Facts about Perth
Perth is the cpital of Australian state of Western Australia. It is also the largest city in the state of Western Australia. As of the 2006 census, population of Perth was 1,445,078. One of its LGAs, the City of Perth, is currently the fastest growing area in Australia in percentage terms (10% per year). Perth was founded on 11 June 1829 by Captain James Stirling as the political centre of the free settler Swan River Colony. It has continued to serve as the seat of Government for Western Australia to the present day since the time of its founding. Perth is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Perth. In 1831, the Round House is the oldest surviving building in Perth and was completed this year. In 1831 it took seven men 107 days to dig a canal 280m in length and 4m deep thus creating Burswood Island. In 1837 the colony's first brewery was established at the corner of Spring Street and Mounts Bay Road in Perth. In 1850, the population of the area around Perth was still only about 1400. In 1856 Perth was officially proclaimed a city by Queen Victoria. In 1877 the telegraph from Adelaide to Perth was completed, considerably improving intracontinental communication. In 1881 the first suburban railway line was opened from Fremantle to Perth and on to Guildford. In 1885 the first Western Mail weekly newspaper commenced its publishing in Perth. In 1893 electricity was introduced to the city. In 1897 Fremantle Harbour was officially opened in Perth after blasting of the rocky sandbar across the Swan River mouth and dredging under the guidance of C. Y. O'Connor. In 1898 the Perth Zoo opened with two lions and a tiger. In 1899 the first electric trams started running. In 1911 the University of Western Australia became Perth's first university. But the teaching didn't start until 1913. Perth's second university, Murdoch University was opened in 1975(64 years later). In 1929 Perth commemorated 100 years of British settlement. In 1930 Perth got connected to Adelaide (and subsequently the rest of the eastern states) by a telephone line. On 20 February 1962 Perth became known as the City of Light when astronaut John Glenn passed over the city in his Mercury spacecraft as he became the first American to orbit the Earth. Perth became a blaze of light as thousands of street, porch, house and office lights were switched on to greet Glenn which were clearly seen by him. In 1998, Perth once again lit up its sky to welcome back John Glenn during his Space Shuttle Discovery space flight. The first match of Test Cricketwas played in Perth from 11 to 16 December 1970. Australia's opponent is England. Before European settlement the area had been inhabited by the Whadjuk Noongar people for over 40,000 years, as evidenced by archaeological findings on the Upper Swan River. The area where Perth now stands was called Boorloo by the Aboriginals living there at the time of their first contact with Europeans in 1827. Perth is one of the most isolated metropolitan areas on Earth. The nearest city to Perth with a population over 1 million is Adelaide in South Australia, which is 2,104 kilometres (1,307 mi) away. Perth is geographically closer to East Timor and Jakarta, Indonesia, than it is to Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. It is the antipode of Hamilton, Bermuda. The hottest ever recorded temperature in Perth was 46.2 °C (115 °F) on 23 February 1991. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Perth was -0.7 °C (30.7 °F) on 17 June 2006. perth has a Mediterranean climate. Perth houses the Parliament of Western Australia, and the Governor of Western Australia. Perth has various ethnic settlements. In 2006, the largest ancestry groups in the Perth metropolitan areas were: English (534,555 or 28.6 per cent), "Australian" (479,174 or 25.6 per cent), Irish (115,384 or 6.2 per cent), Scottish (113,846 or 6.1 per cent), Italian (84,331 or 4.5 per cent) and Chinese (53,390 or 2.9 per cent). There were 3,101 Aboriginals in the city (0.2 per cent). Perth's population is notable for the high proportion of British-born residents. At the 2006 Census 142,424 British-born Perth residents were counted[1], narrowly behind Sydney (145,261),[24] despite having just 35% of the overall population of Sydney. Perth is home to four public universities, and one private university: the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University, Curtin University of Technology, Edith Cowan University, and the University of Notre Dame respectively.[2008] In 2002, Perth hosted the World Lacrosse Games, which included the World Lacrosse Championships (won by the United States), the Australian Youth Lacrosse Championship, a Masters (35+ year old), Grandmasters (45+), and International Open Championships. The 1991 and 1998 FINA World Championships were held in Perth. Every year Perth hosts the Hopman Cup, an international tennis tournament, generally in the first week of January. This is held at the Burswood Dome, and is broadcast internationally. Perth frequently hosts international Rugby Union games as part of the Tri-Nations and Bundaberg Rum Rugby Series. (19 July 2008 - Wallabies Vs Springboks [30]). Perth hosted a number of games during the 2003 Rugby World Cup and has also hosted other international teams such as Ireland. Perth is the terminus for the annual Avon Descent, a two-day, 134 kilometre white water race. Until 2006, Perth hosted the annual Rally Australia. From 2006, Perth is now host to the final leg of the Red Bull Air Race held on a stretch of the Swan River called Perth Water, using Langely Park as a temporary air field. The 2008 qualifying runs will take place November 3, with Race Day on November 4. Every summer the Australian cricket team plays a test match and a one day international match at the WACA Ground, as well as a second match between the two touring teams. Perth hosts the Gravity Games, an international Surface Water Sport competition, annually in summer. |
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