Perth [3] is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of 1,659,000.[4]
The metropolitan area is located in the south-west of the continent between the Indian Ocean and a low coastal escarpment known as the Darling Range. The central business district and suburbs of Perth are situated on the Swan River.
Shortly after the establishment of the port settlement of Fremantle, Perth was founded on 12 June 1829 by Captain James Stirling as the political centre of the free-settler Swan River Colony. As the business and administration centre for the resource rich state, Perth has grown consistently faster than the national average.[1]
Perth became known worldwide as the "City of Light" when city residents lit their house lights and streetlights as American astronaut John Glenn passed overhead while orbiting the earth on Friendship 7 in 1962.[5][6] The city repeated the act as Glenn passed overhead on the Space Shuttle in 1998.[7][8] Perth is tied for eighth place in The Economist's 2010 list of the World's Most Livable Cities.[9]
History
Main article: History of Perth, Western Australia
[edit] Prehistory
Before European settlement, the area had been inhabited by the Whadjuk Noongar people for over 40,000 years, as evidenced by archaeological findings on the Upper Swan River.[10] These Aborigines occupied the southwest corner of Western Australia, living as hunter-gatherers. The lakes on the coastal plain were particularly important to them, providing both spiritual and physical sustenance.
Rottnest, Carnac and Garden Islands were also important to the Noongar. About 5,000 years ago the sea levels were low enough that they could walk to the limestone outcrops.
The area where Perth now stands was called Boorloo by the Aboriginals living there at the time of their first contact with Europeans in 1827. Boorloo formed part of Mooro, the tribal lands of the Yellagonga, one of several groups based around the Swan River and known collectively as the Whadjuk. The Whadjuk were part of a larger group of thirteen or more tribes which formed the south west socio-linguistic block known as the Noongar (The People), also sometimes called the Bibbulmun.
On 19 September 2006, the Federal Court of Australia brought down a judgment recognising Noongar native title over the Perth metropolitan area, in the case of Bennell v State of Western Australia [2006] FCA 1243.[11] The judgement was overturned on appeal.[12]
[edit] Early European sightings
The first documented European sighting of the region was made by the Dutch Captain Willem de Vlamingh and his crew on 10 January 1697.[13] Subsequent sightings between this date and 1829 were made by other Europeans, but as in the case of the sighting and observations made by Vlamingh, the area was considered to be inhospitable and unsuitable for the agriculture which would be needed to sustain a settlement
[edit] The Swan River Colony
Main article: Swan River Colony
The Foundation of Perth 1829 by George Pitt Morison is an historically accurate reconstruction of the official ceremony by which Perth was founded.
The Round House built in 1830 is the oldest remaining building on mainland Western Australia
Perth skyline in 1964
St Georges Terrace in Perth, 1968Although the British Army had established a base at King George Sound (later Albany) on the south coast of western Australia in 1826 in response to rumours that the area would be annexed by France, Perth was the first full-scale settlement by Europeans in the western third of the continent. The British colony would be officially designated Western Australia in 1832, but was known informally for many years as the Swan River Colony after the area's major watercourse.
On 4 June 1829, newly-arriving British colonists had their first view of the mainland, and Western Australia's Foundation Day has since been recognised by a public holiday on the first Monday in June each year. Captain James Stirling, aboard the Parmelia, said that Perth was "as beautiful as anything of this kind I had ever witnessed". On 12 August that year, Mrs. Helen Dance, wife of the captain of the second ship Sulphur, cut down a tree to mark the founding of the town.
It is clear that Stirling had already selected the name Perth for the capital well before the town was proclaimed, as his proclamation of the colony, read in Fremantle on 18 June 1829, ended "given under my hand and Seal at Perth this 18th Day of June 1829. James Stirling Lieutenant Governor".[14] The only contemporary information on the source of the name comes from Fremantle's diary entry for 12 August, which records that they "named the town Perth according to the wishes of Sir George Murray".[15] Murray was born in Perth, Scotland, and was in 1829 Secretary of State for the Colonies and Member for Perthshire in the British House of Commons. It is therefore often asserted that the town was named after the Scottish Perth,[16][17] in Murray's honour.[18][19][20]
Beginning in 1831, hostile encounters between the British settlers and the Noongar people – both large-scale land users with conflicting land value systems – increased considerably as the colony grew. This violent phase of the region's history culminated in a series of events in which the British overcame the indigenous people, including the execution of the Whadjuk elder Midgegooroo, the death of his son Yagan in 1833, and the Battle of Pinjarra in 1834.
By 1843, when Yellagonga died, his people had begun to disintegrate after having been dispossessed of the land around the main settlement area of Perth. They retreated to the swamps and lakes north of the settlement area including Third Swamp, known to them as Boodjamooling. Boodjamooling continued to be a main camp-site for the remaining Noongar people in the Perth region, and was also used by travellers, itinerants, and homeless people. By the gold-rush days of the 1890s they were joined by miners who were en-route to the goldfields.[21]
In 1850, Western Australia was opened to convicts at the request of farming and business people looking for cheap labour.[22] Queen Victoria announced the city status of Perth in 1856.[23]
[edit] Federation and beyond
After a referendum in 1900,[24] Western Australia joined the Federation of Australia in 1901.[23] It was the last of the Australian colonies to agree to join the Federation, and did so only after the other colonies had offered several concessions, including the construction of a transcontinental railway line to Perth (via Kalgoorlie) from the eastern states.
In 1933, Western Australia voted in a referendum to leave the Australian Federation, with a majority of two to one in favour of secession.[24] However, an election held shortly before the referendum had turned out the incumbent "pro-independence" government, replacing it with a government which did not support the independence movement. Respecting the result of the referendum, the new government nonetheless petitioned the Agent General of the United Kingdom for independence, where the request was simply ignored.[25]
Perth's growth and relative prosperity, especially since the mid-1960s,[26] has resulted from its role as the main service centre for the state's resource industries, which produce gold, iron ore, nickel, alumina, diamonds, mineral sands, coal, oil, and natural gas.[27] Whilst most mineral and petroleum production takes place elsewhere in the state, the non-base services provide most of the employment and income to the people of Perth.[28]
[edit] Geography
Perth is one of the most isolated metropolitan areas on earth. The nearest city to Perth with a population over one million is Adelaide in South Australia, which is 2,104 kilometres (1,307 mi) away. Perth is geographically closer to Dili in East Timor, Singapore and Jakarta, Indonesia, than it is to Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.
[edit] Central business district
The central business district of Perth is bounded by the Swan River to the south and east, with Kings Park on the western end, while the railway lines form a northern border. This will change in the next few years as a State and Federally funded project named 'The Link' ensures the sinking of a section of the divisive railway line, in addition to the sinking of an existing above-ground bus terminal, will give street-level access from the CBD to Northbridge for the first time in over 100 years. St Georges Terrace is the prominent street of the area with 1.3 million m² of office space in the CBD.[29] Hay Street and Murray Street have most of the retail and entertainment facilities. The tallest building in the city is Central Park, which is the seventh tallest building in Australia.[30] The CBD has recently been the centre of a mining-induced boom, with several commercial and residential projects due for completion, including a 244 m (800.52 ft) office building for Australian/British mining company BHP Billiton.
Panorama of the Perth foreshore from Kings Park during the afternoon.[edit] Geology and landforms
Satellite image of PerthPerth is set on the Swan River, named after the native black swans in 1697 by Willem de Vlamingh, captain of a Dutch expedition and namer of WA's Rottnest Island.[31] Traditionally, this water body has been known by Aboriginal inhabitants as Derbal Yerrigan.[32] The city centre and most of the suburbs are located on the sandy and relatively flat Swan Coastal Plain, which lies between the Darling Scarp and the Indian Ocean. The soils of this area are quite infertile. The metropolitan area extends to Yanchep in the north and Rockingham to the south, total distance of approximately 90 kilometres (56 mi). From the coast in the west to Mundaring in the east is a total distance of approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi). The area of Perth is thus over 6,100 km² (1.5 million acres).
The coastal suburbs' placement is advantageous due to proximity to Perth's oceanside location and clean beaches. To the east, the city is bordered by a low escarpment called the Darling Scarp. Perth is on generally flat, rolling land — largely due to the high amount of sandy soils and deep bedrock. The Perth metropolitan area has two major river systems; the first is made up of the Swan and Canning Rivers. The second is that of the Serpentine and Murray Rivers, which discharge into the Peel Estuary at Mandurah.
[edit] Climate
Perth receives moderate though highly seasonal rainfall, making it the fourth wettest capital city after Darwin, Sydney and Brisbane. Summers are generally hot and dry, lasting from December to late March, with February generally being the hottest month of the year, making Perth a classic example of a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification CSa).[33] Summer is not completely devoid of rain with sporadic rainfall in the form of short-lived thunderstorms, weak cold fronts and on very rare occasions decaying tropical cyclones from Western Australia's north-west which can bring significant falls. The highest ever recorded temperature in Perth was 46.2 °C (115.2 °F) on 23 February 1991, although Perth Airport recorded 46.7 °C (116.1 °F) on the same day.[34][35] On most summer afternoons a sea breeze, also known as "The Fremantle Doctor", blows from the south-west, providing relief from the hot north-easterly winds. Temperatures often fall below 30 degrees a few hours after the arrival of the wind change.[36] Perth is a particularly sunny city for a Mediterranean climate, receiving between 2800[37] and 3000 hours[38] of annual sunshine.
Winters are relatively cool and wet, with most of Perth's annual rainfall falling between May and September. The lowest temperature recorded in Perth was −0.7 °C (31 °F) on 17 June 2006.[34] The lowest temperature within the Perth metropolitan area was −3.4 °C (25.9 °F) on the same day at Jandakot Airport.[39]
Though most rainfall occurs during winter, the wettest day ever was on 9 February 1992 when 120.6 millimetres (4.75 in) fell.[34] The rainfall pattern has changed in Perth and Southwest Western Australia since the mid-1970s. A significant reduction in winter rainfall has been observed with a greater number of extreme rainfall events in the summer months,[40] such as slow-moving storms on 8 February 1992 which brought 121 millimetres (4.76 in) of rain,[41] and a severe thunderstorm on 22 March 2010, which brought 40.2 millimetres (1.58 in) and caused significant damage in the metropolitan area.[42]
[hide]Climate data for Perth, Western Australia (normal temperatures 1944–2002, rain data 1876–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 45.8
(114.4) 46.2
(115.2) 42.4
(108.3) 37.6
(99.7) 34.3
(93.7) 28.1
(82.6) 26.3
(79.3) 27.8
(82) 32.7
(90.9) 37.3
(99.1) 40.3
(104.5) 44.2
(111.6) 46.2
(115.2)
Average high °C (°F) 30.6
(87.1) 31.3
(88.3) 29.5
(85.1) 25.7
(78.3) 22.4
(72.3) 19.3
(66.7) 18.3
(64.9) 18.8
(65.8) 20.0
(68) 22.9
(73.2) 26.2
(79.2) 28.8
(83.8) 24.5
(76.1)
Average low °C (°F) 17.8
(64) 18.0
(64.4) 16.4
(61.5) 13.6
(56.5) 10.7
(51.3) 8.6
(47.5) 7.9
(46.2) 8.2
(46.8) 9.5
(49.1) 11.2
(52.2) 14.1
(57.4) 16.1
(61) 12.7
(54.9)
Record low °C (°F) 8.9
(48) 8.7
(47.7) 6.3
(43.3) 4.1
(39.4) 1.3
(34.3) – 0.7 0.0
(32) 1.3
(34.3) 1.0
(33.8) 2.2
(36) 5.0
(41) 7.9
(46.2) – 0.7
Rainfall mm (inches) 9.5
(0.374) 12.8
(0.504) 19.4
(0.764) 44.2
(1.74) 117.7
(4.634) 176.7
(6.957) 169.9
(6.689) 134.1
(5.28) 80.9
(3.185) 52.4
(2.063) 22.2
(0.874) 12.8
(0.504) 852.6
(33.567)
Avg. precipitation days 2.2 2.2 4.6 6.6 11.8 15.6 17.4 16.0 15.9 9.1 6.2 3.8 111.4
Sunshine hours 359.6 310.8 294.5 246 210.8 177 186 220.1 228 297.6 321 359.6 3,211
Source: Bureau of Meteorology[43][44]
[edit] Demographics
Perth Metropolitan Area
Population by year (ABS)
1854 4,001
1859 6,293
1870 8,220
1881 9,955
1891 16,694
1901 67,431
1911 116,181
1921 170,213
1933 230,340
1947 302,968
1954 395,049
1961 475,398
1966 559,298
1971 703,199
1976 805,747
1981 898,918
1986 994,472
1991 1,143,249
1996 1,244,320
2001 1,339,993
2006 1,445,079
2008 1,546,617
Significant overseas-born
populations[45]
Country of Birth Population
(2006)
United Kingdom 168,483
New Zealand 33,751
Malaysia 18,939
Italy 18,701
South Africa 18,683
India 14,007
Singapore 11,199
Vietnam 10,081
Ireland 7,706
People's Republic of China 7,681
Germany 7,617
Netherlands 7,570
Indonesia 7,392
United States of America 5,524
One dot represents 100 persons born in the UK (dark blue), China (red), Italy (light green), Malaysia (dark green), South Africa (brown), Singapore (purple) and Vietnam (yellow), based on 2006 CensusPerth is Australia's fourth largest city, having overtaken Adelaide's population in the early 1980s. At the 2006 Census 1,445,079 persons resident in the Perth statistical area were enumerated.
[edit] Ethnic groups
In 2006, the largest ancestry groups in the Perth metropolitan areas were: English (534,555 or 28.6%), Australian (479,174 or 25.6%), Irish (115,384 or 6.2%), Scottish (113,846 or 6.1%), Italian (84,331 or 4.5%) and Chinese (53,390 or 2.9%). There were 3,101 Aboriginals in the city (0.2%).[32]
Perth's population is notable for the high proportion of British-born residents. At the 2006 Census, 142,424 British-born Perth residents were counted,[46] narrowly behind Sydney (145,261),[47] despite having just 35% of the overall population of Sydney.
The ethnic make-up of Perth changed in the middle of the twentieth century, when significant numbers of European immigrants arrived in the city. Prior to this, Perth's population had been almost completely Anglo-Celtic in ethnic origin. As Fremantle was the first landfall in Australia for many migrant ships coming from Europe in the 1950s and 1960s, Perth started to experience a diverse influx of people, which included Italians, Greeks, Dutch, Germans, Croats, Bosnians, Serbs, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Russians, Ukrainians, Macedonians, Turks and many others. The Italian influence in the Perth and Fremantle area has been substantial, evident in places like the "Cappuccino strip" in Fremantle featuring many Italian eateries and shops. In Fremantle the traditional Italian blessing of the fleet festival is held every year at the start of the fishing season. In Northbridge every December is the San Nicola (Saint Nicholas) Festival, which involves a pageant followed by a concert, predominantly in Italian. Suburbs surrounding the Fremantle area such as Spearwood and Hamilton Hill also contain high concentrations of Italians, Croatians and Portuguese. Perth also has a vibrant Jewish community — numbering 20,106 in 2006 — who emigrated primarily from Eastern Europe and more recently from South Africa.
Another more recent wave of arrivals includes European minorities from Southern Africa. The South Africa–born overtook those born in Italy to become the fourth largest birthplace group after 2001. By 2006, there were 18,825 South Africa–born in Perth, accounting for 1.3% of the city's people.[46] Many Afrikaners and Anglo-Africans from South Africa and Zimbabwe emigrated to Perth during the 1980s and 1990s, with the phrase "packing for Perth" becoming associated with South Africans who choose to emigrate abroad, sometimes regardless of the destination.[48] As a result, the city has been described as "the Australian capital of South Africans in exile".[49] The reason for Perth being so popular among white South Africans has often been the location (closer to Africa than other large cities), the vast amount of expansion and space, and the slightly warmer climate compared to other large Australian cities—Perth has a Mediterranean climate like the area around Capetown, South Africa.
In the last three decades, Southeast Asia has become an increasingly important source of migrants, with communities from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and India all now well-established. There were 53,390 persons of Chinese descent in Perth in 2006 — 2.9% of the city's population.[50]
The Indian community includes a substantial number of Parsees who emigrated from Bombay — Perth being the closest Australian city to India — and the India-born population of the city at the time of the 2006 census was 14,094 or 0.8%.[50] Perth is also home to the largest population of Anglo-Burmese in the world; many settled here following the independence of Burma in 1948 and the city is now the cultural hub for Anglo-Burmese worldwide. There is also a substantial Anglo-Indian population in Perth, who also settled in the city following the Independence of India.
usually followed by a stiff afternoon breeze to take the edge off it , or a crackin' evening thunder storm that never fails to impress :rockon: Here is a bit of a breakdown of Perth's climate for you 
:BLAA:.
