Canberra History

The site of Canberra was settled by Europeans from around 1824, but in 1908 the sparsely populated area was chosen to be the capital of Australia. The American architects Marion Mahony Griffin and Walter Burley Griffin won an international competition for the design of the new city. Construction began in 1913 but was interrupted by World War I (1914-1918). Only in 1927 was the national parliament moved here from Melbourne, which had been its temporary seat since 1901. Canberra´s population grew rapidly following World War II (1939-1945).

Canberra is now the home to the federal government and international embassies to Australia.