ACT Region
The Australian Capital Territory covers only 2 358 sq km stretching 88 km north to south and 30 km west to east. It is bounded by New South Wales with the capital, Canberra surrounding the man-made Lake Burley Griffin. Most of the landscape around Canberra is made up of hills, mountains and rugged plains. The Namadgi NP covers 40% of the ACT with almost 106 000 ha and Kosciusko NP also forms part of the Territory. The Molonglo River flows through Canberra and into Lake Burley Griffin. In 1908 it was decided to locate the federal capital about half way between Sydney and Melbourne (the two main rivals for federal capital) and the Federal Capital Territory came into existence in 1911 being designed by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin. The capital was formally named from an Aboriginal word Kanberra meaning 'meeting place' in 1913 when construction started. As part of Australia's bicentenary celebrations, the new Parliament House was opened on Capital Hill (1988) followed by the ACT being granted full self-government the same year. Major industries include property & business services, manufacturing, finance and insurance. The Territory's floral emblem is the Royal bluebell while the faunal emblem is the Gan-gang cockatoo.