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Canberra Facts & Worksheets

Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is the largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall in Australia.

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Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is the largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall in Australia. Canberra, being founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, is where the laws of the country are made.

See the fact file below for more information on the Canberra or alternatively, you can download our 21-page Canberra worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

ETYMOLOGY

  • The word “Canberra” is commonly claimed to be derived from the word Kambera or Canberry, which means “meeting place” in Ngunnawal. Ngunnawal was one of the Indigenous languages spoken in the district by Aboriginal Australians before the arrival of the European immigrants.
  • An alternative definition has been claimed by numerous local commentators over the years, including the Ngunnawal elder Don Bell, whereby Canberra or Nganbra means “woman’s breasts” and is the indigenous name for the two mountains, Black Mountain and Mount Ainslie, which lie almost opposite each other.
  • In the 1919 book Notes on the Native Flora of New South Wales, Part X, by R. H. Cambage the Federal Capital Territory noted that Joshua John Moore, who was the earliest settler in the region, named the area Canberry in 1823 stating that “there seems no doubt that the original was a native name, but its meaning is unknown.”

BRIEF HISTORY

  • The earliest settlers in the area thousands of years ago were the Aboriginal peoples.
  • In 1824 European colonists arrived.
  • They called their settlement Canberry or Canbury, which is derived from the word ‘Kambera.’
  • Kambera is a term of an extinct language called Gundungurra and was spoken by the aboriginals of Australia meaning ‘meeting place.’
  • In 1909 the Australian Capital Territory or ACT was carved from New South Wales.
  • In 1911, there was a competition to design Australia’s new capital city.
  • The winner of the competition was an architect from Chicago in the United States of America, Walter Burley Griffin. He designed his triangular town as a garden town, so its size expanded over a big area.
  • In 1913 the construction of Canberra began in the middle of Lake Burley-Griffin which was created especially for the city.
  • In 1927, The federal Parliament was officially transferred to Canberra from Melbourne.
  • Many prominent new buildings were built in the 1980s.
  • As Canberra grew larger and larger, the lake was no longer in the middle of the town although the people in charge of planning the city assured that Canberra is as close to Griffin’s original plan as possible.

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

  • Canberra is situated near an Australian mountain range called The Brindabellas.
  • It is the heart of federal district of Australia, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which is encircled by the state of New South Wales. The metropolitan of Canberra area includes suburbs in the ACT and the city of Queanbeyan, in New South Wales.
  • Canberra has an elevation of about 1,900 feet (580 meters) and has the size in area nearly as big as Berlin, but the number of people who live there is much smaller.
  • Mount Majura is the highest point of Canberra with an elevation of about 2,920 feet (890 meters).
  • Canberra has an oceanic climate (Cfb in the Köppen climate classification) which indicates it has a monthly mean temperature below 22 °C (72 °F) in the warmest month, and above 0 °C (32 °F) (or −3 °C (27 °F) in the coldest month).
  • Summers are warm to hot. Winters are cool, crisp and clear. Spring temperatures are balmy with cool nights and sunny days.
  • Waterproofing is advisable throughout the year, especially in winter, and a coat is needed during winter months.

DEMOGRAPHICS

  • As of 2020, the current metro area population of Canberra is 457,000.
  • The majority of Canberrans speak only English at home. Mandarin, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Hindi, and Spanish are the other languages most commonly spoken at home.
  • Based on the census in 2016, in the Canberra region, the largest religious group was Christian, the most common denominations being Catholic and Anglican (25.1% of all people), while 28.0% of people describe themselves as having no religion and 9.8% did not answer the question on religion.
  • The National Australia Bank gathered statistics and reported in The Canberra Times that Canberrans on average give significantly more money to charity than Australians in other states and territories, for both dollars giving and as a proportion of income.

ECONOMY

  • The economy of Canberra largely depends on government jobs and other services, including retail trade, banking, education, health, communications, tourism, and business services. Construction is also important as it is the largest non-service sector, employing just over 5% of the workforce.
  • The economy has been slightly diversified by light manufacturing of publications, processed foods, and electronics.

LANDMARKS

  • Canberra is incredible for intellectual pursuits and showcases some of the most interesting exhibitions that Australia (and the world!) has to offer. Tourists come to visit the city to see the various national monuments and other famous sights.
  • Some of the places to visit are the Parliament House, the High Court of Australia, the Australian War Memorial, the National Gallery of Australia, the Royal Australian Mint, Telstra Tower, the National Library of Australia, the National Museum of Australia, Namadgi National Park and the National Botanic Garden.

Canberra Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Canberra across 21 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Canberra worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Canberra, the capital city of Australia, which is the largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall in Australia. Canberra, being founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, is where the laws of the country are made.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Canberra Facts
  • Quick Facts
  • Canberra FB Page
  • Canberra Info
  • Canberra Timeline
  • Vocabulary Time
  • All About Canberra
  • Walter Burley Griffin
  • More Facts
  • Tourist Spots
  • The Bush Capital

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Link will appear as Canberra Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, November 26, 2020

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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