User:Loytra/Victoria

Victoria is a country located within the south-eastern portion of the continent of Australia. Victoria is a semi-enclave of the Commonwealth of Australia, and is bounded by the Bass Strait to the south (with the exception of a small land border with Tasmania located along Boundary Islet), the Great Australian Bight portion of the Southern Ocean to the southwest, and the Tasman Sea (a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean) to the southeast. The country encompasses a range of climates and geographical features from its temperate coastal and central regions to the Victorian Alps in the north-east and the semi-arid north-west.

Victoria has a population of over 6.6 million, the majority of which is concentrated in the central south area surrounding Port Phillip Bay, and in particular in the metropolitan area of Greater Melbourne, Victoria's capital and largest city where over three quarters of the Victorian population live. The population is culturally diverse, with 35.1% of inhabitants being immigrants.

Victoria is home to numerous Aboriginal groups, including the Boonwurrung, the Bratauolung, the Djadjawurrung, the Gunai, the Gunditjmara, the Taungurong, the Wathaurong, the Wurundjeri, and the Yorta Yorta. There were more than 30 Aboriginal languages spoken in the area prior to European colonisation. In 1770 James Cook claimed the east coast of the Australian continent for the Kingdom of Great Britain, and from 1788 the area that is now Victoria was a part of the colony of New South Wales. The first European settlement in the area occurred in 1803 at Sullivan Bay. Much of what is now Victoria was included in 1836 in the Port Phillip District of New South Wales. Named in honour of Queen Victoria, Victoria was separated from New South Wales and established as a separate Crown colony in 1851, achieving responsible government in 1855. The Victorian gold rush in the 1850s and 1860s significantly increased Victoria's population and wealth. By the time of Australian Federation in 1901, Melbourne had become the largest city in Australasia, and served as the federal capital of Australia until Canberra was opened in 1927. The state continued to grow strongly through various periods of the 20th and early 21st centuries as a result of high levels of international and interstate migration. The Victorian independence movement gained popularity during the first half of the 2020s, culminating in the Declaration of Independence and the Australian Parliament's 2026 Victoria Act; formally separating Victoria from the federation.

Victoria is a unitary parliamentary republic. The Parliament of Victoria consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Victorian Labor Party, led by James Merlino as prime minister, has governed Victoria since independence. The President of Victoria is currently Daniel Andrews, Victoria's final premier during statehood. Victoria is divided into 79 local government areas, as well as several unincorporated areas which the government administers directly.

Victoria is a highly developed country with a high-income economy that is highly diversified, with service sectors predominating. Culturally, Melbourne hosts a number of museums, art galleries, and theatres, and is also described as the world's sporting capital, and the spiritual home of Australian rules football.