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Canberra, AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Australia’s architect-designed capital city is the administrative centre for the nation’s federal government, and ‘where city style meets the Australian bush’. Established in 1913 during the garden state movement, modern Canberra is home to many national buildings including Parliament House, the War Memorial and the National Gallery of Australia, as well as many glorious parks.
The population of 322,000 has a higher rate of university education than the national average, with the largest employer being the Australian Government. It is home to the prestigious Australian National University. The unemployment rate is low and the average income is higher than the national average, but house prices are high (although still lower than Sydney and Melbourne) and the median weekly rent paid in Canberra is higher than in any other state or territory in Australia.
Although public buses are efficient, most people in Canberra travel by car. The roads are well planned and of high quality, and the low population density means there are few traffic jams.
The city has a cosmopolitan atmosphere, with plenty of restaurants, galleries and bars. It hosts many annual festivals such as the 10-day Celebrate Canberra festival, the National Folk Festival, the Royal Canberra Show and the Summernats car festival. Well-known teams from Canberra compete on the national stage in sports such as rugby league, rugby union and netball.
Canberra lies 150km inland from the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by scenic national parks, bush and mountains. It was built on the Molonglo River, which has been dammed to form Lake Burley Griffin in the centre of the city. Canberra is one of the few Australian cities to enjoy four distinct seasons: hot summers, golden autumns, frosty winters (with very light snowfall about once in every three winters) and magnificent floral springs. Average temperatures throughout the year range from 0 to 27 degrees Celcius.
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