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State of Victoria

Victoria
alt text for flag alt text for coat of arms
Flag Coat of arms
Slogan or nickname The Garden State
The Place to Be
The Education State
Motto(s) Peace and Prosperity
Map of Australia with Victoria highlighted
Other Australian states and territories
Coordinates 37°S 144°E / 37°S 144°E / -37; 144Coordinates: 37°S 144°E / 37°S 144°E / -37; 144
Capital city Melbourne
Demonym Victorian
Government Constitutional monarchy
 • Governor Linda Dessau
 • Premier Daniel Andrews (ALP)
Australian state  
 • Colony established 1851
 • Responsible
   government
1856
 • Federation 1901
 • Australia Act 3 March 1986
Area  
 • Total 237,639 km² (6th)
91,753 sq mi
 • Land 227,420 km²
87,807 sq mi
 • Water 10,213 km² (4.3%)
3,943 sq mi
Population
(March 2016)
 
 • Population 6,039,100 (2nd)
 • Density 26.55/km² (2nd)
68.8 /sq mi
Elevation  
 • Highest point Mount Bogong
1,986 m (6,516 ft)
Gross state product
(2014-15)
 
 • Product ($m) $370,504 (2nd)
 • Product per capita $54,774 (6th)
Time zone(s) UTC+10 (AEST)
UTC+11 (AEDT)
Federal representation  
 • House seats 37/150
 • Senate seats 12/76
Abbreviations  
 • Postal VIC
 • ISO 3166-2 AU-VIC
Emblems  
 • Floral Pink heath
 • Animal Leadbeater's possum
 • Bird Helmeted honeyeater
 • Fish Weedy seadragon
 • Mineral or gemstone Gold
 • Colours Navy blue and silver
Website www.vic.gov.au
Victoria Colony
British Crown Colony

1851–1901
 

Flag of Victoria

flag (1870-1901)

Government Self-governing colony
Monarch
 •  1851-1901 Victoria
Governor
 •  1851-1854 Charles La Trobe (first)
 •  1895-1900 Thomas Brassey (last)
History
 •  independence from the New South Wales colony 1851
 •  Federation of Australia 1901

Victoria (abbreviated as Vic) is a state in southeast Australia. Victoria is Australia's most densely populated state and its second-most populous state overall. Most of its population is concentrated in the area surrounding Port Phillip Bay, which includes the metropolitan area of its state capital and largest city, Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city. Geographically the smallest state on the Australian mainland, Victoria is bordered by Bass Strait and Tasmania to the south,New South Wales to the north, the Tasman Sea to the east, and South Australia to the west.

Prior to British European settlement, the area now constituting Victoria was inhabited by a large number of Aboriginal peoples, collectively known as the Koori. With Great Britain having claimed the entire Australian continent east of the 135th meridian east in 1788, Victoria was included in the wider colony of New South Wales. The first settlement in the area occurred in 1803 at Sullivan Bay, and much of what is now Victoria was included in the Port Phillip District in 1836, an administrative division of New South Wales. Named in honour of Queen Victoria who signed the division's separation from New South Wales, the colony was officially created in 1851 and achieved self-government in 1855. The Victorian gold rush in the 1850s and 1860s significantly increased both the population and wealth of the colony, and by the Federation of Australia in 1901, Melbourne had become the largest city and leading financial centre in Australasia. Melbourne also served as federal capital of Australia until the construction of Canberra in 1927, with the Federal Parliament meeting in Melbourne's Parliament House and all principal offices of the federal government being based in Melbourne.


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