Canberra Australia Photos

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About Canberra Australia Photos

This group is for photos of, and relevant to, Canberra, Australia's Capital City, and the surrounding region in Australia. Help us celebrate our love for our region by posting your best photos into the group pool, and contributing to the group topics. Photos should be family friendly and in some way represent life/features in Canberra.

Posting limit of 5 per day - we want to see everyone's photos, please try and limit yourself to no more than 3 at one time.

Only photos of Canberra and the surrounding region will be accepted in this group, to be used as a reference for ourselves, and a place visitors can come to see what makes our region so special.

Photos should be:
* Recognisably of Canberra or surrounding region;
* Relevant to/About Canberra or surrounding region; and/or
* Show life in Canberra or the surrounding region

Our sister group is Canberra Photographers which celebrates the unique and interactive community developed over the past several years, and is a repository for the social and community focused aspects of the Canberra and Region Flickr photographers group.


Some other Canberra related Flickr bits and pieces:
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Past winners of the group competitions
ACT Photographers - for photos taken by Canberrans
Canberra Area Birds - for photos of Canberra Birds
Floriade - celebration of the annual Flower Festival held in Canberra
Canberra Balloon Fiesta - photos from the annual Hot Air Ballooning celebration
Universities in Canberra - photos of Universities in Canberra
Canberra Fireworks
National Museum of Australia - photos from our magnificent icon.
Parliament House: Australia - our national seat of government.
Canberra Sunsets - photos of sunset in Canberra, tagged by our group members


A SHORT HISTORY OF CANBERRA & THE SURROUNDING REGION

For 21,000 years the Canberra region has been home to the Ngunnawal people. Evidence of their long occupation exists in archeological evidence found at Birrigai Rock Shelter at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, in rock paintings in Namadgi National Park (such as at Yankee Hat rock shelter) and in other places throughout the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Aboriginals lived in the area, moving about to take advantage of seasonal foods, such as bogong moths which arrived in the nearby high country in their thousands during the summer months. The tribes met regularly for corroborees and feasts before breaking off again into smaller bands.

In 1815 a road was constructed across the Blue Mountains to Bathurst Plains, and by 1820 a road to Goulburn Plains (which lie within 100 kilometres of Canberra) was under construction, opening up the vast interior of Australia to further exploration and development.

In 1820 explorers Joseph Wild, James Vaughan and Charles Throsby Smith discovered the Limestone Plains of the Canberra region, following the discovery of Lake George earlier that year. They crossed the range of hills beside Lake George and reached a point from which they saw what is now the site of Canberra.

The first European settler in the district was Joshua John Moore who established a stock station called 'Canberry'. It's thought the name Canberry is based on an Aboriginal name for the area 'Kamberra' or 'Kambery' which is thought to mean 'meeting place'. The middle of Moore's property is approximately where Canberra's city centre is currently sited. In 1913 Canberra became the official name for the area.

Subsequent to Federation in 1901, the New South Wales Government commissioned a report suggesting possible locations for the seat of Government for the new Commonwealth of Australia. The report suggested three places, Bombala, Yass-Canberra, and Orange, which made it to a short list, and suggested others which were rejected - Albury, Tumut, Cooma and Armidale.

The decision for the Yass-Canberra option was made in 1908 by the Commonwealth Parliament and shortly afterwards the Commonwealth surveyor, Charles Scrivener, was dispatched to choose a site. His instructions were to choose somewhere picturesque, distinctive, and with views.

In 1911 an international competition to design the new capital city of Australia was held. More than 130 entries were received in the competition and the winning entry was submitted by American architect Walter Burley Griffin and his partner and wife, Marion Mahony Griffin. Griffin originally designed the city for a population of 75,000 people but in the boom following World War 2 Canberra grew and now contains a population of more than 300,000.

The Australian Capital Territory was declared on 1 January 1911. It became a self-governing territory in 1989.

Canberra is located on the plains at the foot of the Australian Alps surrounded by the Brindabella mountain range, and takes up the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory, the southern end is Namadgi National Park. The weather in Canberra is temperate, which means that the summers are warm and the winters are cold. During the summer the average daily high temperature is about 26C. In winter the average daily temperature is about 10C and minus temperatures at night and in the morning are common.

Canberra is now a hub for western New South Wales, as well as a major tourist destination for Australians and international visitors. People visit the national capital because it is the seat of federal government, and also because it boasts many major Australian cultural organisations and important cultural landmarks. The region is also home to many lively, happening communities and events, you only need to look at the photos on this website to get an idea of the diversity and culture of Canberra and its surrounding region!

References for this information:
Culture and recreation portal culture.gov.au/articles/canberra/
Wikipedia: Canberra




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