Victoria (Australia)

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Victoria
flag coat of arms
flag coat of arms
( Details ) ( Details )
Basic data
Capital : Melbourne
Area : 227,420 km²
Residents : 6,629,900 (Sept 2019)
Population density : 28.08 inhabitants per km²
ISO 3166-2 : AU-VIC
Time zone: AEST ( UTC +10)
The highest point: Mount Bogong 1,986 m
Official Website: www.vic.gov.au
politics
Governor : Linda Dessau
Prime Minister : Daniel Andrews ( ALP )
Parliament seats: 37 ( House of Representatives )
12 ( Senate )
map
Indonesien Papua-Neuguinea Western Australia Northern Territory South Australia Australian Capital Territory Jervis Bay Territory Tasmanien Victoria Queensland New South WalesVictoria in Australia
About this picture

Victoria (formerly German also Viktorien ) is a federal state in southeast Australia . The capital is Melbourne . In terms of area, Victoria is the smallest state on the mainland and has the second highest population with around 6.6 million inhabitants. This means that Victoria has the highest population density of all Australian states. Victoria borders New South Wales to the north and South Australia to the west . To the south, Victoria borders the Bass Strait , which separates mainland Australia from the state of Tasmania .

Geography and geology

Victoria has a share in four major landscapes: the Murray Basin in the north, the southern highlands, the Great Dividing Range on the border with New South Wales and the narrow coastal plain in the east. The Great Road Ocean with the rock formation "Twelve" ( Twelve Apostles ) leads along the south coast.

In addition to the capital Melbourne with around 5 million inhabitants, Geelong (154,150 inh.), Ballarat (80,330 inh.) And Bendigo (75,857 inh.) Are among the larger cities.

and display information about the image
Largest Australian mountain range, Great Dividing Range, East Gippsland, Victoria

climate

Average maximum
temperature per month in Victoria
Month Melbourne Mildura
January 25.8 ° C 32.8 ° C
February 25.8 ° C 32.7 ° C
March 23.8 ° C 29.3 ° C
April 20.2 ° C 24.1 ° C
May 16.6 ° C 19.6 ° C
June 14.0 ° C 16.0 ° C
July 13.4 ° C 15.4 ° C
August 14.9 ° C 17.7 ° C
September 17.2 ° C 21.1 ° C
October 19.6 ° C 25.0 ° C
November 21.8 ° C 29.0 ° C
December 24.1 ° C 31.7 ° C
Source: Bureau of Meteorology

The climate is Central European to Mediterranean. In the mountains there are mainly eucalyptus forests , which can be covered with snow in the relatively mild winter. Winter sports are possible on Mount Buller in the Australian Alps . The Kangaroo Hoppet , a cross-country skiing, takes place here. The highest point is the mountaintop of Mount Bogong at 1986 m above sea level. Victoria covers an area of ​​227,420 km 2 .

On Phillip Island , near the Mornington Peninsula, little penguins (Eudyptula minor) can be seen year-round as part of a well-developed and organized visitor center, the proceeds of which are used to maintain the penguin population.

According to the Australian Climate Council, Victoria is the state in Australia most severely affected by bushfires: Due to climate change , the risk and duration of bush fires are increasing there. It is assumed that the number of days affected by extreme fire risk in Victoria will continue to increase in the future. The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is seen as crucial for further development. The overheating of the earth's climate system thus represents the frame of reference for the statistical accumulation of extreme heat waves in recent times, such as those in the summer of 2018/2019 , and bush fires, as the most devastating since weather records began in February 2009 with 173 fatalities.

After Tasmania, Victoria also has the most rainfall. The amount of precipitation in the south is significantly higher than in the north, with a higher average precipitation in higher regions.

Landscape in the state of Victoria

population

Estimated population
growth in Victoria
2011 5,500,000
2016 6,000,000
2021 6,400,000
2026 6,800,000
2031 7,300,000
Source: Dept of Planning and
Community Development

Contrary to the forecast, the population at the 2011 census was only 5,354,042 instead of the forecast of 5,500,000. In 2019, however, at 6,629,900, it was already above the forecast for 2021.

economy

Major Victoria businesses
Companies Worldwide

Headquarters

Australian

Headquarters

place
BHP Billiton x Melbourne
Rio Tinto Group x Melbourne
CSL x Melbourne
National Australia Bank x Melbourne
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group x Melbourne
Telstra x Melbourne
Holden x Port Melbourne
Lonely Planet x Footscray
Orica x Melbourne
Foster's Group x Melbourne
Toyota Australia x Port Melbourne
Ford Australia x Melbourne
Bosch x Clayton
Siemens x Bayswater
Porsche x Collingwood
Mercedes-Benz / Daimler x Mulgrave

Victoria is the second largest economy in the Australian states after New South Wales . The tertiary sector is the most important economic sector. Around a quarter of employees are employed in service companies or in the public sector. Due to the decline of the coal and steel industry and the resulting structural change , Victoria has the highest unemployment rate in Australia (2009). Today around 15% of the workforce is still employed in the manufacturing industry and less than one percent in mining. Important industries are the automotive industry ( Ford , Toyota and Holden ), aluminum manufacturing, oil refining and the defense industry. The center of the manufacturing industry is the capital Melbourne, followed by Geelong . Victoria also has the world's largest known lignite deposits in the Gippsland region . The extraction of around 66 million tons per year is used for energy generation. Offshore oil and gas are produced off the coast . In Victoria, the historic center of the Australian gold rush , today's production is less important, accounting for around one percent of national gold production. The extraction work for mineral raw materials is prepared by the GeoScience Victoria agency and supervised by the state.

Around 60% of Victoria's land area is used as agricultural land. Mainly wheat and barley are grown, as well as tobacco and fruit. Livestock (pigs and lambs) are mainly important in the north and west of the state.

Tullamarine International Airport is located 22 km north of Melbourne city center.

history

States and territories over time

Aborigines had lived in what is now Victoria for around 40,000 years when European colonization began in the 1830s, particularly from Tasmania . Melbourne was founded in 1835 . From 1851 Victoria was a separate British colony . Gold discoveries in 1851 at Ballarat and Bendigo triggered a gold rush and the associated mass immigration (Europeans and especially Chinese). In 1901 Victoria became a member of the Australian Confederation. Like Queensland , Victoria was named after Queen Victoria , the British monarch at the time.

politics

The Parliament House , built in 1856, home of the Victorian Parliament
Parties and seats in the Parliament of Victoria
Political party House of Representatives senate
Australian Labor Party 47 14th
Liberal Party of Australia 30th 14th
National Party of Australia 8th 2
Australian Greens 2 5
Others 1 5
Source: Victorian Electoral Commission 2014

The state of Victoria has a parliamentary form of government based on the Westminster system . The legislature is based on the two-chamber system of the Victorian Parliament , consisting of the governor as the official representative of the crown , the House of Representatives (called the Legislative Assembly or House of Commons) and the Senate (called the Legislative Council or House of Lords). The lower house consists of 88 members with a four-year legislative period. The House of Lords consists of 40 members with a legislative term of four years and performs functions comparable to those of the Australian Senate. Victorian voters send 49 representatives to the Australian Parliament in Canberra , 37 of them to the Australian House of Representatives and 12 to the Australian Senate . Victoria has a constitution that came into force in 1975, which, however, is essentially based on the colonial constitution of 1855. As the legislature, the Constitution gives the Victorian Parliament the power to pass laws at the state level. The Victorian Constitution can be amended by the Victorian Parliament. In the future, constitutional changes could be carried out through a referendum.

The Prime Minister of Victoria is the head of the political party or coalition that won the most seats in the House of Representatives. Together with his cabinet, he provides the legislative power and determines the political agenda for the respective legislative period (and sometimes beyond). Since the November 2014 election in Victoria, Daniel Andrews has led an Australian Labor Party government with 47 out of 88 seats in the House of Representatives.

Administrative division

Victoria's 79 local administrative areas , called Local Government Areas (LGA) and 11 unincorporated areas ( unincorporated areas ) divided.

Overview of the Local Government Areas in Victoria

tourism

Twelve Apostles in the evening light

Popular tourist destinations in Victoria are:

transport

Victoria settlements connected by the road network.

Victoria has the highest population density in Australia with population centers spread across the state. Only the northwest and the region of the Victorian Alps are significantly less populated. The population centers are connected by well-developed highways (motorways). Around Melbourne is the best developed network of freeways (toll-free highways) in Australia. VicRoads , Victoria's road and traffic authority, is responsible for traffic planning, road construction, vehicle registration and driver license issuing. Numerous private companies operate toll roads in Victoria.

The rail transport in Victoria grew out of the state railway system of the British colony. Nowadays, various private and public transport modes operate on state rail lines. Metro Trains Melbourne operates a well-developed, electrified passenger transport system in Melbourne and its extensive suburbs. V / Line, a state operator, connects the regional centers of Victoria in a dense network. The Overland connects the cities of Melbourne and Adelaide on a long-distance route . CountryLink operates the Melbourne - Sydney long-distance route . Pacific National , CFCLA ​​and El Zorro operate freight lines. In Melbourne, Yarra Trams operates the world's largest tram network with over 249 kilometers of route.

The port of Melbourne is the largest cargo port in Australia and is located in the southwest of downtown at the mouth of the Yarra River . Other seaports are in Westernport, Geelong and Portland . From the port of Melbourne, the two ferries MS Spirit of Tasmania I and II operate the route to Devonport , Tasmania . Crossing Bass Strait takes between ten and twelve hours.

The Melbourne Airport (MEL) located 22 kilometers north-west of Melbourne in the suburb of Tullamarine , hence the more common name Tullamarine Airport. It has two runways and four terminals and is open around the clock. Tullamarine International Airport is the gateway to the state of Victoria by air and is one of the two hubs of the largest Australian airline Qantas Airways . It is the home airport for the Australian low-cost airlines Tiger Airways Australia and Jetstar Airways as well as the two cargo airlines Australian Air Express and Toll Priority . The Avalon Airport (AVV) is the second largest commercial airport in Victoria. The airport is best known for hosting the Australian International Airshow every two years. Other commercial airports in the Melbourne metropolitan area are Essendon Airport and Moorabbin Airport . The following other airports have regular departure times: Hamilton Airport , Mildura Airport , Mount Hotham Airport and Portland Airport . Another 27 small airports with irregular flight times exist in Victoria.

care

energy

Most of the electrical energy used is generated in numerous lignite power plants in the region around Latrobe Valley , Gippsland . The best known, Hazelwood Power Station , generates around ¼ of the electrical energy required in the state of Victoria. Lignite is the main raw material in Victoria; More than 66 million tons are mined annually in the region around Latrobe Valley for the production of electrical energy. The Latrobe Valley region is home to the largest known brown coal reserves in the world.

Due to the regional physical-geographical conditions, Victoria has one of the best wind power potentials in Australia, especially along the south coast and in the higher regions. Therefore, most of the wind farms are located on the south coast and around the cities of Ballarat , Ararat and Hamilton . The total capacity of the wind farms in Victoria in 2011 was 428 MW. Numerous wind farms are currently under construction or planning. In the future, these should generate a total output of 3600 MW.

water

The water supply in Victoria is essentially based on a system of dams and retention basins in the center of the state. The seawater desalination plant in Wonthaggi in the south of Victoria, which was completed at the end of 2011, is an integral part of the water supply in Victoria and, in particular, Melbourne , with an output of 150 to 200 gigaliters per year. The construction of the plant is to be understood as a response to the repeated water scarcity in the 2000s. However, the construction of the plant is still controversial among the public.

Sports

Melbourne Cricket Ground 2006

The state of Victoria is known for its strong sports culture. The capital Melbourne has repeatedly been called the sports capital of the world.

Victoria is the home of Australian Rules Football , also known as Aussie Rules or Footy. Ten of the eighteen clubs in the Australian Football League are based in Victoria. The annual AFL Grand Final takes place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and is the world's best-attended club championship event.

The 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games took place in Melbourne . Every January the Australian Open , the first of the four Grand Slam tournaments , takes place in Melbourne . The Australian Grand Prix has been held as a motorsport event since 1928. It has been held as a Grand Prix as part of the Formula 1 World Championship since 1985 and has been at home on the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne since 1996 . It mostly marks the start of the Formula 1 season. The Aussie Millions Poker Championship takes place at the Crown Casino in Melbourne . With a total prize pool of over $ 7 million, it was the 2006 poker tournament with the highest total prize pool in the southern hemisphere.

The Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, one of the largest horse racing events in the world and one of the largest sporting events in the world, takes place annually in the Australian spring between October and November. The highlight is the A $ 6 million Melbourne Cup. The importance of horse racing is so great that Melbourne Cup Day is an official holiday in Melbourne and the surrounding area.

The Surf Coast Shire on the south coast of Victoria is considered a surfing stronghold on the Australian south coast. The coastal towns of Jan Luc, Anglesea, Aireys Inlet , Lorne and Torquay are a focal point for beach and surf tourists. Torquay is particularly famous for its surfing beaches, especially Bells Beach. The Rip Curl Pro takes place annually in Bells Beach as part of the ASP World Tour . World-famous manufacturers of the surfing industry such as Rip Curl and Quiksilver come from Torquay . In Lorne in Surf Coast Shire on the south coast of Victoria, the Lorne Pier to Pub Swim takes place on the first weekend in January , the largest organized sea swim in the world with a swim distance of 1.2 km and around 4,300 participants. '

education

State Library of Victoria , Melbourne's largest public library ( La Trobe Reading Room)

There are nine universities in Victoria. The oldest, the University of Melbourne , has existed since 1853 and is also the second oldest university in Australia (after the University of Sydney ). The Monash University , the second oldest university of Victoria, is the largest university in Australia with over 56,000 students enrolled. Both universities are represented in the Group of Eight , an association of the eight leading universities in Australia. In 2008, a total of over 264,000 students were enrolled at the universities of Victoria, with over 30% international students. A proportion of a third of the students - high by German standards - is enrolled in economics courses.

Events

The Australian International Airshow , also Avalon Airshow, is a biennial air show at Avalon Airport , located between Melbourne and Geelong. It has been taking place since 1988 and, according to the organizers, is the largest air show of its kind in the southern hemisphere. The event is a mixture of aerobatic presentations and the introduction of (mostly) military aircraft.

Partnerships

The State of Victoria has partnerships with:

Personalities

See also

Web links

Commons : Victoria, Australia  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Victoria (Australia)  - Travel Guide

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 3101.0 - Australian Demographic Statistics, Sep 2019 , accessed April 7, 2020.
  2. ^ Climate Change and the Victorian Bushfire Threat. Climate Council, January 18, 2017, accessed February 6, 2019 (Australian English).
  3. ↑ Wind farms in Victoria ( Memento from October 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ Sustainability Victoria: Operating wind generators in Victoria
  5. ^ Melbourne victorious again . In: Herald Sun . www.news.com.au. April 1, 2008. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  6. ↑ Lorne Surf Life Saving Club ( Memento of the original from November 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lornesurfclub.com.au
  7. ^ Website of the Australian International Airshow ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.airshow.net.au
  8. ^ Website of the Parliament of Victoria