fbpx

KidsKonnect

Melbourne Facts & Worksheets

Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria, Australia. It is also Victoria’s most populous city. Second to Sydney, Melbourne is the second most populous city in Australia.

Search for Worksheets

Worksheets /Social Studies /Geography /City /Melbourne Facts & Worksheets
Premium
Melbourne Worksheets
Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version   Download sample

Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria, Australia. It is also Victoria’s most populous city. Second to Sydney, Melbourne is the second most populous city in Australia. It is Victoria’s business, educational, cultural, and entertainment hub. It is also the fox capital of the world.

See the fact file below for more information on the Melbourne or alternatively, you can download our 22-page Melbourne worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

HISTORY

  • On August 30, 1835, the city was founded by settlers from the colony of Van Diemen’s Land (currently known as Tasmania).
  • At the time, it was established in New South Wales (when it was still a British colony).
  • Two years later, it was incorporated as a Crown settlement.
  • The city’s name takes after the British Prime Minister, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne.
  • Queen Victoria declared it a city in 1847.
  • In 1851, Melbourne was declared as the capital city of the new colony of Victoria.
  • When the Victorian gold rush began in the 1850s, the city’s economy boomed.
  • In 1851, Chinese prospectors founded a Chinatown in Melbourne which still is the longest continuous Chinese settlement in the West.
  • By the end of the 1880s, Melbourne was established as one of the world’s top metropolises in terms of wealth and size.
  • Following the federation of Australia in 1901, Melbourne served as interim seat of government and the capital of Australia for 26 years between 1901 and 1927 until Canberra became the capital in 1927.
  • Melbourne is now a leading financial center in the Asia-Pacific region.

GEOGRAPHY

  • Melbourne is located within the state of Victoria, in the southeastern portion of mainland Australia.
  • Melbourne extends towards the Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges to the east; the Maribyrnong River to the west; through Yarra’s tributaries and suburban Craigieburn and Whittlesea to the north; and through the Dandenong Creek valley, the Mornington Peninsula and the city of Frankston to the south.
  • The Little River marks the border between Melbourne and Geelong.
  • Melbourne’s main bayside beaches are along the shores of Port Phillip Bay.
  • The closest surf beaches are the beaches of Rye, Sorrento, and Portsea.

CLIMATE

  • Melbourne has an oceanic climate.
  • The city experiences mildly warm to scorching hot summers and mild, temperate winters.

CULTURE

  • In 1856, stonemasons in Melbourne demanded the unlimited work hours to be limited to eight, birthing the “8 hour shift” that we have now.
  • This effort to change labor policy earned Melbourne the well-deserved title of “Workingman’s Paradise.”
  • Melbourne is a UNESCO-recognized City of Literature Major Center for music, street art, and theater.
  • It is considered the cultural capital of Australia because many cultural institutions are found in the city and cultural festivals are always held in Melbourne too.
  • Melbourne is also the unnamed sports capital of Australia, with the city’s world-class and international sporting infrastructure and facilities.
  • Fans of the Grand Prix, horse racecourse, cricket, and tennis come to Melbourne for a great sports experience.

SIGNIFICANT PLACES

  • Luna Park in Melbourne is the oldest privately owned theme park in the world.
  • Four of the six tallest buildings in Australia are in Melbourne’s central business district: Eureka Tower, Aurora Melbourne Central, 120 and 101 Collins Street.

TRIVIA

  • A person who’s a Melbourne native or lives in Melbourne is called a ‘Melbournian.’
  • The famous spread Vegemite was invented in Melbourne and is manufactured in Port Melbourne.
  • Public bathing used to be a big thing in Melbourne, especially in the Yarra River.
  • Bathing boxes and boat sheds that were used in Melbourne can still be found in Brighton.
  • Melbourne’s tramway system, which has 450 trams spanning a total of 244 kilometers of track, is the largest tramway system outside Europe and the fourth largest in the world.
  • The Story of the Ned Kelly Gang, which is the world’s first feature film, was filmed in Melbourne in 1906.
  • The original name chosen for Melbourne was ‘Batmania’ after one of its founding fathers, John Batman.
  • In 1956, Melbourne was the first host of the Olympic Games outside of North America and Europe.
  • The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant is a famous tram restaurant in Melbourne which tours around the city while you eat a five-star meal.
  • The world’s largest stained-glass ceiling is found in the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
  • Melbourne has the highest number of cafes and restaurants per capita than any other major city.

INVENTIONS IN MELBOURNE

  • The Australian Rules Football, which is a mix of football, rugby, and Gaelic football was invented by Tom Willis and his friends in Melbourne in 1858.
  • Kiwi shoe polish was invented by William Ramsay and Hamilton McKellen in a factory in Melbourne in 1906.
  • James Freeland Leacock built the first ute in Melbourne in 1929.

Melbourne Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Melbourne across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Melbourne worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Melbourne which is the capital city of Victoria, Australia. It is also Victoria’s most populous city. Second to Sydney, Melbourne is the second most populous city in Australia. It is Victoria’s business, educational, cultural, and entertainment hub. It is also the fox capital of the world.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Melbourne Facts
  • History of Melbourne
  • Map of Melbourne
  • All About Melbourne
  • True or False
  • Skyscraper City
  • Made in Melbourne
  • Cities in Australia
  • Symbols of Melbourne
  • Ticket to Melbourne
  • What Makes It Unique

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Melbourne Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, May 16, 2019

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.

Related Resources