There are eight capital cities in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, each of which functions as the seat of government for the state or territory in which it is located. One of these,

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, is also the national capital.

Section 125 of the Constitution of Australia Section 125 of the Constitution of Australia deals with matters relating to the seat of the Commonwealth government. It specifies that it will be in its own territory that is under direct Commonwealth control, that will be at least from Sydne ...

specified that the seat of the national government, that is, the national capital, would be in its own territory within

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, at least 100 miles from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. The Constitution specified that until this national capital was ready, the Parliament would sit in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. In 1927, the national capital was finally ready and the national government relocated from its former seat in Melbourne to Canberra within the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

(or the Federal Capital Territory as it was known at the time). In each state and internal territory, the capital is also the jurisdiction's most populous city. The Australian external territory of

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

has its official capital at Kingston, although this acts merely as the administrative centre of government; its ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' capital is

Burnt Pine Burnt Pine ( Norf'k: ''Ban Pain''Buffett, Alice Inez, ''Speak Norfolk Today: An Encyclopedia of the Norfolk Island language'', Himii Publishing, Norfolk Island, 1999: 25) is the largest town on Norfolk Island (in the Pacific Ocean located betwee ...

.'' Norfolk Island - Kingston'' http://www.pitcairners.org/vt_kingston.html Norfolk Island's Home on the Web

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Australian Capital Cities Demographics of Australia

Capital cities A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...