Canberra | |
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State | |
Country | Australia |
Capital | |
Population | 426709 |
Postcode | 2601 |
Canberra ( (listen) KAN-bə-rə)
is the capital city of Australia. Founded after the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest town overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory; 280 km (170 mi) south-west of Sydney and 660 km (410 mi) north-east of Melbourne. On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies of Australia has been attained. Section 125 of the new Australian Constitution provided that property, situated in New South Wales and at least 100 miles (160 km) from Sydney, would be ceded to the new national government. Following discussion and exploration of various areas within New South Wales, the Seat of Government Act 1908 was passed in 1908 that given a capital in the Yass-Canberra area. The land has been transferred to the Commonwealth by New South Wales in 1911, producing the Australian Capital Territory, two years prior to the capital city being founded and formally named as Canberra in 1913. It is unusual among Australian cities, being an entirely planned city beyond any state, like Washington, D.C. in america or Brasília in Brazil. Following an international contest for the city's layout, a blueprint by American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected and building began in 1913. The Griffins' plan featured geometric themes such as circles, hexagons and triangles, and has been centred on axes aligned with significant topographical landmarks in the Australian Capital Territory. The town's design was influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation. Since the chair of the government of Australia, Canberra is home to many important institutions of the national government, national monuments and museums. This includes Parliament House, the official residence of the monarch's representative that the Governor-General, the High Court and numerous government departments and agencies.Porto Alegre | |
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State | |
Country | |
Capital | |
Population | 0 |
Porto Alegre (UK: , US: , local Portuguese: [ˈpoɾtu aˈlɛɡɾi] (listen); lit. '"Joyful Harbor"') is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,481,019 inhabitants (2016) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the centre of Brazil's fifth largest metropolitan area, with 4,405,760 inhabitants (2010). The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian state.Porto Alegre was founded in 1769 by Manuel Jorge Gomes de Sepúlveda, who used the pseudonym José Marcelino de Figueiredo to hide his identity; but the official date is 1772 with the act signed by immigrants from the Azores, Portugal. The vast majority of the population is of European descent.
The city lies on the eastern bank of the Guaíba Lake (usually referred by the city population as Guaíba River), where five rivers converge to form the Lagoa dos Patos (Lagoon of the Ducks), a giant freshwater lagoon navigable by even the largest of ships.