Canberra is Australia's capital city and resides in as the only major
town or city inside the Australian Capital Territory. Canberra is Australia's
youngest city, being proclaimed once the ACT was formed in 1912. The design
for the city was won in an international competition by an American architect,
Walter Burley Griffin. Growth was slow in the ACT from the start til the
1950's when the Federal Government injected huge amounts of money into
Canberra to make it a recognised capital city with the construction of
many of Canberra's national buildings, and the damming of Molonglo River
to become Lake Burley Griffin. The Government departments that were in
Melbourne and Sydney were shifted to Canberra, reluctantly - however, this
along with the new Parliament House in 1988 completed Burley Griffin's
city plan.
Today Canberra and its residents are in perhaps the only fully planned
city and the highest standard of living. The amenities and facilities that
are offered by Canberra are exceptional and far beyond those offered by
any other city of similar size in the world. The city's road infrastructure
is superb making it the easiest city to traverse by car, and Canberra is
set amongst many standout mountains meaning a view of any part of the city
is not hard to reach.
Canberra offers many attractions to tourists - The Telstra Tower on
Black Mountain captures the eye immediately, along with the list of national
buildings. These include the Australian War Memorial, National Gallery,
Old and new Parliament House, High Court, National Library, Questacon,
National Museum and the Carillion. To the west of the city within the ACT
is Tidbinbilla's Tracking Station - similar to the radio dish installed
at Parkes. Shopping can realistically only be found in the major shopping
centres (Tuggeranong, Woden, Belconnen, Gungahlin or the City centre) which
is good in terms of successful land zoning, however this sadly gives Canberra
little character that the rest of Australia's towns and cities have achieved.
Population: 320,000
Postcode: 2600
Location: 660km north-east of Melbourne, 295km south-west
of Sydney
Main Roads: Federal Highway 
,
Barton Highway 
,
Monaro Highway 
,
Kings Hwy 
Radio Stations (Music): FM104.7 (104.7), Mix 106 (106.3),
Eagle FM (93.5), Snow FM (97.7), QBN-FM (96.7), Triple J (101.5)
