Victoria (Postal VIC), is a state located in the south-eastern corner of Australia. It is the smallest mainland state in area, but the most densely populated and urbanised. Victoria began in the 1830s as a farming community. The discovery of gold in 1851 transformed it into a leading industrial and commercial centre. Victoria is the second most populous Australian state, after New South Wales, with an estimated population of 5,037,700 as at September 2005. Melbourne is Victoria's capital and largest city, with more than 70% of all Victorians living there.
Victoria has nine universities. The first to offer degrees, the University of Melbourne, enrolled its first student in 1855. The largest, Monash University, has an enrolment of nearly 56,000 students - more than any other Australian university. Both the University of Melbourne and Monash University are ranked highly among the world's best universities, both requiring fairly high ENTER scores for student admission into their courses. The number of students enrolled in Victorian universities was 241,755 at 2004, an increase of 2% on the previous year. International students made up 30% of enrolments. The largest number of enrolments were recorded in the fields of business, administration and economics, with nearly a third of all students, followed by arts, humanities, and social science, with 20% of enrolments.
Universities:
University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Parkville
Monash University, Melbourne (Clayton, Caulfield, Berwick, Peninsula, Parkville), Churchill (Gippsland) , Malaysia, South Africa
RMIT University , Melbourne, Vietnam
Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne(Hawthorn,Croydon, Prahran, Lilydale, Wantirna, and Healesville), Malaysia(Kuching)
La Trobe University, Melbourne, Albury-Wodonga, Bendigo, Beechworth, Shepparton, Mildura, Mt Buller
Deakin University, Geelong, Melbourne, Warrnambool
University of Ballarat, Ballarat
Victoria University, Melbourne
Victoria also has 19 government run TAFE institutes. The first tertiary institution in the state was the Melbourne Mechanics Institute (established in 1839), which is now the Melbourne Athenaum. The oldest institution still offering courses is Swinburne University of Technology, whose oldest antecedent was founded in 1854.
Some major tourist destinations in Victoria are:
The metropolis of Melbourne, particular its inner city suburbs (known also for shopping tourism) and the attractions of the city centre such as Crown Casino, Melbourne Zoo, Melbourne Museum, the Melbourne Aquarium, tourism precincts such as Melbourne Docklands, Southbank and St Kilda as well as cultural and sporting tourist icons such as The Arts Centre, National Gallery of Victoria, Federation Square and the Melbourne Cricket Ground, also known as the MCG.
The former Goldfields region featuring the historic cities of Ballarat, Beechworth, Bendigo, Castlemaine, Maldon and Daylesford.
Natural attractions, such as The Twelve Apostles, Wilson's Promontory, The Grampians, the Fairy Penguins (particularly at Phillip Island and St Kilda), the Buchan Caves and the Gippsland Lakes.
The Dandenong Ranges (in particular Puffing Billy Railway and Healesville Sanctuary
Towns along the Murray river and Riverina including Echuca and Mildura including waterskiing.
Geelong (particularly the city's waterfront) and the Australian International Airshow
The Bellarine Peninsula which features famous beaches such as Bells Beach, Torquay and historic resort towns such as Queenscliff.
Mornington Peninsula, particularly for its wineries and secluded beaches, Arthur's Seat and the coastal attractions of Portsea and Sorrento.
Yarra Valley, also for its wineries
Great Ocean Road, which features The Twelve Apostles, historic towns of Port Fairy and Portland, cliffs and whale watching and resort towns such as Lorne.
The Victorian Alpine Region, part of the Australian Alps, particularly for skiing
Other popular tourism activies are gliding, hang-gliding, hot air ballooning and scuba diving.
Major events also plays a big part in tourism in Victoria, particularly cultural tourism and sports tourism. Most of these events are centred around Melbourne, but others occur in regional cities, such as the V8 Supercars and Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island, the Grand Annual Steeplechase at Warrnambool and the Australian International Airshow at Geelong and numerous local festivals such as the popular Port Fairy Folk Festival, Queenscliff Music Festival, Bells Beach SurfClassic and the Bright Autumn Festival.
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