Before Canberra was founded, Australia’s two most important cities, Sydney and Melbourne, were arguing which city should be the capital of the continent. First Melbourne was elected the capital, but in 1908 there was a vote. The result: an area of 2400 square kilometers was given to the country by New South Wales to build Canberra in. This was the place, 300 kilometers away from Sydney and with a distance of 650 kilometers to Melbourne, where a few years later Canberra was built.
The name Canberra is pronounced in various ways and most commonly now as "CAN-brugh" making it sound almost an English name - Canborough ! Some say "CAN-buh-ruh" ; a small number of people may pronounce it "can-BEAR-ruh" ; at an earlier time "can-BERR-a" was very common and that form is still heard although often looked down upon as ignorant and incorrect. But while now an uncommon pronunciation it may be closest to the original name and pronunciation. In the 19th century a farming property on the Limestone Plains was named "Canberry" (or "Camberry") and some think this name is derived in turn from the name of the local tribe - the Ngambri or Kamberra or Camberri people. (Others have suggested the name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning "meeting place").
Canberra has an oceanic climate ("Cfb" in the Köppen climate classification). Due to Canberra's inland location and fairly high altitude, summers are warm to hot with frequent heat waves and droughts and winters are fairly cold with frequent frosts during the nights. Snow is only common on the mountains.
Tourists who visit Canberra come to see the many national monuments and other famous sights. Some places to visit are the Government House, Parliament House, the High Court of Australia, the Australian War Memorial, the National Gallery of Australia, the Royal Australian Mint, Telstra Tower, the National Library of Australia, and the National Museum of Australia.
Sydney
Sydney is a city on the east coast of Australia which is the capital city of New South Wales. About five million people live in Sydney which makes it the biggest city in Oceania. Sydney started in 1788, when the Captain Arthur Phillip brought the First Fleet to settle in Australia. The settlers were mostly convicts from crowded prisons in England and Ireland, with a group of soldiers to guard them. The country is home to more than 200 spoken languages with a large population of overseas-born residents.
In Sydney, there are many famous buildings: the Sydney Opera House, the Queen Victoria Building and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sydney has a large harbour and many beaches. The most famous beach is Bondi Beach, some other famous beaches are Coogee Beach and Manly Beach. A popular coastal walk to do is the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk. Famous parts of the harbour are Darling Harbour and Circular Quay.
The most famous sports ground in Sydney is ANZ Stadium (which used to be called "Stadium Australia") because it was built for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Another stadium in Sydney is the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Other high-profile global events held in Sydney were: 2007 APEC Leaders Conference, 2008 World Youth Day and the 2014 G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting.
Sydney has many things to see and do. These include visiting Taronga Zoo (a park for animals) on the northern side of the harbour, eating food, looking at art or watching sports (like cricket or rugby) or walking down George Street which has many nice shops. Sydney has some of Australia's best shopping, and the Blue Mountains are about two hours' drive away to the west. Many people go to Sydney City to watch the great fireworks display over the harbour on New Year's Eve. Sydney holds events throughout the year that attract tourists from around the world, some namely events are Vivid Sydney, Royal Easter Show, and more. The first people to occupy the area were Australian Aboriginals.
Sydney is a city located on the West Coast of Australia. It is currently the largest city in Australia, and the continent of Oceania. Sydney is known for having been the original landing spot for the British. It is situated next to the Blue Mountains.
Sydney is home to a range of events that happen throughout the year, drawing many tourists and visitors to the city. One of Sydney's biggest event holding convention centre is the newly rebuilt International Convention Centre located by Darling Harbour, Sydney.
Vivid Sydney is held every year in June in the winter and is a display of light shows, art installations and music from local and international artists. In 2016, Vivid Sydney will run for 23 spectacular nights from May 27 to June 18.
The Royal Easter Show is held in Sydney Olympic Park throughout the Easter public holiday period in April. It is a family attraction with rides, carnival games, showbags and food tents. There are also agriculture shows where children can learn more about farm animals as well as animal feeding areas. Shows such as woodcutting and animal competitions are popular every year.
Mercedes Benz Fashion weekend runs for two days every year and features runway shows by leading Australian designers. The event is attended by fashion journalists, magazine editors, bloggers and fashion buyers. There are also Styling Sessions and VIP parties at the home of fashion week in Carriageworks in the inner city suburb of Redfern.
Greenhouse effect
The greenhouse effect occurs when certain gases in the Earth's atmosphere (the air around the Earth) trap infrared radiation. This makes the planet become warmer, similar to the way it makes a greenhouse become warmer.
The greenhouse effect is caused by greenhouse gases; the most important greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are: water vapor, carbon dioxide(CO), and methane. When there is more greenhouse gas in the air, the air holds more heat. This is why more greenhouse gases cause climate change and global warming.
The greenhouse effect is natural. It is important for life on Earth. Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth's average temperature would be around -18 or -19 degrees Celsius (0 or 1 degree Fahrenheit). Earth would be locked in an ice age. Because of the greenhouse effect, the Earth's actual average temperature is 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit).
The problem is that recently, the greenhouse effect has become stronger. This is because humans have been using large amounts of fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide when they are burned. Since carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, it has caused the planet to warm over the past 150 years.
About 10,000 years ago, before people started burning large amounts of fossil fuels, there were 260 to 280 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, but now there is over 400 ppm. Most scientists say that having 350 ppm or less is safe for the environment and that species on the planet can adapt to this level. Higher levels can make severe problems for animal and marine life that are already being seen today, such as ocean acidification.
The greenhouse effect was first proposed by Joseph Fourier in 1824. Mars, Venus and other planets with atmospheres also have greenhouse effects. The effect on Venus is especially strong because Venus has so much CO. This is why Venus is hotter than Mercury, even though Mercury is closer to the sun. The first person to predict that carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels (and other combustion processes) could cause global warming was Svante Arrhenius.
World War
A World War is a war in which most of the countries in the world fight or help.
There have been two World Wars so far, World War I and World War II. Several wars such as the Seven Years' War were fought in many places around the world, but they were wars among European countries.