Canberra Central

Canberra ( (listen) KAN-bər-ə; Ngunnawal: Ngambri) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest Australian city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory at the northern tip of the Australian Alps, the country's highest mountain range. As of June 2021, Canberra's estimated population was 453,558.The area chosen for the capital had been inhabited by Indigenous Australians for up to 21,000 years, with the principal group being the Ngunnawal people. European settlement commenced in the first half of the 19th century, as evidenced by surviving landmarks such as St John's Anglican Church and Blundells Cottage. On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies of Australia was achieved. Following a long dispute over whether Sydney or Melbourne should be the national capital, a compromise was reached: the new capital would be built in New South Wales, so long as it was at least 100 mi (160 km) from Sydney. The capital city was founded and formally named as Canberra in 1913. A blueprint by American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected after an international design contest, and construction commenced in 1913. Unusual among Australian cities, it is an entirely planned city. The Griffins' plan featured geometric motifs and was centred on axes aligned with significant topographical landmarks such as Black Mountain, Mount Ainslie, Capital Hill and City Hill. Canberra's mountainous location makes it the only mainland Australian city where snow-capped mountains can be seen in winter; although snow in the city itself is uncommon. As the seat of the Government of Australia, Canberra is home to many important institutions of the federal government, national monuments and museums. This includes Parliament House, Government House, the High Court and the headquarters of numerous government agencies. It is the location of many social and cultural institutions of national significance such as the Australian War Memorial, the Australian National University, the Royal Australian Mint, the Australian Institute of Sport, the National Gallery, the National Museum and the National Library. The city is home to many important institutions of the Australian Defence Force including the Royal Military College Duntroon and the Australian Defence Force Academy. It hosts all foreign embassies in Australia as well as regional headquarters of many international organisations, not-for-profit groups, lobbying groups and professional associations. Canberra has been ranked among the world's best cities to live and visit. Although the Commonwealth Government remains the largest single employer in Canberra, it is no longer the majority employer. Other major industries have developed in the city, including in health care, professional services, education and training, retail, accommodation and food, and construction. Compared to the national averages, the unemployment rate is lower and the average income higher; tertiary education levels are higher, while the population is younger. At the 2016 Census, 32% of Canberra's inhabitants were reported as having been born overseas.Canberra's design is influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation. Its design can be viewed from its highest point at the Telstra Tower and the summit of Mount Ainslie. Other notable features include the National Arboretum, born out of the 2003 Canberra bushfires, and Lake Burley Griffin, named for the city's architects. Highlights in the annual calendar of cultural events include Floriade, the largest flower festival in the Southern Hemisphere, the Enlighten Festival, Skyfire, the National Multicultural Festival and Summernats. Canberra's main sporting venues are Canberra Stadium and Manuka Oval. The city is served with domestic and international flights at Canberra Airport, while interstate train and coach services depart from Canberra Railway Station and the Jolimont Centre respectively. City Interchange is the main hub of Canberra's bus and light rail transport network.

The Commonwealth Avenue Bridge are two parallel pre-stressed concrete box girder road bridges that carry Commonwealth Avenue across Lake Burley Griffin, and connect Parkes and City in Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia.

The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Government–owned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territory level.

The Captain James Cook Memorial was built by the Commonwealth Government to commemorate the Bicentenary of Captain James Cook's first sighting of the east coast of Australia. The memorial includes a water jet located in the central basin and a skeleton globe sculpture at Regatta Point of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, showing the paths of Cook's expeditions. On 25 April 1970, Queen Elizabeth II officially inaugurated the memorial.The water jet is driven by two 4-stage centrifugal pumps capable of pumping up to 250 litres per second against a head of 183 metres. The water velocity at the water nozzle is 260 km/h. While running both pumps simultaneously the main jet throws approximately six tons of water into the air at any instant, reaching a maximum height of 152 metres. Alternatively the jet can be run on a single pump reaching a lower height of 114 metres. During special occasions it can be illuminated, often with coloured lights. The design of the jet is based on the Jet d'Eau in Geneva, Switzerland as a result of high-level diplomatic negotiations.The water jet operates daily from 11 am to 2 pm. In periods of high wind, the jet is automatically disabled as water landing on the nearby Commonwealth Avenue Bridge can be a hazard to traffic. The water jet must also be occasionally shut down when drought lowers the water level of the lake.

The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act 1960 for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the Australian people", thus functioning as a national library. It is located in Parkes, Canberra, ACT. Created in 1960 by the National Library Act, by the end of June 2019 its collection contained 7,717,579 items, with its manuscript material occupying 17,950 metres (58,890 ft) of shelf space. The NLA also hosts and manages the renowned Trove cultural heritage discovery service, which includes access to the Australian Web Archive and National edeposit (NED), a large collection of digitised newspapers, official documents, manuscripts and images, as well as born-digital material.

PANDORA, or Pandora, is a national web archive for the preservation of Australia's online publications. Established by the National Library of Australia in 1996, it has been built in collaboration with Australian state libraries and cultural collecting organisations, including the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, the Australian War Memorial, and the National Film and Sound Archive. It is now one of three components of the Australian Web Archive. The name, PANDORA, is a bacronym which describes its purpose: Preserving and Accessing Networked Documentary Resources of Australia.

The Albert Hall is a hall in Canberra, Australia, used for entertainment. It is on Commonwealth Avenue between Commonwealth Bridge and the Hotel Canberra in the suburb of Yarralumla.

The Canberra Peace Park or Peace Park is beside Lake Burley Griffin between the lake and the National Library of Australia, in Canberra, the national capital of Australia. It is not to be confused with the Canberra-Nara Peace Park nearby (see Lennox Gardens). It was built in 1986, the United Nations Year of Peace. The park has three bordered zones. The central zone has with a square granite plinth with a peace symbol in it, surrounded by a quartered plinth incised with the word Peace written in the official languages of the United Nations and also the language of the local Ngunnawal people, and a statement of dedication. This is bordered by a water way fountain, and a cobbled granite walk way, with formal gardens of lavender at each corner. The monument was unveiled by the Bill Hayden, the Governor General of Australia, on 24 October 1990.The monument's statement of dedication asks, "All who visit here are invited to commit themselves to peace and the elimination of weapons of mass destruction."

PS Enterprise is an 1878 Australian paddle steamer, currently owned by the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. It is still operational, and one of the oldest working paddle steamers in the world. It is listed on the Australian Register of Historic Vehicles.Enterprise is built from river red gum wood; the engine is a two-cylinder single expansion steam engine made by the Beverley Iron and Wagon Company in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England in 1877. The original boiler was replaced in 1988. It is 17.3 metres (57 ft) long, 4.6 metres (15 ft) wide, and 5.9 metres (19 ft) high (from waterline). It has a shallow draft of 75 centimetres (30 in), allowing it to cope with the low water levels of the Australian rivers, and a maximum speed of 5 knots (9 km/h; 6 mph).Enterprise was built in Echuca by William Keir between 1876 and 1878, and initially owned by his family, until they sold it in 1893. It changed hands several times over the years, and has been used as a cargo ship (towing barges), a store, a fishing boat and a houseboat, operating on the Murray, Darling and Murrumbidgee Rivers. From 1919 until 1945 it was owned by Augustus Creager, who, with his wife Hilda, raised a family of five children living on board.In 1973, amidst a general renewed interests in steamboats, Enterprise was restored by enthusiast Graeme Niehus and his father, and subsequently raced against other paddle boats.The National Museum of Australia bought Enterprise in 1984 and further restored it, including replacing the boiler. In 1988, as part of the Australian Bicentenary celebrations, it was recommissioned on Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra. It was opened to the public in January 1989.On 4 December 1993 Enterprise was temporarily recommissioned as HMA PS Enterprise of the Royal Australian Navy and allowed to fly the White Ensign for the day, as part of the Navy's Maritime Pageant.Enterprise is operated by the Museum – it is the largest functional object in the Museum's collection – and crewed by volunteers. It undergoes regular maintenance and occasional restoration work.

Art, Not Apart is an annual Australian contemporary arts festival held in Canberra, providing an opportunity for artists to display their works and connect with the community.The Art, Not Apart festival features exhibitions, performance art, numerous music stages, installations, strange interventions, street food, cafes and a dance party. The festival producer, David Caffery, told media that in producing Art Not Apart, he is consciously trying not to copy other events. Art, Not Apart is traditionally held on the Saturday after Canberra Day in mid-March. The first Art, Not Apart was held in NewActon in 2011. Since the construction of the temporary pop-up Westside shipping container precinct in 2015, the festival grew to include Westside Acton Park in 2015 and 2016. The festival has since included venues adjacent to its central location of NewActon, including The Shine Dome (Australian Academy of Science), National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA), ANU, Albert Hall, and other Canberra venues. Art, Not Apart has grown to attract over 15,000 attendees each year.

The Canberra Street Circuit was a temporary street circuit located in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. It hosted the Canberra 400 for the V8 Supercars series from 2000 to 2002.

Royal Canberra Hospital was the first hospital in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It opened in 1914 (a year after the planned city was opened) on the Acton Peninsula, as the Canberra Community Hospital. It grew to become the major hospital in Canberra before being closed in 1991 and later demolished in 1997.