Canberra, Australia's Charming Capital City

What was once known as a sheep town has now transformed into a scenic hinterland, filled with superb monuments and galleries for both educational and leisure purposes

HISTORY OF CANBERRA

Thought to be the first homes of the Ngunnawal people for at least 21,000 years, Canberra translates to ‘meeting place’ in the tongue of the Ngunnawal people who first inhabited the sheep town which has now blossomed into the capital city of Australia. In earlier days, the Aboriginal people were referred to by early white writers as the ‘Kamberra’, ‘Kghambury’, ‘Nganbra’ or ‘Gnabra’. This, while bearing remarkable similarities with the current name of the state, is probably no coincidence as Canberra is very likely the anglicized version of the Aboriginal word. Officially, the name of the capital was announced at the Foundation Stone Ceremony by Lady Denman on 12 March 1913.

The first explorers to the region were Europeans who discovered Canberra as early as 1823 when Joshua John Moore, a settler, established a station at Acton which is now the site of the National Museum of Australia. One other significant point regarding the founding of Canberra was that the city announced a competition back in 1911 for a federal capital city design in which American architect Walter Burley Griffin won, besting architects from Finland and France. The name Canberra similarly was decided through a naming competition with potential names like ‘Eden’, ‘Gamelyn’, ‘Nardoo’ and ‘Frazer Roo’ submitted for consideration as well.