Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital of the Australian state of Victoria and, after Sydney, the country's second-largest city. It spreads along the northern and eastern shores of Port Phillip Bay, and in June 2025 it had about 5.4 million inhabitants, 19 per cent of Australia's population.

Time Out ranked Melbourne No. 1 in its Best Cities in the World 2026 and No. 4 in its 50 Best Cities in the World to Visit in 2025. The 2026 entry cites the Australian Open, which broke attendance records in 2026, the Formula 1 Grand Prix and the AFL Grand Final, as well as the city's food, laneway murals, gardens and the Yarra River. The Economist Intelligence Unit placed it No. 4 in its Global Liveability Index 2025, with an index score of 97.0.

Aboriginal Victorians have lived in the Melbourne area for more than 40,000 years, and the Boonwurrung, Woiwurrung and Wurundjeri peoples are the traditional custodians of the land. Melbourne was founded in 1835 by free settlers from Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and named after the British Prime Minister, Viscount Melbourne. It became a city in 1847 and capital of the new Colony of Victoria in 1851, and the gold rush of the 1850s started a long boom. Wikipedia notes the claim that no city of over a million people lies further south.

Sources of this text: Wikipedia · Time Out · Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)