Australian Capital Territory
From Australia
The Australian Capital Territory or "ACT", the second-smallest State or Territory in mainland Australia, is the home of the capital city, Canberra.
Known as the "Bush City", Canberra is famous for a few key monuments such as Parliament House, Telstra Tower, the War Memorial and Captain Cook's Fountain. Canberra's population is roughly 350 000, but is spread out into five major areas of density: Civic, Woden Valley, Belconnen, Tuggeranong, and Gungahlin.
[edit] History
The site for the federal capital was selected in 1908, deliberately placed about half-way between the two largest cities of Australia. It took much of Cowley County, New South Wales and part or all of several parishes in Murray County, New South Wales.
The city's design was leading-edge at the time. It is one of Australia's few fully planned towns.
For several decades, part of the ACT was the naval base area south of Jervis Bay, on the coast east of Canberra. In 1989 the two territories became separate.
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