Victoria

Locator map for the Australian state of Victoria.

The Southern Cross constellation appears, surmounted by a crown. The flag of Victoria is one of the oldest state flags.

State of southeast Australia; bounded on the north and northeast by New South Wales, from which it is separated by the River Murray; on the west by South Australia; and on the south and southeast by the Southern Ocean, Bass Strait, and the Pacific Ocean; area 227,600 sq km/87,876 sq mi; population (2001 est) 4,822,700. The capital is Melbourne. Produce includes wool, beef, dairy products, tobacco, wheat, wine, dried fruit, orchard fruits, and vegetables. Gold, brown coal, gypsum, kaolin, and bauxite are mined, and there are oil, natural gas, electronics, food processing, chemical, pharmaceutical, machinery, car, textile, wine, aquaculture, wool, and building material industries.

Geography Victoria is crossed from east to west by the southern tip of the Great Dividing Range, which is low in the west and rises in the east to reach a maximum height of 1,986 m/6,516 ft at Mount Bogong. The eastern part of the range, dividing the Gippsland district in the southeast of the state from the River Murray, is known as the Victorian Alps; snow covers the higher peaks for several months of the year. East of Kilmore for about 320 km/200 mi the mountains are steep, but westwards they fall away to form lower hills. The western end of the range is known as the Grampians, where there are Aboriginal rock paintings; the highest peak is Mount William (1,167 m/3,829 ft). North of the Grampians is the mallee district, a flat region of scrub, sand dunes, and dry lakes, named after the mallee eucalyptus that grows here. The region is also known for plants such as acacias, saltbush, spinifex, and numerous wild-flower species. The rest of the state, north and south of the range, is undulating, interrupted only by outlying spurs of the main mountain chain. Most of the rivers north of the range are tributaries of the River Murray; those to the south flow into the sea. Victoria has a number of inland lakes, most of them saline. The Gippsland Lakes region, southeast of Melbourne, is Australia's largest inland waterways system. In the southwest of the state, stretching from Hamilton into South Australia, lies an extensive volcanic plain with more than 80 extinct volcanic peaks; some of the plains are marked by lava flows. Victoria has almost 9 million ha/22 million acres of public land, of which 3.5 million ha/8.6 million acres are classified as state forest. Towns and cities include Geelong, Ballarat, and Bendigo.

Climate Victoria has an equable climate with warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Rain is reliable in winter and spring, but erratic in summer: the average annual rainfall in Melbourne is 660.8 mm/26 in; in Geelong it is 536.5 mm/21 in; and in Ballarat it is 710.3 mm/28 in. The mean temperature in summer in Melbourne is 19.5°C/67°F, and the mean temperature in winter is 10.8°C/51°F. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) found, in 1999, that the annual rainfall in Victoria had increased by 15% over the past 85 years.

Economy Victoria is one of the most economically developed of the Australian states, accounting for a third of the country's manufacturing production and a quarter of the agricultural production. Agriculture is a major economic activity. Victoria produces about 30% of Australia's food products, and food products and agricultural goods produce about 35% of Victoria's export earnings. The state produces 15% of Australia's grains, cereals (wheat, barley, and oats), pulses, and oilseeds. Wheat is the largest crop and is grown in the vast irrigated wheatfields of the Wimmera region around Horsham in the west of the state. The dairying industry is centred in the Gippsland district, east of Melbourne and south of the Victorian Alps. Victoria produces 60% of Australia's milk, and 75% of its manufactured dairy products; the state also produces high quality wool. Aquaculture is also important, and includes salmon, eels, warm water fish, muscles, and ornamental fish such as gold fish and tropical fish.

Fruit, especially citrus, and nut growing are also important. Large areas are planted with orchards, and oilseed rape (or canola) is grown, accounting for 57% of national oilseed production. Grapes are grown extensively: the state produces over half of the national production of grapes, and these are used for domestic consumption, drying, and wine production. There are over 200 wineries in Victoria, producing a wide range of wines, and accounting for 15% of Australia's total wine production.

Victoria is rich in mineral resources. After the discovery of gold in 1851, a large proportion of Australia's gold was mined in Victoria, and gold is still mined in the state. Copper, zinc, bauxite, kaolin, and gypsum are also mined. There are extensive deposits of brown coal (lignite) in the La Trobe Valley southeast of Melbourne. There are major offshore oil and natural gas deposits in Bass Strait; oil production also centres around offshore Gippsland; gas is also produced in the Cooper Basin. Most of Victoria's power needs are met by the coal-fuelled power stations in the La Trobe Valley, where there are extensive lignite (brown coal) deposits; hydroelectric power is generated at Lake Hume and Lake Eldon. With the advantages of these mineral and power supplies, industry, however, is now the leading area of the economy, with manufactures which include iron and steel, machinery, motor vehicles, textiles and plastics.

Most of the state's overseas trade passes through Melbourne, but the ports at Geelong and Portland are also significant.

Tourism The tourist industry is based on a considerable variety of attractions in the state and continues to grow in importance. National parks include Little Desert and Wyperfield in the drier and desert areas of the west; the Grampians in the centre, noted for their mountainous scenery; and Snowy River in the east, which offers climbing and skiing. A major tourist attraction is the colony of Little penguins on Phillip Island, near Melbourne. Healesville Sanctuary provides a natural habitat for a large collection (200 species) of Australian native animals. The city of Melbourne is a major cultural and retailing centre, with theatres, large markets, and historic buildings. Other attractions include the fine surfing beaches of the Victoria coast and Echuca Port, once Australia's largest inland port, which now offers paddle-steamer tours.

Sporting events The Australian Rules Football final is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground each September; Melbourne Cricket Ground is also the site for international cricket matches and Australia's Sheffield Shield competition; the 2-mile horse race, the Melbourne Cup, is run at Flemington each November; a Formula 1 Grand Prix is held at Albert Park; and the state hosts the Australian Motor Cycle Grand Prix.

Government A governor appointed by the British monarch is the nominal head of government. Power resides with a premier and cabinet. Parliament consists of two houses: a Legislative Council (upper house) of 44 members, elected for six years, and a Legislative Assembly (lower house) of 88 members, elected for three years. The constitution was drafted in Melbourne in 1853–4 and it was proclaimed on 23 November 1855. Women were enfranchized in 1908.

18th and 19th centuries The indigenous people are the semi-nomadic Koories, who have lived in this area for at least 40,000 years. Victoria was claimed for Britain by Captain James Cook, who visited the southeast coast in 1770. An unsuccessful attempt to found a settlement in the Port Phillip Bay area was made in 1803. In 1824–25 the explorers Hamilton Hume and William Hovell travelled overland south from Sydney to the west shore of Port Phillip, and the outcome of their report was that a settlement was founded on West Port Bay. This settlement was soon abandoned, and the first permanent settlement in Victoria was established at Portland Bay by Edward Henty, from Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), who landed on 19 November 1834. Other settlers followed, but no marked development ensued in this region, owing to the lack of good land and safe harbours. The capital was founded by two Tasmanian parties, one led by John Batman, who landed on 29 May 1835, the other by John Pascoe Fawkner, who reached the site of Melbourne on 28 August of the same year. Others followed, bringing stock with them, and penetrated further into the interior. Among these was Major Thomas Mitchell, who was so impressed with the economic potential of the country, the greater part of which was still unknown, that he named it Australia Felix (Fertile Southern Land). His reports, coupled with the success of the earliest settlers, stimulated the interest of existing Australian settlers and of Great Britain, and one immediate result was that large herds of sheep and cattle were driven overland from New South Wales to occupy the best pasture land in Victoria, and shiploads of immigrants began to arrive from Britain. The indigenous Koorie people opposed this occupation of their land, and in 1836 the Black War began, between the Koories and the settlers. By 1850 the Koories were defeated. From 1836–51 the Port Phillip district, as it was known, was administered by New South Wales. Regular government was first established under Captain Lonsdale, who was sent from Sydney to take control in 1839. In 1840 Richard Bourke, the governor of New South Wales, visited it and named the capital Melbourne. Charles La Trobe was appointed superintendent.

In 1851 the district achieved separation from New South Wales and became an independent colony with the name Victoria. Gold was discovered in the same year. The rich goldfields of Ballarat and Bendigo led to a further influx of population, but the ensuing and oppressive mining regulations resulted in rioting on the Ballarat goldfield. On 3 December 1854 the method of licensing miners brought about a battle, known as the Eureka Stockade, in which miners fought with police and troops. This has become the Australian symbol of the struggle for democratic rights. The discovery of gold transformed Victoria from a pastoral district to the economic capital of Australia. A new constitution giving responsible government to the colony was proclaimed on 23 November 1855.

20th century Melbourne was the political capital of the Commonwealth of Australia from 1901 until 1927 when the seat of the Australian was moved to Canberra. Melbourne hosted the Olympic Games in 1956. Bush fires swept through the state in 1983, killing 71 people.

Demography Victoria is the most densely populated of the Australian states. 24% of the population of Australia lives in the state, in only 3% of the land, and over 68% of the population of Victoria is in the Melbourne area. Since World War II many immigrants have settled in Victoria, mostly in Melbourne, from Lebanon, Turkey, Vietnam, and Europe, especially Greece.

Flora and fauna The common pink heath is Victoria's floral emblem, and occurs mainly in the wetter foothills of the southern part of the state. In the woodlands along the coast, varieties of eucalyptus grow, such as mallee eucalyptus which is no more than 8 m/26 ft tall. Varieties of eucalyptus which are found in the desert areas are the ghost gum and the coolabah. Victoria's fauna includes wombats, kangaroos, koalas, possums, echidnas, and platypuses. The tiger snake, which has the most powerful venom of any land snake, is found in Victoria, and the world's largest earthworm, which grows to 3.56 m/12 ft, is found in the Gippsland region. Among the state's birdlife, is the very rare helmeted honeyeater, found in southern Victoria east of Port Phillip. Little penguins, the smallest breed of penguin, are found only in south Australian waters. The largest colony breeds at Summerland beach on Phillip Island, near Melbourne.

Victoria

Deep-water port and capital of the republic of the Seychelles, tourist centre on the northeast coast of Mahé Island; population (2002) 25,000. Industries include copra, vanilla, guano, and cinnamon. Victoria is the business and cultural centre of the Seychelles and has an international airport.

Victoria (1819–1901)

A photograph of Queen Victoria, taken by Bassano. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 until her death in 1901. She married Prince Albert in 1840, and after his death in 1861 she began a 25-year period of seclusion and mourning, not emerging into the public eye again until the Golden Jubilee of 1887.

The royal group during Victoria's visit to Germany in 1894. Queen Victoria took the throne at the age of 18 in 1837 and reigned until 1901. She married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and visited Germany upon six occasions. This was her final visit, when her granddaughter, Princess Victoria Melita, married Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine.

Queen of the UK from 1837, when she succeeded her uncle William IV, and Empress of India from 1877. In 1840 she married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her relations with her prime ministers ranged from the affectionate (Melbourne and Disraeli) to the occasionally stormy (Peel, Palmerston, and Gladstone). Her Golden Jubilee in 1887 and Diamond Jubilee in 1897 marked a waning of republican sentiment, which had developed with her withdrawal from public life on Albert's death in 1861.

Only child of Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III, she was born in London. She and Albert had four sons and five daughters. After Albert's death 1861 she lived mainly in retirement. Nevertheless, she kept control of affairs, refusing the prince of Wales (Edward VII) any active role.

Government In the early years of her reign the Whig prime minister Lord Melbourne heavily influenced the young queen. Melbourne acted as her closest adviser, and took on the role of an effective father figure to the young monarch. After Victoria married her German cousin, Prince Albert, in 1840, and Melbourne ceased to be prime minister in 1841, Victoria was heavily influenced by her husband. Although Melbourne had tried to shield the queen from the realities of the appalling social conditions that existed in her rapidly industrializing nation, Prince Albert actively encouraged her to find out about the problems faced by her subjects. Albert even invited the social reformer Lord Ashley to Buckingham Palace to discuss child labour in Britain.

Throughout her reign Victoria took an active and involved role in the politics and government of Britain. However she did not possess as much power over the government as her predecessors had held. The 1832 Reform Act had seen influence pass into the hands of the elected House of Commons from the hereditary House of Lords. With an expanding electorate after the further reform acts of 1867 and 1884, Victoria was further reduced to the position of a modern constitutional monarch. She possessed great powers in theory, but was really more of a figurehead, who was supposed to stay out of party politics.

However, Victoria had strong opinions about her prime ministers and the policies that her governments followed. She was supportive of Lord Melbourne, who was prime minister from 1837 to 1841. When Melbourne resigned in 1839, Robert Peel, the leader of the Conservative Party, became prime minister. Victoria was required to change her ladies-in-waiting from Whigs to Tories to match the change of government, but demonstrated a determined independence by refusing to do so. Peel resigned in response to her action, and Melbourne returned as prime minister. Victoria was unable to exhibit the same level of influence again, as she was forced to accept prime ministers who were not to her liking later in her reign.

When Melbourne finally resigned in 1841, Victoria developed a generally good relationship with the reappointed Peel, and this continued with his successor John Russell, Liberal prime minister 1846–52. However, when Victoria disapproved of the assertive policy of his foreign secretary Lord Palmerston, and tried to have Palmerston sacked in 1850, she was told by Russell that Palmerston was popular in the House of Commons and could not be removed from office. It was only when Palmerston upset his fellow Liberal ministers by expressing support for the new French dictator Napoleon III that he was sacked. The power of elected politicians to choose the government was clearly greater than that of the monarch.

In the second half of her reign Victoria had mixed relations with the three main prime ministers. She was openly hostile towards the Liberal William Gladstone (prime minister 1868–74, 1880–85, 1886, and 1892–94), and made little effort to get on with him. Victoria saw Gladstone as cold and aloof, and opposed his liberal policies, such as the 1867 Reform Act, although she was unable to stop the government's wishes from becoming law. Her relationship with Gladstone was in direct contrast to the relationship that she enjoyed with Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative prime minister 1868 and 1874–80). Disraeli was admired and respected by Victoria, and she responded well to his constant flattery and efforts to encourage her to feel that her advice was welcomed and respected.

The last major leader of Victoria's reign was the Conservative Lord Salisbury (prime minister 1885–86, 1886–92, and 1895–1902). Salisbury was a strong supporter of imperialism, which matched Victoria's own ideas about the importance of the British Empire. He was also strongly conservative in political matters, and this too suited the queen. However, even if Salisbury had not been to Victoria's liking, she would not have been able to stop his policies. By the end of her reign power had passed completely from the monarch to the elected government chosen by the House of Commons.

Private and public life Victoria's reign was marked by an early period of public happiness and exposure. Following her marriage to Albert in 1840 the couple worked hard to promote the image of a constitutional monarchy as good for the nation, particularly as the 1830s and 1840s saw widespread revolutionary activity in Europe. By the time of Prince Albert's death from typhoid fever in 1861, Victoria had borne nine children, and the royal family was a popular institution across the country. Victoria had become heavily dependent on her husband's advice and counsel, normally refusing to act until she had consulted with him.

Albert's death in 1861 affected Victoria profoundly, and she withdrew completely from public life. Her public appearances became rare, and much of the popular support and affection she had built up since 1837 was lost. Support for the abolition of the monarchy grew, although it never seriously threatened to become the majority opinion in Britain. There were attempts on the queen's life. Seven people tried to kill Victoria between 1840 and 1882.

Her eldest son Albert Edward (known as Bertie; the future Edward VII) carried out the monarch's official duties. Between 1861 and 1865 Victoria even failed to carry out the state opening of Parliament. Further damage was done to the monarchy by the persistent rumours of a relationship between Victoria and John Brown, her servant at the Scottish estate of Balmoral. Some people even referred to Victoria as ‘Mrs Brown’.

Despite her withdrawal from public life, Victoria continued to be a careful and hardworking constitutional monarch. She always responded to the official government papers and letters that required her attention, and met ministers and foreign visitors as was needed. Although after Albert's death she wore black for the rest of her reign, she made an increasing return to public life during the 1870s.

The last 30 years of Victoria's reign saw the peak of her popularity with the British people. Britain was the most powerful nation in the world, with an empire that stretched around the globe. The feeling of imperial pride was promoted by the government to an enthusiastic people. As monarch of Britain, Queen Victoria was the personal symbol of the power and prestige of the British Empire. Her Golden Jubilee in 1887, celebrating 50 years on the throne, was met with great public displays of affection and celebration. The same was true of her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

Victoria died on 22 January 1901 at Osborne House. She had reigned for nearly 64 years, the longest reign of any British monarch. Her reign had seen Britain change from a country in the early stages of industrialization to a fully developed industrial power. The British Empire had been greatly expanded during her reign, with colonial gains in Africa and Asia. Victoria's reign had also witnessed enormous changes in political power, as voting rights were extended first to middle-class males and then to working-class males. The power of the House of Commons increased throughout her reign, until by her death in 1901 the power of the monarch to control governments was all but gone. A large amount of social reform had taken place during her reign, covering working conditions, public health, and education. The significance of Victoria and her reign is evidenced by the fact that the period was christened throughout the English-speaking world as the Victorian era.

Victoria

Port and capital of British Columbia, Canada, on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island, overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 132 km/83 mi west of mainland Vancouver; population (2001 est) 74,100. It is a manufacturing, tourist, and retirement centre, and has a naval base. Industries include shipbuilding, food-processing, sawmilling, fishing, and the manufacture of chemicals, clothing, and furniture.

History

Features The Provincial Legislative Buildings 1894–97 form Victoria's most imposing architectural structure; nearby is the famous Empress Hotel (1898). Victoria College (1903) became the University of Victoria in 1964, and the city has a symphony orchestra and theatre. Places of interest include the Royal British Columbia Museum, containing major displays of the region's natural history, culture, and history, and a high-tech Open Ocean exhibit; the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory; the Maritime Museum of British Columbia; and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Park lies nearby on the coast. Emily Carr House (1864) was the residence of local painter and writer Emily Carr, noted for her paintings of British Columbian landscapes and peoples. Whale-watching is a popular tourist attraction.

Victoria is the western terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway.

Early history Native Canadian Salish peoples inhabited the site before the arrival of the Hudson Bay Company in 1843. The company's trading post, founded as Fort Camosun, was later renamed in honour of young Queen Victoria. Settlers were brought in by the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, a subsidiary of Hudson Bay. In the 19th century, the harbour became a major port for the British Navy's Pacific Fleet. During the gold rush of the 1850s, Victoria became a supply base for prospectors travelling to the mainland.

Victoria

District of Hong Kong, rising to 554 m/1,800 ft at Victoria Park.

Victoria

City and administrative headquarters of Victoria County, south Texas, USA; population (2000) 60,600. It is situated on the Guadalupe River, near the Gulf of Mexico, and 116 km/72 mi northeast of Corpus Christi. It is a transportation centre for oil, natural gas, chemicals, and dairy products. It was founded 1824 by Spanish settlers. The city is home to Victoria College (1925), and the University of Houston, Victoria.

Railways brought economic growth to the cattle centre late in the 19th century; there has been petrochemical and natural gas production here since the 1940s. The completion in 1963 of the Victoria Barge Canal to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway further spurred industrial expansion. The Victoria Advocate, published daily since 1846, is the second-oldest newspaper in Texas.