Perth
Capital of the state of Western Australia and Australia's fourth-largest city; population (2001 est) 1,340,000. Perth is situated on the southwest coast of Australia, on the River Swan, 19 km/12 mi inland. Its port is at Fremantle, to the southwest at the mouth of the Swan. The metropolitan area of Perth, which now includes Fremantle, contains about three-quarters of the population of the state of Western Australia. Perth is a major centre of finance and of varied industry, including oil refining, electronics, food processing, steel, shipbuilding, rubber, paint, fertilizers, textiles, furniture, cement, tractors, and tourism. Perth is also an important centre for the export of primary products: refined oil, minerals, wool, wheat, meat, fruit, timber, and dairy produce.
History
Perth was founded as a colony in 1829 by Captain James
Stirling. It received city status in 1856. The colony suffered difficulties such as a shortage of labour, poor communications, and financial problems. This resulted in convicts being sent to Western Australia between 1850 and 1868. The town grew rapidly after the discovery of gold in 1893 at
Kalgoorlie, 545 km/340 mi to the northeast, and the opening of the harbour at Fremantle in 1897. Gold production peaked in 1903. Wheat farming in Western Australia between 1905 and 1950 expanded greatly, and wheat became the most significant export for many years, along with wool. The 1930s brought a depression, but the mining industry in Kalgoorlie led to recovery. After World War II there was a demand for exports, and diversification was sought. In 1952 a steel mill and oil refinery were built at Kwinana, to the south of Fremantle. The mineral boom of the 1960s resulted in Perth's population doubling between 1965 and 1985.
FeaturesPerth is the commercial and cultural centre of Western Australia. The Perth Cultural Centre houses the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the state museum, and the state library. The Commonwealth and Empire Games were held in Perth in 1962 and the America's Cup yachting challenge was staged from the Royal Perth Yacht Club in 1987, after the Cup had been won by Australia II in 1983. The city has two cathedrals. Perth is a transit centre with an international and a domestic airport. To the western end of the city centre, overlooking the city and the Swan River, is Kings Park (400 ha/988 acres) which includes a botanic garden and a large section of native bushland. Metropolitan Perth has five universities: the University of Western Australia (founded 1911); Notre Dame University in Fremantle; Murdoch University (1975); Curtin University of Technology (1987); Edith Cowan University (1990). |
| Perth has hot dry summers, and mild rainy winters, and the city claims to be the sunniest capital city in Australia. |
Perth
Town and administrative headquarters of Perth and Kinross, central Scotland, on the River Tay, 70 km/43 mi northwest of Edinburgh; population (2001) 43,450. It is known as the ‘fair city’. Industries include dyeing, textiles, whisky distilling, and light engineering. It is an important agricultural centre, noted for the sale of pedigree livestock, particularly young beef cattle. It was the capital of Scotland from the 12th century until 1452. James I of Scotland was assassinated here in 1437.
| Reputed to have been founded by Agricola in AD 70, Perth is believed to have been occupied by the Romans for 320 years. The town was known as ‘St John's Toun’ until the Reformation. The oldest building in Perth is the cruciform church of St John, which was founded in 1126. |
| Perth was the scene of the murder of the Duke of Cornwall by his brother, Edward III of England, in 1335, and of the battle between the clans Quhele and Chattan described in Walter Scott's novel The Fair Maid of Perth (1828). John Knox preached a sermon on idolatry at St John's church in 1559, thus initiating the Scottish Reformation. |
| The Tay is spanned by two fine bridges, and along its banks are two public parks known as the North and South Inches. |
