Canberra is the capital of Australia and is located within the Australian Capital Territory. Though in terms of capital cities, Canberra is a young capital city compared to others across the globe. From the federation of Australia, it took 12 years to choose and finalise an appropriate location for the capital of Australia and when the location and name was finalised in 1913, there were more sheep than there were people living in Canberra. The city was originally planned for 25,000 people to live in the territory and now Canberra has more than 400,000 people calling our bush capital, home. With a very diverse population, it might not be common knowledge of why Canberra is called Canberra and what the significance is behind the Canberra meaning.
Why is it called Canberra?
The capital of Australia was written into the Constitution as a place where Parliament would sit and it would be a minimum one hundred miles away (160km) away from Sydney and was to be located within New South Wales. The capital could also not be located along the coast line of Australia for defensive reasons. A makeshift Parliament House was temporarily placed in Melbourne while members of Parliament hunted for the perfect location. The members hunted up and down South-eastern Australia for the best location and around 60 country areas were considered as the capital due to their materials. In 1908, after much bickering, the area of Yass-Canberra was confirmed and founded as the proposed Australian capital.
Another 5 years on in 1913, the name of the capital was announced. It was announced by the wife of the then Governor-General, Lady Denman and was officially named Canberra which is derived from a local Aboriginal word for ‘meeting place’. It was the more common name used for the area and was already being used for nearly a century.
From 1914 to 1918, no work would be done to the new capital city due to the First World War and major infrastructure did not come into effect until the 1920’s when what we now know as Old Parliament House was built along with the Cotter Dam. It then took even longer for the city to fully evolve until the 1950’s. The Parliamentary Triangle which is located near Capital Hill was not established for a long time until 1968 when the National Library was opened. Most of the buildings you will see around Canberra are a reflection of Walter Burley Griffin’s design of the city and gives the city a modernist aesthetic feel.
Modern times
True to the name of our capital city, Canberra – it has been a meeting place for nearly 100 years since the first Federal Parliament sat in Canberra in 1927 and it has become a meeting place for politicians and visitors alike. While Canberra is technically located within New South Wales, it was given it’s own area which is now known as the Australian Capital Territory. To commemorate the history of Canberra and the significance of the city, Canberra Day was named and give as a public holiday to the people of the Canberra region. Traditionally, the Prime Minister also lives in Canberra during their time in office as well.