Canberra is Australia's capital and its largest inland city. At the , it had 395,790 residents. This amounted to only 1.7% of Australia's population. The population density for Canberra is 443.5 people per sq kilometre. At the 2016 census, 32% of Canberra's population were born overseas, a large majority which come from

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. The estimated population for Canberra as of 2016 was 395,790, constituting 194,879 males and 200,914 females. The 2016 unemployment rate was around 4.7%. ACT Canberra density

History

The first few decades after the establishment of Canberra growth was relatively slow due to low funds after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The population was nearly 2000 at the time. Until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

development was completely put on hold due to the Great Depression. Office development accelerated rapidly in the 1960s in

Civic Civic is something related to a city or municipality. It also can refer to multiple other things: General *Civics, the science of comparative government *Civic engagement, the connection one feels with their larger community *Civic center, a comm ...

. From 1960 - 1971, the population tripled from 50,000 inhabitants to 146,000 and climbing to 203,000 in 1976. The Australian economy went into recession in 1975, and a year later the construction industries in Canberra collapsed. In modern times, the growth completely slowed in 1996 - 2001. However, the city experiences over 1 percent growth annually. The population in 2016 was around 395,790.

Populations by district

Most of Canberra's growth since 1991 has taken place in Gungahlin.

Ancestry and immigration

At the 2016 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were: The 2016 census showed that 32% of Canberra's inhabitants were born overseas. Of inhabitants born outside of Australia, the most prevalent countries of birth were England, China, India, New Zealand and the Philippines. 1.6% of the population, or 6,476 people, identified as

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

(

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

and

Torres Strait Islanders Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often groupe ...

) in 2016.

Language

At the 2016 census, 72.7% of people spoke only English at home. The other languages most commonly spoken at home were

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

(3.1%),

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

(1.1%),

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...

(1%),

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

(0.9%) and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

(0.8%).

Religion

At the 2011 census, the most common responses for religion were no religion (36.2%)

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(22.3%), Anglican (10.7%), not stated (9.1%) and

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

(2.6%).

Demographic Statistics

The following statistics are from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Median age

:34 years of age

Age structure

:0-14 years: 18.7% (74,213) :15–64 years: 68.7% (271,762) :65 years and over: 12.7% (49,828)

Population growth rate

:1.6%

Birth rate

:13.5 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

Death rate

:4.5 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

Life expectancy

As of 2013-2015, the Australian Capital Territory has the highest life expectancy in Australia. The life expectancy at birth for males is 81.2 years and 85.3 years for females.

Sex ratios

:There were 99.0 males for every 100 females in Canberra as of 2010. :Civic had the highest sex ratio (137.2 males for every 100 females.) :Deakin had the lowest sex ratio (80.6 males for every 100 females.)

Total fertility rate

:1.6 children born/woman (2001 est.)Fertility rate of Australia in 2001
Australian Bureau of Statistics. 31 October 2001. Retrieved 31 October 2001.

Unemployment rate

4.5%

Notes

References

{{Reflist, 30em Canberra Demographics of Australia by state or territory Canberra