The Canberra Floriade is a world class floral spectacular held annually in the spring in Commonwealth Park on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.
Tourism is a growing segment of the economy of Canberra with the most popular tourist seasons being spring and autumn.
Finally, chronic anemia may result in behavioral disturbances in children as a direct result of impaired neurological development in infants and reduced scholastic performance in children of school age.
Development in Canberra has been closely regulated by government, both through the town planning process, and through the use of crown lease terms that have tightly limited the use of parcels of land.
Outside Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory has no settlements larger than a village.
A growing number of independent organizations that deal predominately with government entities, such as software vendors, have based themselves in Canberra, to capitalize on the concentration of government customers.
Archaeological evidence from the Canberra region suggests human habitation of the area for at least 21,000 years.
Prior to European settlement, Indigenous Australian tribes including the Ngunnawal and Walgalu seasonally inhabited the area in which Canberra would eventually be constructed.
The two main tertiary institutions are the Australian National University (ANU) in Acton, and the University of Canberra (UC) in Bruce.
The North and South Canberra districts are substantially based on Walter Burley Griffin's designs.
Tertiary level vocational education is also available through the multi-campus Canberra Institute of Technology.
Canberra has four distinct seasons, because of its latitude, elevation and distance from the coast.
The largest private hospital in Canberra is the John James Memorial Hospital in Deakin.
The Canberra Museum and Gallery in Civic is a repository of local history and art.
Canberra is the federal capital of the Commonwealth of Australia located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
Canberra also has a successful basketball team, the Canberra Capitals, who won the 2006 and 2007 Women's National Basketball League championship.
Canberra has two large public hospitals, the 500-bed Canberra Hospital (formerly the Woden Valley Hospital) located in Garran, and the smaller Calvary Public Hospital located in Bruce.
By this time, some public servants had begun to move to Canberra from Melbourne, but the city’s population was only 7,000.
Canberra has a daily newspaper, the Canberra Times, which was established in 1926, and some free weekly suburban and special interest publications.
Property and business services, construction, health and community services, and education are other significant contributors to the economy of Canberra.
The city's design was heavily influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra the title "bush capital."
Canberra Nature Parks have a large range of walking paths, horse and mountain bike trails.
A Canberra-wide series of bicycle paths are available to cyclists for recreational and sporting purposes.
Canberra was chosen as the site in 1908, as a result of survey work done by the government surveyor Charles Scrivener.
The 2006 census also showed that 1.2 percent of Canberra's population were of indigenous origin and 21.7 percent were born overseas.
The Molonglo then flows into the Murrumbidgee River northwest of Canberra, which in turn flows northwest toward the New South Wales town of Yass.
Many of Canberra's suburbs are named after former Prime Ministers, famous Australians, early settlers, or use Aboriginal words for their title.
In 1920, Griffin left Canberra with only the framework of his plan actually constructed or under construction.
Canberra experiences hot, dry summers, and cold winters with heavy fog and frequent frosts, with a rare spot of snow in the central business district (CBD) and surrounding areas.
The European population in the Canberra area continued to grow slowly throughout the 19th century.
The surrounding region is referred to as the Chapada do Corisco ("Flash Lightning Flatlands").
Canberra has a number of sister cities, including Atlanta, Georgia in the United States, Beijing in China, Dili in East Timor, Nara in Japan, and Versailles in France.
The major public-sector employers in Canberra include the parliament and government departments such as Department of Defence, Finance, Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Treasury departments.
Canberra generally is not very windy with an average of 25 days of strong winds per year.
The best-known teams are the Canberra Raiders and the ACT Brumbies who play rugby league and rugby union respectively, and who have both been champions of their respective sports.
The Molonglo River flows through Canberra and has been dammed to form the body of water in the center of the city called Lake Burley Griffin.
The city's main industry is government administration and defense, which accounted for 26.7 percent of Gross Territory Product in 2005–06 and employed over 40 percent of Canberra's workforce.
The 2006 Census listed the population of Canberra was 323,056 people, , with a population density of 401.0 persons per square kilometer (1,038.8/sq.
The urban areas of Canberra are organized into a hierarchy of districts, town centers, group centers, local suburbs as well as other industrial areas and villages.
Canberra is about three hours by road from Sydney, seven hours by road from Melbourne, and a two hour drive to the ski fields of the Snowy Mountains and the Kosciuszko National Park.
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is located in the Canberra suburb of Bruce.
Many Commonwealth government buildings in Canberra are open to the public, including Parliament House, the High Court and the Royal Australian Mint.
Canberra also hosts an annual Marathon, the City of Canberra Half Ironman Triathlon, and the Canberra Women's Tennis Classic.
Canberra International Airport provides direct domestic services to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth, with connections to other smaller domestic centers.
In 1926 Federal Parliament was to meet in Canberra and then in a "provisional" Parliament House (Old Parliament House), which was built on a flatter area than recommended in Griffin's plan.
Canberra's hospitals receive emergency cases from throughout southern New South Wales.
Water sports like sailing, rowing and water skiing are popular activities on Canberra's lakes.
The Ngarigo lived southeast of the Canberra area, the Gundungurra to the north, the Yuin on the coast and the Wiradjuri to the west.
The annual Canberra Floriade Spring flower display in September is a major attraction.
The Rally of Canberra is an annual motor sport event and a facility for drag racing is currently being planned for construction.
Canberra covers an area of 311.0 square miles (805.6 sq km) and is located near the Brindabella Ranges, approximately 93 miles (150 km) inland from Australia's east coast.
Canberra's railway station is in the inner south suburb of Kingston.
Canberra is a planned city that was originally designed by Walter Burley Griffin, a major 20th century American architect.
The word "Canberra" is derived from the name of the local Ngabri people dialect, one of the Ngunnawal family groups, from the word Kanbarra meaning "meeting place" in the old Ngunnawal language.
Approximately 51.5 percent of Canberra residents describe themselves as Christian, the most common denominations being Roman Catholic (28.1 percent) and Anglican (16.7 percent), with 23.3 percent describing themselves "not religious."
Post-war shortages caused lengthy periods of stagnation, and it was not till after the war that the majority of the development of Canberra really began.
European exploration and settlement began in the Canberra area as early as the 1820s.
Canberra has many venues for live music and theater: the Canberra Theatre and Playhouse which host many major concerts and productions; and Llewellyn Hall (within the ANU School of Music), a world-class concert hall.
Canberra has numerous sporting ovals, golf courses, skate parks, tennis courts and swimming pools that are open to the public.
Canberra has free-to-air analogue television stations including two government funded, ABC and Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), three commercial stations, and two free-to-air digital services (ABC2 and SBS News).