Portal:Australia/Featured article/Week 42, 2006

Yarralumla (-35.3°N, 149.1°W) is a large suburb in the inner south of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. Located approximately 3.5 kilometres south-west of the city centre, Yarralumla extends for much of the southern bank of Lake Burley Griffin. Europeans first settled in the area in 1828. It was officially named Yarralumla after the local Ngunnawal Indigenous Australian name for the area in 1834. Fredrick Campbell built a large homestead on his property in 1891 that now serves as Government House, the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia. The suburb was officially gazetted in 1928 and today is home to approximately 3000 people and many diplomatic missions. Although Yarralumla is one of the largest suburbs in Canberra by area, its population remains quite small because more than half of its area consists of open space or non-residential developments. In recent years, it has become one of Canberra's most desirable and expensive suburbs because of its leafy streets, lakeside setting and central location.