An International City
1. Melbourne is Australia’s most cosmopolitan city. It is the home, workplace and leisure centre of 3.6 million people and is one of the world's most harmonious and culturally diverse communities. Residents from more than 140 nations live side by side in Melbourne, brought here by four main waves of migration. Melbourne has a population mix of 74 per cent are Anglo-Celtic, 19 per cent other European, and 4.5 per cent Asian. (Source: www.melbourne.vic.gov.au)
2. A quarter of Melburnians were born overseas and successive waves of immigration from Europe, the Middle East and Asia have helped to create the cosmopolitan metropolis that exists today. (Source: www.melbourne.citysearch.com.au)
3. Melbourne (26.0%) has Australia’s second highest proportion of people who reported speaking a language other than English at home in the 1996 Census. (Source: www.abs.gov.au)
4. The largest communities in Melbourne are from: England: 127,716; Italy: 80,740; Vietnam: 55,859; Greece: 55,735; New Zealand: 45,749. (Source: The Age Magazine, Issue 8, Page 48)
5. Melbourne ranks very high in terms of openness to immigration. (Source: “Regions on the Rise”, Richard Florida)
6. Melbourne has seven sister cities. They are: Osaka, Japan – 1978; Tianjin, People's Republic of China – 1980; Thessaloniki, Greece – 1984; Boston, United States – 1985; Saint Petersburg, Russia – 1989; Milan, Italy – 2004; Galle, Sri Lanka, 2005. (www.onlymelbourne.com.au)
7. The majority of Australia’s Jewry lives in Melbourne (45,000) and the city has the highest percentage of Holocaust survivors of any Jewish community in the world. (Source: www.worldjewishcongress.org)
8. Melbourne is the number 10 in the world as a destination for immigrants rated by the Mosaic Index list researched by Dr Richard Florida (Source: “The Flight of the Creative Class”, page 172)
9. Melbourne is actively working to maintain its global relevance. The Melbourne Diplomatic Network, an initiative of the Committee for Melbourne and the Victorian Government, was launched by the Premier in 2003 with the goal of highlighting and contributing to the critical role played by the Melbourne Consular and Australian Diplomatic Corps in the development of constructive economic, social and cultural links between Victoria and foreign governments, businesses, NGOs and individuals. (Source: www.melbourne.org.au)  |
