Melbourne is the capital and largest city of the State of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia.
It was named after the 2nd Viscount Melbourne, William Lamb in 1837.
It was established in 1835 (47 years after the first European settlement of Australia), by free settlers from Van Diemen’s Land, as a pastoral township around the estuary of the Yarra River.
When gold was discovered in the district during the 1850s (which sparked the Victorian gold rush) Melbourne was transformed into a wealthy metropolis, and one of the largest and richest cities in the world by the 1880s.
Melbourne is a centre for arts, commerce, education, industry, sports and tourism. Since 2002, it has been consistently ranked in the top three 'World's Most Livable Cities' by The Economist.
Source: Wikipedia
