Satellite photo of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

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 ...

, the capital city of

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...

, is situated on the southeastern fringe of the Australian landmass and in the southern central part of the state. Melbourne covers an urbanised area (generally excluding nearby rural areas) of approximately 2,453 km²–larger than that of Sydney, Greater London and

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, with population density roughly around 16 people per hectare on average. The city itself is situated in a region of alpine forests known as the High Country. The city and metropolitan areas of Melbourne also spans along the lower stretches of the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, ( Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower s ...

. Towards eastern Melbourne is the low-lying mountain ranges known as Dandenong Ranges, 35 km east of the city.

Geology

Geologically, it is built on the conclusion of Quaternary lava flows to the west, Silurian mudstones to the east, and

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

sand accumulation to the southeast along

Port Phillip Port Phillip ( Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is com ...

. The southeastern suburbs are situated on the

Selwyn fault Victoria is an Australian state, situated at the southern end of the Great Dividing Range. The Great Dividing Range stretches along the east coast of the continent and terminates near the Victorian city of Ballarat west of the capital Melbourne, t ...

which transects Mount Martha and Cranbourne.

Topography

Melbourne extends along the Yarra River towards the

Yarra Valley The Yarra Valley is the region surrounding the Yarra River in Victoria, Australia. The river originates approximately east of the Melbourne central business district and flows towards it and out into Port Phillip Bay. The name Yarra Vall ...

and the Dandenong Ranges to the east. It extends northward through the undulating bushland valleys of the Yarra's tributaries—

Moonee Ponds Creek Moonee is a coastal suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for ...

(toward Tullamarine Airport),

Merri Creek The Merri Creek is a waterway in southern parts of Victoria, Australia, which flows through the northern suburbs of Northcote. It begins near Wallan north of Melbourne and flows south for 70 km until it joins the Yarra River at Dights Fa ...

Darebin Creek Darebin Creek is a creek that runs through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the main watercourse of the Darebin Valley and a major tributary of the Yarra River. For tens of thousands of years it was used as a food and ...

and

Plenty River The Plenty River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the north-eastern Greater Melbourne region of the Australian state of Victoria. Course and features The Plenty River rises in the forested slopes of Mount Disapp ...

—to the outer suburban growth corridors of Craigieburn and Whittlesea. The western part of the metropolitan area lies within the Victorian Volcanic Plain Grasslands biome.Biodiversity of the Western Volcanic Plains - The Western Volcanic Plains
State of Victoria (Department of Education). Retrieved 3 September 2022. The southeastern suburbs (from Frankston) are situated within the

Gippsland Plains Grassy Woodland The Gippsland Plains Grassy Woodland is an ecological community, ecological temperate grassland community located in the Gippsland region in southern Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Stretching from Bairnsdale, Victoria, Bairnsdale in the ...

zone.Gippsland Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Associated Native Grassland
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Retrieved 6 September 2022. The city reaches south-east through

Dandenong Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainly ...

to the growth corridor of Pakenham towards

West Gippsland West Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, extends from the southeastern limits of metropolitan Melbourne and Western Port Bay in the west to the Latrobe Valley in the east, and is bounded by the Strzelecki Ranges to the south ...

, and southward through the

Dandenong Creek The Dandenong Creek ( Aboriginal Bunwurrung: ''Narra Narrawong'' or ''Dandinnong'') is an urban creek of the Port Phillip Port Phillip ( Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast ...

valley, the

Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geo ...

and the city of Frankston taking in the peaks of

Olivers Hill Olivers Hill is a locality located in the City of Frankston, Victoria in Australia. It is the first major rise in terrain along the eastern coastline of Port Phillip, between Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. It was named after local Fr ...

, Mount Martha and Arthurs Seat, extending along the shores of Port Phillip as a single conurbation to reach the exclusive suburb of Portsea and

Point Nepean Point Nepean ( Boonwurrung: ''Boona-djalang'') marks the southern point of The Rip (the entrance to Port Phillip) and the most westerly point of the Mornington Peninsula, in Victoria, Australia. It was named in 1802 after the British polit ...

. In the west, it extends along the

Maribyrnong River The Maribyrnong River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the northwestern suburbs of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria. Course The Maribyrnong River draws its headwaters from near Mount Macedon within ...

and its tributaries north towards Sunbury and the foothills of the

Macedon Ranges The Macedon Ranges is a region in Central Victoria, known for its expansive native forests, vibrant arts scene, thriving food and wine industries (including weekly farmers' markets) and natural attractions such as Hanging Rock and Mount Macedon. It ...

, and along the flat volcanic plain country towards Melton in the west,

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham Local government areas of Victoria, local government a ...

at the foothills of the

You Yangs The You Yangs are a series of granite ridges that rise up to above the flat and low-lying Werribee Plain in southern Victoria, Australia, approximately due west of the rural town of Little River, southwest of Melbourne CBD and north of Ge ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

ridge and Geelong as part of the greater metropolitan area to the south-west.

Coast

Melbourne's major bayside beaches are located in the south-eastern suburbs along the shores of Port Phillip Bay, in areas like

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city List of Melbourne suburbs, suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of ...

, Albert Park, St Kilda, Elwood, Brighton, Sandringham, Mentone and Frankston although there are beaches in the western suburbs of Altona and Williamstown. The nearest surf beaches are located south-west of the Melbourne CBD in the back-beaches of Rye,

Sorrento Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana ra ...

and Portsea.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geography Of Melbourne Geology of Victoria (Australia) Biogeography of Victoria (Australia) Environment of Australia Melbourne

Geology

Topography

Coast

See also

References