It’s not unusual for countries to move their capital cities. Russia’s capital was formerly St Petersburg, Turkey’s was Istanbul and Scotland’s was Dunfermline. It is, however, unusual for a nation’s capital to be decided as a compromise. In this case both Sydney and Adelaide claimed the right to be capital of the new country and neither would give way to the other. To end the wrangling, it was decided to create a new city, halfway between the two and thus Canberra was born. Canberra was deliberately created to exist outside of any state to prevent it from showing favouritism towards its home state.
Rather ironically, the heart of Canberra was actually designed by an American architect – Walter Burley Griffin, after whom Lake Burley Griffin was named. Nature is central to the design of Canberra, which was modelled on the principles of garden cities, hence it’s nickname of the “bush capital”. It is twinned with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan.
Canberra attracts a large number of immigrants from all over the world, many of whom will be attracted to its particularly pleasant climate and outstanding infrastructure. Those who do wish to make the move, are advised to enlist the help of an experienced NAATI translator.
