Melbourne Victoria Travel" src="http://australiaonlinetravel.com/wp-content/uploads/Melbourne.jpg" border="0" alt="Melbourne Victoria Travel" align="right" />Victoria is the southernmost of the eastern mainland states of Australia. The state is roughly triangular in shape. New South Wales lies to the north / north-east, with the Murray River forming most of the boundary between the two states.
South Australia lies to the west and the southern coast forms the other side of the triangle. Melbourne, the state capital and largest city, is nestled on Port Phillip Bay in the center of the southern coast. Melbourne is within three hours drive of the nearest point of the New South Wales border but further from the South Australia border.
Victoria is the smallest mainland state in area, but the most densely populated and urbanised. White settlement in Victoria began in the 1830s as a farming community.
The discovery of gold in 1851 transformed it into a leading industrial and commercial centre. Victoria is the second most populous Australian state, after New South Wales, with an estimated population of 5,205,200 as of June 2007. Melbourne is Victoria’s capital and largest city, with more than 70% of all Victorians living there.
After the founding of the colony of New South Wales in 1788, the continent was divided into an eastern half – named New South Wales, and a western half, named New Holland, but under the administration of the colonial government in Sydney. Victoria’s first settlement was at Portland, on the west coast of what is now Victoria. Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman.
From settlement the region around Melbourne was known as the Port Phillip District, and this gained some administrative status prior to separation from New South Wales and declaration as the Colony of Victoria in 1851.
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