86-643: Murray Valley Highway is a 663-kilometre (412 mi) rural highway located in Victoria (with a short western tail in New South Wales ), Australia, between Euston, New South Wales and Corryong , Victoria. The popular tourist route mostly follows the southern bank of the Murray River and effectively acts as the northernmost highway in Victoria. For all but the western end's last three kilometres,
172-718: A 17-year period between 1919 and 1936, the Hume Dam is located approximately 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) east of the city of Albury . The dam was built, involving a workforce of thousands, by a consortium of NSW and Victorian government agencies that included the Water Resources Commission of New South Wales, the Public Works Department of New South Wales, and the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria. Supplies to
258-756: A child, 307 convicts, 17 convicts' wives, and seven children). They had been sent from England in HMS ; Calcutta under the command of Captain Daniel Woodriff , principally out of fear that the French, who had been exploring the area, might establish their own settlement and thereby challenge British rights to the continent. In 1826, Colonel Stewart, Captain Samuel Wright, and Lieutenant Burchell were sent in HMS Fly (Captain Wetherall) and
344-794: A cooler, mountain climate in the centre of the state. Winters along the coast of the state, particularly around Melbourne , are relatively mild ( see chart ). The coastal plain south of the Great Dividing Range has Victoria's mildest climate. Air from the Southern Ocean helps reduce the heat of summer and the cold of winter. Melbourne and other large cities are located in this temperate region. The Mallee and upper Wimmera are Victoria's warmest regions with hot winds blowing from nearby semi-deserts. Average temperatures exceed 32 °C (90 °F) during summer and 15 °C (59 °F) in winter. Except at cool mountain elevations,
430-483: A high voltage transformer at the power station caught fire, requiring more than fifty fire fighters who worked into the long hours of the night to put the blaze out. The power station was completed in 1957, running two 25 megawatts (34,000 hp) turbines. In 2000, these turbines were each upgraded to 29 megawatts (39,000 hp). Originally named the Mitta Mitta Dam site, following representations from
516-583: A new multi-member proportional representation system. The State of Victoria was divided into eight electorates with each electorate represented by five representatives elected by Single Transferable Vote . The total number of upper house members was reduced from 44 to 40 and their term of office is now the same as the lower house members—four years. Elections for the Victorian Parliament are now fixed and occur in November every four years. Prior to
602-799: A number of museums, art galleries, and theatres; in 2016 a sports marketing company named it the world's sporting capital. Victoria has 38 seats in the Australian House of Representatives and 12 seats in the Australian Senate . At state level, the Parliament of Victoria consists of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council . The Labor Party , led by Jacinta Allan as premier , has governed Victoria since 2014. The Governor of Victoria ,
688-602: A rate of 8,227 per 100,000 people, up 4.4% on the previous year. While there have been some dips along the way, the rate of recorded offences have increased year on year since 2011, when the figure was 6,937.7 offences per 100,000 people. Victoria has a parliamentary form of government based on the Westminster System . Legislative power resides in the Parliament consisting of the Governor (the representative of
774-598: A semi-nomadic existence of fishing, hunting and gathering, and farming eels. At the Keilor Archaeological Site , a human hearth excavated in 1971 was radiocarbon-dated to about 31,000 years BP , making Keilor one of the earliest sites of human habitation in Australia. A cranium found at the site has been dated at between 12,000 and 14,700 years BP . Archaeological sites in Tasmania and on
860-501: A total of 513 miles), subsuming the original declarations of Murray River Valley Road, Ruthergen-Wodonga Road, Wangaratta-Yarrawonga Road (between Bundalong and Yarrawonga), Yarrawonga-Cobram Road, Cobram-Strathmerton Road, Kyabram-Nathalia Road (between Nathalia and Wyuna), Lake Boga-Swan Hill Road, and Swan Hill-Euston Road (between Swan Hill and Lake Powell) as Main Roads, and also a section of Omeo Highway between Tallangatta and Wodonga;
946-422: Is 20,190 hectares (49,900 acres). The catchment area is 15,300 square kilometres (5,900 sq mi). The dam wall is constructed of rock covered with clay and other earth and is designed to carry vehicular traffic. A controlled concrete spillway has a gated concrete overflow, with twenty-nine vertical undershot gates, is capable of discharging 7,929 cubic metres per second (280,000 cu ft/s). Water
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#17327725924821032-987: Is also home to four of Australia's 20 largest cities : Melbourne , Geelong , Ballarat and Bendigo . Victoria is home to numerous Aboriginal groups, including the Boonwurrung , the Bratauolung , the Djadjawurrung , the Gunai , the Gunditjmara , the Taungurung , the Wathaurong , the Wurundjeri , and the Yorta Yorta . There were more than 30 Aboriginal languages spoken in the area prior to European colonisation. In 1770 James Cook claimed
1118-459: Is also popular for water skiing , and several holiday resorts catering for fishing and skiers are dotted around the upper reaches of the lake. An annual Canoe marathon race the 'Frank Harrison Classic' is run on the river beginning below the dam each February and attracts competitors from across Australia. In 1958, a group of enthusiastic sailors established a Sailing Club and started to run regular regattas. The sailing club has since grown and
1204-518: Is at 39°12' S, which passes through Boundary Islet in the Bass Strait for 85 metres. Victoria contains many topographically, geologically and climatically diverse areas, ranging from the wet, temperate climate of Gippsland in the southeast to the snow-covered Victorian alpine areas which rise to almost 2,000 m (6,600 ft), with Mount Bogong the highest peak at 1,986 m (6,516 ft). There are extensive semi-arid plains to
1290-605: Is called Lake Hume , formerly the Hume Reservoir . It is a gated concrete gravity dam with four earth embankments and twenty-nine vertical undershot gated concrete overflow spillways . The dam is part of the Engineering Works of the River Murray that are listed as a National Engineering Landmark by Engineers Australia , as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program . Constructed over
1376-399: Is divided into distinct geographic regions , most commonly for the purposes of economic development , while others for land management (agriculture or conservation) and for censusing (statistical or meteorological) or electoral purposes. The most commonly used regions are those created by the state government for the purposes of economic development . In addition to Greater Melbourne ,
1462-828: Is heavier. Rainfall is most reliable in Gippsland and the Western District , making them both leading farming areas. Victoria's highest recorded daily rainfall was 377.8 mm (14.87 in) at Tidal River in Wilsons Promontory National Park on 23 March 2011. At March 2024 Victoria had a population of 6,959,200. The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that the population may well reach 10.3 million by 2051. Victoria's founding Anglo-Celtic population has been supplemented by successive waves of migrants from Southern and Eastern Europe , Asia and, most recently, Africa and
1548-425: Is located 10 km (6 mi) south of Bendigo . Due to its central location and the region's historical ties to the gold rush, the town is widely regarded as the "Heart of Gold". The state's capital, Melbourne, contains about 70% of the state's population and dominates its economy, media, and culture. For other cities and towns, see list of localities (Victoria) and local government areas of Victoria . Victoria
1634-554: Is now known as the Albury Wodonga Yacht Club (AWYC). The club offers sail training for children and adults, and regular weekend racing. Once a year, on the first weekend in November, AWYC runs SailCountry, a large regatta which attracts entrants from all over Australia. The construction of Hume Dam has caused significant changes to the flow patterns and ecology of the Murray River. Before the construction of
1720-459: Is particularly strong in Bendigo and its environs. In 1854 at Ballarat, an armed rebellion against the government of Victoria was made by miners protesting against mining taxes (the " Eureka Stockade "). This was crushed by British troops, but the confrontation persuaded the colonial authorities to reform the administration of mining concessions (reducing the hated mining licence fees) and extend
1806-530: Is retained nearly 40 kilometres (25 mi) upstream of the reservoir in the valleys of both the Murray and Mitta Mitta rivers. The dam wall was extended during the 1950s, and completed in 1961, necessitating the wholesale removal of Tallangatta township and its re-establishment at a new site 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) west of the original, as well as the raising of the Bethanga Bridge . Monitoring of
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#17327725924821892-471: The Australian Bureau of Statistics as being a population cluster of 1,000 or more people. The below figures broadly represent the populations of the contiguous built-up areas of each city: Victoria has a varied climate that ranges from semi-arid temperate with hot summers in the north-west, to temperate and cool along the coast. Victoria's main land feature, the Great Dividing Range, produces
1978-596: The Bass Strait Islands have been dated to between 20,000 to 35,000 years ago when sea levels were 130 metres below present level allowing First Nations Peoples to move across the region of southern Victoria and onto the land bridge of the Bassian plain to Tasmania by at least 35,000 years ago. During the Ice Age about 20,000 years BP , the area now the bay of Port Phillip would have been dry land, and
2064-610: The Bass Strait to the south (with the exception of a small land border with Tasmania located along Boundary Islet ), the Great Australian Bight portion of the Southern Ocean to the southwest, and the Tasman Sea (a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean ) to the southeast. The state encompasses a range of climates and geographical features from its temperate coastal and central regions to
2150-600: The Middle East . Victoria's population is ageing in proportion with the average of the remainder of the Australian population. About 72% of Victorians are Australian-born. This figure falls to around 66% in Melbourne but rises to higher than 95% in some rural areas in the north west of the state. Less than 1% of Victorians identify themselves as Aboriginal . More than 75% of Victorians live in Melbourne, located in
2236-609: The Victoria State Government has divided Victoria into five regions covering all parts of the state. The five regional Victoria divisions are: The Australian Bureau of Meteorology defines regions for its own purposes, some of which share names with the economic regions, even though the exact boundaries may not correlate. As of November 2014, they are: This is a list of places in the Australian state of Victoria by population. Urban centres are defined by
2322-585: The Victorian Alps in the northeast and the semi-arid northwest. The majority of the Victorian population is concentrated in the central-south area surrounding Port Phillip , and in particular within the metropolitan area of Greater Melbourne , Victoria's state capital and largest city and also Australia's second-largest city , where over three-quarters of the culturally diverse population live (35.1% of inhabitants being immigrants ). The state
2408-569: The Wada wurrung , Woiwurrung and Bun wurrung languages describe the flooding of the bay. Hobsons Bay was once a kangaroo hunting ground. Creation stories describe how Bunjil was responsible for the formation of the bay, or the bay was flooded when the Yarra River was created. Victoria, like Queensland , was named after Queen Victoria , who had been on the British throne for 14 years when
2494-576: The Yarra and Werribee rivers would have joined to flow through the heads then south and south west through the Bassian plain before meeting the ocean to the west. Tasmania and the Bass Strait islands became separated from mainland Australia around 12,000 BP, when the sea level was approximately 50m below present levels. Port Phillip was flooded by post-glacial rising sea levels between 8,000 and 6,000 years ago. Oral history and creation stories from
2580-674: The electoral franchise . The following year, the Imperial Parliament granted Victoria responsible government with the passage of the Colony of Victoria Act 1855. Some of the leaders of the Eureka rebellion went on to become members of the Victorian Parliament. In 1857, reflecting the growing presence of Irish Catholic immigrants, John O'Shanassy became the colony's second Premier with the former Young Irelander , Charles Gavan Duffy as his deputy. Melbourne's Protestant establishment
2666-505: The pink heath (state flower), Leadbeater's possum (state animal) and the helmeted honeyeater (state bird). Ecological communities include Victorian Volcanic Plain grasslands , Northern Plains Grassland and Gippsland Plains Grassy Woodland , all of which are critically endangered. According to Geoscience Australia , the geographic centre of Victoria is located in Mandurang at 36° 51' 15"S, 144° 16' 52" E. The small rural locality
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2752-546: The population growth peak of 1969–72. In 2017, Victoria recorded a TFR of 1.724. The "average Victorian" according to the demographic statistics may be described as follows: In the year ending September 2020, the statistics were skewed by the introduction of six new public safety offences relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia . Total offences numbered 551,710, with 32,713 of these being breaches of Chief Health Officer Directions. The total offences occurred at
2838-874: The "Weir Ground". Hume Weir won the Albury & Border FA premiership in 1922 and 1923. In 1924, Hume Weir joined the Ovens and Murray Football League (O&MFL) and played there until 1929. Percy Jones kicked 104 goals for Hume Weir in 1928 before being lured to Geelong in 1929. As part of being admitted into the O&;MFL in 1924, Hume Weir agreed to play their home games at the Wodonga Racecourse Oval. Hume Weir were runners up to Wangaratta in 1925 and were coached by Tim Archer . In 1927, Hume Weir played their home games at Wodonga Park. In 1930, Hume Weir merged with Ebden Rovers Football Club to become
2924-503: The 1850s and 1860s significantly increased Victoria's population and wealth. By the time of Australian Federation in 1901, Melbourne had become the largest city in Australasia , and was the seat of Federal government until Canberra became the national capital in 1927. The state continued to grow strongly through various periods of the 20th and 21st centuries due to high levels of international and interstate migration. Melbourne hosts
3010-710: The 2006 election, the Legislative Council consisted of 44 members elected to eight-year terms from 22 two-member electorates. Hume Dam Hume Dam , formerly the Hume Weir , is a major dam across the Murray River downstream of its junction with the Mitta River in the Riverina region of New South Wales , Australia . The dam's purpose includes flood mitigation , hydro-power , irrigation , water supply and conservation. The impounded reservoir
3096-410: The 2016 census, 72.2% of Victorians speak English at home. Speakers of other languages include Mandarin (3.2%), Italian (1.9%), Greek (1.9%), Vietnamese (1.7%), and Arabic (1.3%). In the 2016 Census, 47.9% of Victorians described themselves as Christian , 10.6% stated that they followed other religions and 32.1% stated that they had no religion or held secular or other spiritual beliefs. In
3182-440: The 2016 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were: 0.8% of the population, or 47,788 people, identified as Indigenous Australians ( Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders ) in 2016. At the 2016 census, 64.9% of residents were born in Australia. The other most common countries of birth were England (2.9%), India (2.9%), Mainland China (2.7%), New Zealand (1.6%) and Vietnam (1.4%). As of
3268-573: The Hume Weir, flows in normal, non-drought years were low in summer and autumn, though still significant overall, rising in winter due to seasonal rainfall and reaching a flood-peak in late spring due to snow-melt in the Murray and its tributaries' alpine headwaters. The flow is now effectively reversed, with low flows in winter and sustained, relatively high flows in late spring, summer and early autumn to meet irrigation demands. The spring flood peak has been virtually eliminated. The water released from
3354-668: The King), the executive (the Government), and two legislative chambers. The Parliament of Victoria consists of the lower house Legislative Assembly , the upper house Legislative Council and the monarch . Eighty-eight members of the Legislative Assembly are elected to four-year terms from single-member electorates. In November 2006, the Victorian Legislative Council elections were held under
3440-586: The Millennium Drought, Lake Hume fell to 1% capacity, barely more than the water in the Murray and Mitta Mitta rivers flowing through on their original paths. Between 2010 and April 2013, the lowest storage level was in the range of 500,000 megalitres (18,000 × 10 ^ cu ft). The lake is stocked with fish . Most of these are introduced species – carp , redfin and trout though native species such as Golden Perch and Murray Cod can also be found. The fishing varies from year to year. It
3526-739: The Municipal Council of Albury, on 17 February 1920 the River Murray Commission decided to honour Hamilton Hume , who, in company with William Hovell , was one of the first Europeans to see and cross the Murray River in 1824. In 1920, the reservoir was named the Hume Reservoir and the dam adopted the name of the Hume Weir, the name given by the Victorian Place Names Committee. Following a proposal from Hume Shire Council , in 1996 both
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3612-518: The NSW and Victorian governments agreed that the dam should be named the Hume Dam, and the reservoir be named Lake Hume. Lake Hume is estimated to hold approximately six times the volume of water in Sydney Harbour . The small towns of Tallangatta , Bonegilla and Bellbridge are located on the shores of Lake Hume. The reservoir is often referred to as the Hume Weir, and was named Lake Hume in
3698-702: The New South Wales' state government through the Main Roads Board (later Transport for NSW ). Main Road 583 was declared on 17 June 1959, from the intersection with State Highway 14 ( Sturt Highway ) at Euston to the state border with Victoria north of Robinvale; this declaration as a Main Road did not change when the road on the Victorian side of the bridge was declared a State Highway (as Robinvale Highway in 1983 and then Murray Valley Highway in 1990), despite adopting its name as Murray Valley Highway from
3784-502: The Victorian side of the road to remain contiguous. The road today, as Main Road 583, still retains this declaration. Murray Valley Highway was signed National Route 16 across its entire length in 1955. With Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, its former route number was replaced by route B400 for the highway within Victoria; the New South Wales section was left signed as National Route 16 until switching to their alphanumeric system in 2013, after which it
3870-605: The Weir United Football Club. Weir United won the 1930 and 1931 O&MFL premierships. In 1933, East Albury Football Club and Weir United Football Club merged to become the Border United Football Club (Albury based). They wore green and white jumpers. They played in and lost the 1933 O&MFL grand final to Wangaratta. In 1935, they lost the O&MFL grand final to Rutherglen. In 1936, Border United FC (Albury based) merged with
3956-416: The ability of the dam to manage extreme floods. The Hume Power Station is a 58 megawatts (78,000 hp) hydro-electric power station installed in the dam wall, and is primarily used for peak-load generation. The station has an average annual output of 220 gigawatt-hours (790 TJ). The power station has two 29 megawatts (39,000 hp) turbines and is operated by Meridian Energy . In October 2012,
4042-425: The base of the Hume Weir is unnaturally cold, at least 10 °C (18 °F) colder than it naturally should be. This flow reversal, temperature depression, and removal of the spring flood peak, has led to the drying out and loss of many billabongs and has harmed the populations of native fish of the Murray River such as the iconic Murray Cod and the freshwater catfish , which can no longer be found downstream of
4128-414: The brigs Dragon and Amity , took a number of convicts and a small force composed of detachments of the 3rd and 93rd regiments. The expedition landed at Settlement Point (now Corinella ), on the eastern side of Western Port Bay, which was the headquarters until the abandonment of Western Port at the insistence of Governor Darling about 12 months afterwards. Victoria's next settlement was at Portland , on
4214-428: The centre of Victoria. Average temperatures are less than 9 °C (48 °F) in winter and below 0 °C (32 °F) in the highest parts of the ranges. The state's lowest minimum temperature of −11.7 °C (10.9 °F) was recorded at Omeo on 15 June 1965, and again at Falls Creek on 3 July 1970. Temperature extremes for the state are listed in the table below: Rainfall in Victoria increases from south to
4300-578: The colony was established in 1851. After the founding of the colony of New South Wales in 1788, Australia was divided into an eastern half named New South Wales and a western half named New Holland , under the administration of the colonial government in Sydney. The first British settlement in the area later known as Victoria was established in October 1803 under Lieutenant-Governor David Collins at Sullivan Bay on Port Phillip. It consisted of 402 people (five government officials, nine officers of marines, two drummers, and 39 privates, five soldiers' wives and
4386-426: The construction site were delivered via rail, through the construction of a branch siding from the Wodonga – Cudgewa railway . Hume Dam is jointly managed by Victorian and New South Wales authorities on behalf of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority . Goulburn-Murray Water manages water and land located in Victoria, and the New South Wales State Water Corporation is responsible for day-to-day operation and maintenance and
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#17327725924824472-423: The country's first federal capital. Victoria's northern border follows a straight line from Cape Howe to the start of the Murray River and then follows the Murray River as the remainder of the northern border. On the Murray River, the border is the southern bank of the river. This precise definition was not established until 1980, when a ruling by Justice Ninian Stephen of the High Court of Australia settled
4558-412: The dam as far as Yarrawonga , where it had previously been recorded up until the 1960s. The Hume Weir FC was established in 1921, mainly from footballers working on the construction of the new weir. The club initially played in the Albury & Border Football Association from 1921 to 1923, wearing black and white striped jumpers. Andrew Mafferzoni was the club's initial coach in 1921 and they played at
4644-422: The dam in the early 1990s revealed that the water pressure and leakage had caused the dam to move on its foundations slightly, leading to concerns that the dam was heading for collapse, threatening Albury-Wodonga and the entire Murray basin. Authorities denied any short-term threat. Traffic was banned from the spillway, and remedial work began involving, in part, the construction of a secondary earth wall behind
4730-458: The east coast of the Australian continent for the Kingdom of Great Britain . The first European settlement in the area occurred in 1803 at Sullivan Bay . Much of Victoria was included in 1836 in the Port Phillip District of New South Wales. Named in honour of Queen Victoria , Victoria was separated from New South Wales and established as a separate Crown colony in 1851, achieving responsible government in 1855. The Victorian gold rush in
4816-419: The highway is allocated route B400. Murray Valley Highway commences at the intersection with Sturt Highway just outside Euston, New South Wales and heads south to cross the Murray River over the Robinvale-Euston bridge at Robinvale and into Victoria; the western end of route B400 starts here. The highway continues in a south-easterly direction, tracking close to the southern bank of the Murray River for
4902-478: The highway is fairly straight and flat, much of it through irrigated farmland. It becomes hillier and more winding east of Wodonga, with a moderately steep mountain pass near Shelley , midway between Tallangatta and Corryong. Within Victoria, the passing of the Country Roads Act of 1912 through the Parliament of Victoria provided for the establishment of the Country Roads Board (later VicRoads ) and their ability to declare Main Roads, taking responsibility for
4988-449: The highway, was declared a Main Road when it was surfaced for the first time in 1952, and later declared a State Highway as Robinvale Highway on 9 May 1983, between Robinvale and Lake Powell . The alignment was further altered at both ends in 1990: The passing of the Road Management Act 2004 granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads : in 2004, VicRoads re-declared
5074-437: The inland monthly temperatures are 2–7 °C (4–13 °F) warmer than around Melbourne (see chart). Victoria's highest maximum temperature of 48.8 °C (119.8 °F) was recorded in Hopetoun on 7 February 2009, during the 2009 southeastern Australia heat wave . The Victorian Alps in the northeast are the coldest part of Victoria. The Alps are part of the Great Dividing Range mountain system extending east–west through
5160-436: The late 1920s and early 1930s by the Country Roads Board as part of a program of rural roads to facilitate development of the more remote parts of the state and provide connections between communities in addition to the roads and railways radiating out from Melbourne. Parts of the Murray River Valley Road included a stretch of newly constructed road between Mildura and the South Australian border, opened in 1927. The eastern end of
5246-475: The majority of its length through the towns of Swan Hill , Kerang , Cohuna , Echuca , Nathalia , Strathmerton , Cobram , Yarrawonga and Rutherglen , until it reaches Wodonga , before heading in an easterly direction via Tallangatta until it eventually terminates at the foothills of the Great Dividing Range at Corryong ; the road beyond crosses the border east into New South Wales as Alpine Way , to eventually reach Khancoban and Jindabyne . Most of
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#17327725924825332-556: The management of major remedial works at the dam. The dam is a mix of a concrete gravity dam with four earth embankments. The dam wall height is 51 metres (167 ft). The crest is 1,615 metres (5,299 ft) long, with the auxiliary embankments extending a further 1,010 metres (3,310 ft). The maximum water elevation above sea level is 194 metres (636 ft). At 100% capacity the dam wall holds back 3,005,157 megalitres (106,126.1 × 10 ^ cu ft) of water at 194 metres (636 ft) AHD . The surface area of Lake Hume
5418-542: The management, construction and care of the state's major roads from local municipalities. Murray (River) Valley Road was declared a Main Road on 30 November 1914, from Bonegilla over Sandy Creek (later to become Lake Hume ), through Bethanga and Granya , following the course of the Murray River, to Burrowye; Kyabram-Nathalia Road from Wyuna to Nathalia (and continuing south to Kyabram ), (Lake Boga-) Swan Hill Road from Lake Boga to Swan Hill , (Swan Hill-) Euston Road from Swan Hill through Nyah and Piangil to
5504-691: The mid-1980s. Lake Hume was the furthest upstream of the major reservoirs on the Murray River system, before the Dartmouth Dam was built further up the Mitta Mitta River to provide improved buffering during prolonged dry spells. The Hume Dam has the capacity to release water at the fastest rate. Irrigation authorities use the reservoir as the storage of first resort. Typically, the reservoir had fallen to less than one-third of its capacity by March each year. In normal years, it refills to at least two-thirds of its capacity before November. Australia's highly unpredictable climatic conditions cause those norms to vary quite significantly from year to year. In 2007, during
5590-461: The northeast, with higher averages in areas of high altitude. Mean annual rainfall exceeds 1,800 millimetres (71 inches) in some parts of the northeast but is less than 280 mm (11 in) in the Mallee. Rain is heaviest in the Otway Ranges and Gippsland in southern Victoria and in the mountainous northeast. Snow generally falls only in the mountains and hills in the centre of the state. Rain falls most frequently in winter, but summer precipitation
5676-430: The northern end of Omeo Highway was truncated to Tallangatta as a result. Sturt Highway was rerouted to reach Renmark through Victoria instead of via Wentworth in 1939, subsuming the alignment of the Murray Valley Highway between Mildura and the state border with South Australia; it was subsequently truncated to terminate at Calder Highway in Hattah. Robinvale Road , connecting the "irrigation settlement of Robinvale" to
5762-399: The original to take the strain. Further upgrades to the dam at an estimated cost of A$ 60 million began in 2007 and were completed in 2013. These works include the installation of an improved filter and drainage system on the junction between the concrete spillway and southern embankment, construction of a concrete buttress on the southern training wall, and possible modifications to improve
5848-456: The punt over the Murray River to Euston , Yarrawonga-Cobram Road from Yarrawonga to Cobram , Cobram-Strathmerton Road from Cobram to Strathmerton , and Wangaratta-Yarrawonga Road between Bundalong and Yarrawonga (and continuing south to Wangaratta ), were declared Main Roads on 17 March 1915; and Rutherglen-Wodonga Road between Yarrawonga and Wodonga ) was declared a Main Road on 28 May 1915. Further sections were declared or built in
5934-490: The question as to which state had jurisdiction in the unlawful death of a man on an island in the middle of the river. The ruling clarified that no part of the watercourse is in Victoria. The border also rests at the southern end of the Great Dividing Range , which stretches along the east coast and terminates west of Ballarat. It is bordered by South Australia to the west and shares Australia's shortest land border with Tasmania . The official border between Victoria and Tasmania
6020-481: The representative of the monarch in the state, is currently Margaret Gardner . Victoria is divided into 79 local government areas , as well as several unincorporated areas which the state administers directly. The state of Victoria was home to many Aboriginal Australian nations that had occupied the land for tens of thousands of years before European settlement . According to Gary Presland , Aboriginal people have lived in Victoria for about 40,000 years, living
6106-434: The road as Murray Valley Highway (Arterial #6570), beginning at the New South Wales border at Robinvale and ending at the New South Wales border in Towong Upper . The passing of the Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929 (which amended the original Main Roads Act of 1924 ) through the Parliament of New South Wales on 8 April 1929 provided for the declaration of State Highways, Trunk Roads and Main Roads, partially funded by
6192-581: The road was re-aligned to run from Bethangra and Talgarno to Tallangatta and Bullioh, to accommodate the opening of Hume Dam and the filling of Lake Hume. The passing of the Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924 through the Parliament of Victoria provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the State government through the Country Roads Board. Murray Valley Highway
6278-412: The second-most-populated state (after New South Wales ), with a population of over 6.9 million; and the most densely populated state in Australia (30.6 per km ). Victoria's economy is the second-largest among Australian states and is highly diversified, with service sectors predominating. Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north and South Australia to the west and is bounded by
6364-622: The south west coast of what is now Victoria. Edward Henty settled Portland Bay in 1834. Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman , who set up a base in Indented Head , and John Pascoe Fawkner . From settlement, the region around Melbourne was known as the Port Phillip District, a separately administered part of New South Wales. Shortly after, the site now known as Geelong was surveyed by Assistant Surveyor W. H. Smythe, three weeks after Melbourne. And in 1838, Geelong
6450-666: The state's south. The greater Melbourne metropolitan area is home to an estimated 5,207,145 people. Urban centres outside Melbourne include Geelong , Ballarat , Bendigo , Shepparton , Mildura , Warrnambool , Wodonga and the Latrobe Valley . Victoria is Australia's most urbanised state: nearly 90% of residents living in cities and towns. State Government efforts to decentralise population have included an official campaign run since 2003 to encourage Victorians to settle in regional areas, however Melbourne continues to rapidly outpace these areas in terms of population growth. At
6536-523: The survey, 31.7% of Victorians stated they had no religion, Roman Catholics were 23.2%, 9.4% did not answer the question, 9% were Anglican and 3.5% were Eastern Orthodox . In 2017 the proportion of couples marrying in a civil ceremony in Victoria was 77.3%; the other 22.7% were married in a religious ceremony. The government predicts that nearly a quarter of Victorians will be aged over 60 by 2021. The 2016 census revealed that Australian median age has crept upward from 35 to 37 since 2001, which reflects
6622-566: The treaty is unknown, although it is believed to have been by the Merri Creek . According to historian Meyer Eidelson, it is generally believed to have occurred on the Merri near modern-day Rushall Station. On 1 July 1851, writs were issued for the election of the first Victorian Legislative Council, and the absolute independence of Victoria from New South Wales was established proclaiming a new Colony of Victoria. Days later, still in 1851 gold
6708-521: The west and northwest. There is an extensive series of river systems in Victoria. Most notable is the Murray River system. Other rivers include: Ovens River , Goulburn River , Patterson River , King River , Campaspe River , Loddon River , Wimmera River , Elgin River, Barwon River , Thomson River , Snowy River , Latrobe River , Yarra River , Maribyrnong River , Mitta River , Hopkins River , Merri River and Kiewa River . The state symbols include
6794-496: The world" and the largest gold nugget . In the decade 1851–1860 Victoria produced 20 million ounces of gold, one-third of the world's output. In 1855 the Geological Survey collected and determined the major ion chemistry for groundwater in Victoria. Immigrants arrived from all over the world to search for gold, especially from Ireland and China. By 1857, 26,000 Chinese miners worked in Victoria, and their legacy
6880-497: Was briefly Premier. In 1893 widespread bank failures brought to an end a sustained period of prosperity and of increasingly wild speculation in land and construction. Melbourne nonetheless retained, as the legacy of the gold rush, its status as Australia's primary financial centre and largest city. In 1901, Victoria became a state in the Commonwealth of Australia . While Canberra was being built, Melbourne served until 1927 as
6966-521: Was declared a State Highway in September 1932, cobbled from a collection of existing and newly constructed roads running along the southern bank of the Murray River from Corryong through Walwa , Wodonga , Rutherglen , Yarrawonga , Cobram , Echuca , Swan Hill and Bannerton to the intersection with Calder Highway in Hattah , and again from Mildura to the state border with South Australian (for
7052-523: Was declared void as Batman did not have permission from the Crown to establish Melbourne. Today, the meaning and interpretation of this treaty is contested. Some argue it was a pretence for taking Aboriginal land in exchange for trinkets, while others argue it was significant in that it sought to recognise Aboriginal land rights . The exact location of the meeting between Batman and the Kulin men with whom he made
7138-434: Was discovered near Ballarat , and subsequently at Bendigo . Later discoveries occurred at many sites across Victoria. This triggered one of the largest gold rushes the world has ever seen. The colony grew rapidly in both population and economic power. In 10 years, the population of Victoria increased sevenfold from 76,000 to 540,000. All sorts of gold records were produced, including the "richest shallow alluvial goldfield in
7224-531: Was ill-prepared "to countenance so startling a novelty". In 1858–59, Melbourne Punch cartoons linked Duffy and O'Shanassy to the terrors of the French Revolution . In 1862 Duffy's Land Act attempted, but failed, through a system of extended pastoral licences, to break the land-holding monopoly of the so-called "squatter" class . In 1871, having led, on behalf of small farmers, opposition to Premier Sir James McCulloch 's land tax , Duffy, himself,
7310-433: Was left unallocated. Major roadworks have recently taken place around Echuca and Moama and are continuing. The project is being built in four stages: The project is due for completion in mid-2022. Victoria (state) Victoria , commonly abbreviated as Vic , is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania ), with a land area of 227,444 km (87,817 sq mi);
7396-657: Was officially declared a town, despite earlier European settlements dating back to 1826. On 6 June 1835, just under two years before Melbourne was officially recognised as a settlement, John Batman, the leader of the Port Phillip Association presented Wurundjeri Elders with a land use agreement. This document, now referred to as the Batman treaty , was later given to the British government to claim that local Aboriginal people had given Batman access to their land in exchange for goods and rations. The treaty itself
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