2013 marked the 100th anniversary of Canberra as Australia’s capital city. After a lot of debate and searching for potential locations, Canberra became the site for the nation’s capital in 1908 by way of a ballot in Parliament.
Consisting then of only farming lands, in 1911 an international competition was held for a design of the city. The competition attracted 137 national and international entries. In May of 1912 the couple Walter and Marion Griffin of Chicago, United States, were announced as the competition winners. The official ‘Laying of the Foundation Stones and Naming Ceremony’ took place on Capital Hill, 12th March 1913. This day is now celebrated as Canberra Day. The name Canberra comes from the indigenous peoples whom have lived in the area for over 20,000 years meaning ‘meeting place.’
Canberra is the urban centre of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). 53 per cent of the total area of the territory is preserved as parks and reserves giving Canberra the nick-name, ‘The Bush Capital.’
Amongst the Australian population and international visitors, Canberra is considered boring and soulless. Two reasons for this are thought to be a lack of nightlife and the separation of the districts creating a lack of a sense of community. As well as politics, Canberra is also known as the home of porn, pot and pyrotechnics: brothels are legal in designated industrial neighbourhoods, and supermarkets dealing solely in pornographic material exist in these neighbourhoods too; marijuana is decriminalized; and until a few years ago fireworks were legal to buy in the ACT.
Today, in 2022, Canberra is a thriving modern city of around 467,000 people. The city has many distinct autonomous districts connected by motorway through forest, making everything within a 30 minute drive away. Each district has its own attractions, shopping centres, bars and restaurants, and recreation facilities. Many of Canberra’s older suburbs are named after Australian ex-prime ministers.
There are few capital cities in the world where bush and parkland is so integral to the city plan. Because of this, kangaroos are a common sight in many parts of the city.
Whilst Canberra has all the benefits of being national park – only a 45 minute drive from the city centre and one can be surrounded by nature reserves – it is also only a three hour drive north to the bright lights of Sydney, two hours east to the coast and its beaches, and in winter only two hours south to the ski fields.
Canberra is home to many national monuments, galleries and museums: Parliament House; the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House; the National Library; the National Science & Technology Centre; the Australian History Museum; the Australian War Memorial; the Australian National Botanic Gardens; the Australian National Gallery, the Australian Institute of Sport, and many more.
Another characteristic of Canberra is its countless number of roundabouts at road intersections, thus many people call the capital ‘the circular city.’ The joke goes that this is why there are licensed brothels as there are no corners for the women to stand on.
(I've uploaded some photos to my photo gallery here.)
