What is the capital of Australia?

Why Canberra — Not Sydney or Melbourne — Became Australia's Capital

Most people's first guess is Sydney. It's the largest city, home to the Opera House, and arguably the most famous Australian city on the world stage. A close second guess is usually Melbourne. So why did Australia end up with a capital that many people outside the country have barely heard of?

The answer lies in one of the great rivalries of Australian history.

A Compromise Born From Rivalry

When the six British colonies federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, Sydney and Melbourne were locked in fierce competition to become the national capital. Neither city was willing to hand the prize to the other. The solution, baked directly into the Australian Constitution, was a diplomatic compromise: build a brand-new capital city from scratch, somewhere between the two rivals.

The Constitution specified that the capital had to be in New South Wales but at least 100 miles (about 160 kilometres) from Sydney. After surveying several candidate sites, the Limestone Plains in southern New South Wales was selected in 1908. The surrounding territory was transferred from New South Wales to federal control and became the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

A City Designed by Competition

Canberra didn't just happen — it was deliberately designed. In 1911, the Australian government held an international design competition, attracting 137 entries from around the world. The winners were American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, from Chicago. Their vision featured a bold geometric layout centred on a man-made lake, wide boulevards, and carefully positioned buildings that aligned with the surrounding landscape and mountains.

Construction was slow. World War I and the Great Depression both caused significant delays. Parliament didn't actually move from Melbourne to Canberra until 1927, when the provisional Parliament House was officially opened by the Duke of York (the future King George VI).

Canberra Today

The city is named after an Aboriginal word believed to mean "meeting place" — fitting for a city built entirely around the idea of bringing a nation together. Today, Canberra is home to around 470,000 people, making it Australia's largest inland city and its eighth-largest city overall.

It's the seat of the federal government, home to Parliament House (the current, permanent building opened in 1988), the High Court, the Australian War Memorial, and a cluster of outstanding national museums and galleries. Lake Burley Griffin — the man-made centrepiece of the Griffins' original design — sits at the heart of the city.

Canberra is often the butt of jokes from Sydneysiders and Melburnians alike, but it functions exactly as intended: a neutral ground where neither great city got the upper hand. Sometimes the most interesting answers in history come from a well-managed compromise.