and sports activities. Melbourne's green coverage rate is as high as 40%. Victorian architecture, trams, various theaters, galleries, museums, tree-lined gardens and streets constitute Melbourne's elegant style.

Melbourne is a city full of vitality and joy. Although it is not as gorgeous as Sydney, the largest city, it is not as quiet as other small cities in Australia. From the diversity of culture and art to the beauty of nature, Melbourne can be said to be the highest in Australia in satisfying sensory entertainment, with its own characteristics in art, culture, entertainment, food, shopping and commerce. Melbourne has successfully integrated humanity and nature, and has been selected as "the most livable city in the world" by the Washington-based Population Action International for many years.

Geographical climate

Melbourne, located in the southeast of Australia, is a port city with a total area of 6,000 square kilometers. Melbourne's climate is subtropical and temperate, with the temperature generally maintained at 3 degrees above zero-15 degrees in winter and mostly between 20-35 degrees in summer. In summer, people like to go to the seaside to play. In hot summer, the maximum temperature during the day can reach above 40 degrees Celsius.

Due to the geographical location and ocean currents, the temperature difference between day and night in Melbourne is quite large. In summer, even if the temperature reaches more than 30 degrees during the day, the temperature will drop to about 12 degrees at night. So the temperature in Melbourne is said to be "four seasons a day". Melbourne is not too cold in winter. In winter, the daytime temperature is generally above 10 degrees Celsius, and it doesn't snow in winter. But there are many mountains around Melbourne, and there is snow on the cold mountains in winter, so the mountains near Melbourne are good places to ski in winter.

Demographic situation

Melbourne now has a population of about 3.7 million (200 1 the result of Australian census is more than 3.24 million), and it is a city inhabited by immigrants. Most new immigrants to Australia have gone to Melbourne and Sydney. Now (data in 2007), about 10 million new immigrants arrive in Australia every year, and about one third of them settle in Melbourne. Immigrants started a new life in Melbourne, but they also brought their own national traditions and habits. One third of Melbourne's residents are immigrants from outside Australia, and as many as 70 languages are spoken in Melbourne. Besides English, I can speak Greek, Italian, French, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Lebanese and Korean. People of different races live together and have different styles in living habits, festivals and restaurants, which brings rich multicultural interests to Melbourne.

The development of history

Before 1835, Melbourne was basically uninhabited. 1840 The population of Melbourne is 1 10,000. 185 1 year, a gold mine was discovered in Melbourne, and a large number of people from all over the world came to Melbourne for gold, including a large number of China workers. Due to the gold rush, the population of Melbourne grew rapidly. The population of 185 1 year was 29,000, and by 1854, it had reached123,000, which eclipsed San Francisco, which is extremely rich in gold. Therefore, Melbourne is called "New Golden Mountain" by Chinese, and there are still many Chinese-run schools there.

Melbourne is an important industrial town in Australia, where there are heavy machinery, textiles, paper making, electronics, chemicals, metalworking, automobiles, clothing, food and other industries. Is booming and highly modernized. Commerce, finance and transportation are very developed. Melbourne also has a modern busy port, Melbourne Port.

Former capital

From 190 1 to 1927, Melbourne was the capital of Australia for 26 years. 190 1 year, after the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia, Melbourne was the capital of Australia, which was more prosperous than Sydney at that time. With the increasing prosperity of Sydney, Sydney citizens very much hope that Sydney will become the capital of Australia. The Australian government later decided to build a new city Canberra between Sydney and Melbourne as the new capital. 1927, Australia moved its capital to Canberra. Interestingly, the new capital is not located in the center of Sydney and Melbourne. It is about four hours' drive from Sydney and seven hours' drive from Melbourne. Canberra is a newly planned city with beautiful design. For other details about Canberra, please refer to the encyclopedia entry "Canberra".

As Melbourne used to be the capital of Australia, there are many interesting historical buildings in Melbourne, such as the former Parliament Building and the former Supreme Court. This is a good place for tourists who like to visit historical buildings.

sports event

Melbourne is the capital of sports events. It has hosted the Summer Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and World Swimming Championships, and is also the city that hosts the world-famous Australian Open and Formula One racing every year.

1956 Melbourne Olympic Games

Melbourne is a prosperous city in the southern hemisphere, which is more prosperous than Sydney, the largest city in Australia at present. As early as 1956 (165438+122 October to 65438+8 February), Melbourne hosted the16th Summer Olympic Games, which was held in the southern hemisphere for the first time, with 33/kloc-from 72 countries and regions. There were many tidbits in that Olympic Games. For example, due to Australian laws, animals must undergo quarantine for six months before they can be released, which makes it difficult to hold equestrian events. As a result, the equestrian events of this Olympic Games were held in Stockholm, Sweden, which is the first summer Olympic Games held in two continents at the same time.

There are many historic innovations in this Olympic Games, including the first flight of the flame from Olympia to Australia. Another innovation is that at the closing ceremony, athletes from all countries and regions entered the stadium hand in hand, which symbolizes the great unity of athletes from all over the world, regardless of your country or region.

australian open

The Australian Open is one of the four major international tennis events and the first grand slam event every year. It is held in Melbourne in the last two weeks of January every year. The Australian Open has a history of 100 years. The organizer of the tournament is the Australian Tennis Association. In 2007, the prize money of the Australian Open men's singles and women's singles champions was A $654.38+02,000 (about US$ 654.38+065.438+ 10,000) respectively.

Since the first session of 1905, the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and New Zealand (New Zealand is a particularly friendly country with Australia). Later, due to the growing criticism from all walks of life about the uncertainty of the venue, in 1972, the organizer decided to hold the competition in a city that would attract sponsors and spectators the most. As a result, the Australian Open returned to Melbourne, where it was born, and settled permanently.

Formula One Australian Grand Prix

The world-famous Formula One racing (F 1 Formula) is held in cities of 17 countries in turn every year, and the first race of the race is held in Melbourne every year, usually in March every year. Interestingly, the driveway of the racing car is surrounded by Albert Park Lake, a beautiful lake in Melbourne. This driveway is usually open to the public (the speed limit is 50 km/h), but it will be closed for three weeks before and after the Formula One race every year. On other days except these three weeks, Melbourne residents can usually drive cars on the track of Formula One racing, which is rare in other cities where Formula One racing is held.

the Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games, formerly known as the British Empire Games, was held in 1930. It is held every four years, alternating with the Summer Olympics. Only athletes from Commonwealth member countries, associated countries and Britain can participate in the competition. In 2006, 18 Commonwealth Games was held in Melbourne, with 4,500 athletes from 7/kloc-0 countries and regions participating.

World swimming championships

This is the World Swimming Championships sponsored by FINA, and Melbourne is the host city of the 2007 World Swimming Championships.

In addition, Melbourne is the birthplace of Australian regular football (born in 1858) and the venue of the annual Australian regular football finals, and the annual Melbourne Cup horse race is also held in Melbourne.