Melbourne’s skyline along the Yarra River.
Credit: © Rudy Balasko, Shutterstock

Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, has been Australia’s most populous city since 1911. However, Melbourne has surpassed  in population for the first time in over a hundred years. Officials expanded Melbourne’s city limits to include the western suburb of Melton, which added enough people to overtake Sydney. According to the 2021 census, Melbourne now has 4,875,400 residents that call it home, only 18,700 more than Sydney recorded. Researchers say Melbourne’s rapid growth is due to international immigration. Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria. Melbourne is known for celebrating diversity, affordable living costs, and strong employment and education opportunities.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics includes surrounding suburbs in the population. In some definitions that exclude surrounding suburbs, Sydney remains the most populous city in Australia. However, Melbourne is projected to pass Sydney in all definitions by 2031. What a growth spurt!

Melbourne is a busy seaport on Port Phillip Bay, on the southern coast of the Australian mainland. Melbourne is one of the nation’s largest ports and Victoria’s commercial, financial, and industrial center. The discovery of gold in Victoria in 1851 boosted Melbourne’s economy and population, making it Australia’s fastest-growing and largest city.

Prospectors discovered gold in Victoria in 1851. Gold attracted many people and laid the foundation for economic growth. Before the discovery of gold, the population of Melbourne and its suburbs was about 29,000. By 1861, the population had reached nearly 140,000, and Melbourne had become Australia’s largest city.

Mining in Victoria declined in the 1860′s. But manufacturing, encouraged by tariffs (taxes on imported goods) and the growing local market, offset the decline. Melbourne’s growth continued. City officials constructed many public buildings and developed new suburbs. Railways extended wheat farming across the Wimmera River. Officials developed port facilities to handle increasing exports of wool and grain. Melbourne had become the commercial and financial capital of Australia. This period of intense growth ended in the 1890′s, and by 1911, Sydney surpassed Melbourne in size.

Melbourne is one of Australia’s most important cities, with contributions in such areas as the arts, business, and politics. Melbourne is home to the Australian Ballet, the Melbourne Theatre Company, the Malthouse Theatre, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and many other performing arts companies. Opera Australia performs in the city several months each year. Arts Centre Melbourne, south of the Yarra River, includes the State Theatre, the Playhouse, and Hamer Hall, a concert hall.

Melbourne is also noted for its major sporting events. Melbourne is the original home of Australian Rules football, a contact sport somewhat similar to rugby. The city hosts several major sporting events each year. They include the Australian Open tennis championship and the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. Melbourne also hosts Australia’s most popular horse race, the Melbourne Cup, held each year at Flemington Racecourse. The race day is a public holiday in the Melbourne metropolitan area, and the race is popular with viewers worldwide.

A koala mother and her joey (young) rest in a eucalyptus tree. Eucalyptus leaves and shoots make up the main part of a koala’s diet.
© Shutterstock

It’s summer in Australia, so you know what that means—time for a koala count! The Australian government has funded a project to count the population of the beloved teddy-bearlike mammals, as well as record where the marsupials (pouched mammals) live. The government commissioned this project because, in recent years, estimates of the koala population have varied greatly. In 2016, for instance, there were an estimated 300,000 koalas in Australia. Three years later, that number was down to 80,000, with some scientists saying the number was as low as 43,000.

In previous counts, people merely counted how many koalas they saw. But, koalas spend almost all their time in eucalyptus trees, making it difficult for people to spot them among the leaves. For the new count, humans will still venture into the forests to search for koalas. But, to ensure a koala-ty count, the government has also introduced some new methods. It will employ heat-seeking drones. A drone is an aircraft designed to operate without a pilot on board. The drones will detect the body heat that a koala gives off. The government will also use dropping-detection dogs—that is, dogs that identify koala droppings. The droppings serve as evidence that koalas live in the area. In addition to detecting droppings, these dogs can sniff out koalas themselves.

In recent years, the koala population has declined. People have cut down eucalyptus forests for housing developments, resorts, and farmland. In addition to spending most of their time in the forks of eucalyptus trees, koalas eat mainly the leaves and young shoots of eucalyptuses. They even get most of the water they need from eucalyptus leaves. Koalas are also vulnerable to natural disasters. Tens of thousands of koalas were killed when bushfires devastated large areas of Australia in late 2019 and early 2020. In fact, a study by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimated that more than 60,000 koalas had been either killed, injured, or displaced by the fires. This staggering number led some scientists to say that the animal was “functionally extinct.”

There are efforts to increase the koala population in Australia. For instance, the WWF hopes to use drones to drop eucalyptus-tree seeds in forests. The WWF will also create a fund to sponsor koala sanctuaries (safe spaces).