Melbourne - Australia

Melbourne is the second most populous city in Australia and the capital of Victoria. The city is know as the sporting and cultural capital of Australia and is home to events such as the Australian Open and the Melbourne Cup. The city's architecture is a mix between old European and modern.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiMU7SEkYLY  

Melbourne is a multi-cultural city that is home to a mix of different ethnic groups. The city is said to have the third-largest number of Greek-speaking people outside of Athens and Thessaloniki.http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/AboutMelbourne/History/Pages/multiculturalhistory.aspx  Melbourne also has sizeable communities of Italians, Chinese and Vietnamese (Nguyen is the second most-listed name in the Melbourne phone book).http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/AboutMelbourne/History/Pages/multiculturalhistory.aspx    

Melbourne was founded in 1835, under the reign of King William IV. However, unlike Australia's other major cities, Melbourne did not originate with the backing of the Commonwealth. It was first aquired by a Tasmanian named John Batman, who purchased 600,000 of what is now Melbourne and Geelong from traditional landowners. This deal, however, was later when the government ordered for a settlement to be built in Melbourne, but Batman's Port Phillip Company was compensated.http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/AboutMelbourne/History/Documents/history_melbourne_city.PDF 

In 1850, when news spread that gold had been discovered in Melbourne, prospectors arrived from around the world. In the early 1852, 1853 and 1854 an average of 90,000 arrived in Melbourne every year. This number died down but the city continued to prosper until the depression in the 1880s.http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/AboutMelbourne/History/Documents/history_melbourne_city.PDF  

Melbourne experienced another wave of migration in the wake of World War II. This time it was immigrants arriving from the wake of war on the continent, looking to settle.http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/AboutMelbourne/History/Documents/history_melbourne_city.PDF 

Melbourne is situated on Australia's south coast, about 30 nautical miles from Port Phillip Bay's northern entrance. The city's flat terrain is about 390 feet above sea level. The city's urban development currently lines the Eastern shore of Port Phillip Bay and 10 miles for the western shore. From the mouth of the Yarra River, where the first settlers founded Melbourne, to Point Nepean, the city stretches 60 miles.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/373808/Melbourne/12654/Physical-and-human-geography  

• Melbourne Cricket Ground
• St. Kilda
• Queen Victoria Market
• Old Melbourne Gaol
• Phillip Island Penguin Parade
• Flinders Street Station
• Yarra Riverhttp://www.lonelyplanet.com/australia/melbourne/sights  

• Kylie Minogue: Singerhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001541/ 
• Eric Bana: Actorhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0051509/  
• Isabel Lucas: Actresshttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm1456970/ 
• Cate Blanchett: Actresshttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000949/ 
• Germaine Greer: Writerhttp://www.biographyonline.net/writers/germaine-greer.html 
• Rupert Murdoch: Media magnatehttp://www.biography.com/articles/Rupert-Murdoch-9418489 
• James Wan: Directorhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm1490123/bio 
• Leigh Whannell: Screenwriterhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm1191481/