Main article: Demographics of Melbourne
See also: Melbourne population growth
Chinese New Year celebrations in Chinatown. Melbourne has a large Chinese population, the oldest continuous Chinese settlement in Australia and the second longest continuous Chinese settlement in the western world
Melbourne is a diverse and multicultural city. In 2006, 35.8% of its population was born overseas, exceeding the national average of 23.1%. In concordance with national data, Britain is the most commonly reported overseas place of birth, with 4.7%, followed by Italy (2.1%), Croatia (1.7%), Vietnam (1.6%), People's Republic of China (1.5%), and New Zealand (1.5%).[159] Melbourne has the world's third largest Greek-speaking population after Athens and Thessaloniki (Melbourne's Greek sister city), and the Vietnamese surname Nguyen is the second most common in Melbourne's phone book.[160] The city also features substantial Indian, Sri Lankan, and Malaysian-born communities, in addition to recent South African and Sudanese influxes. The cultural diversity is reflected in the city's restaurants serving various international cuisines.
Over two-thirds of Melburnians speak only English at home (68.1%). Chinese (mainly Cantonese and Mandarin) is the second-most-common language spoken at home (3.6%), with Greek third, Italian fourth and Vietnamese fifth, each with more than 100,000 speakers.[159] Although Victoria's net interstate migration has fluctuated, the Melbourne statistical division has grown by approximately 50,000 people a year since 2003. Melbourne has now attracted the largest proportion of international overseas immigrants (48,000) finding it outpacing Sydney's international migrant intake on percentage, along with having strong interstate migration from Sydney and other capitals due to more affordable housing and cost of living, which have been two recent key factors driving Melbourne's growth.[161]
In recent years, Melton, Wyndham and Casey, part of the Melbourne statistical division, have recorded the highest growth rate of all local government areas in Australia. Despite a demographic study stating that Melbourne could overtake Sydney in population by 2028,[162] the ABS has projected in two scenarios that Sydney will remain larger than Melbourne beyond 2056, albeit by a margin of less than 3% compared to a margin of 12% today. However, the first scenario projects that Melbourne's population overtakes Sydney in 2039, primarily due to larger levels of internal migration losses assumed for Sydney.[163]
After a trend of declining population density since World War II, the city has seen increased density in the inner and western suburbs aided in part by Victorian Government planning blueprints, such as Postcode 3000 and Melbourne 2030 which have aimed to curtail the urban sprawl.[164][165]
[edit] Education
Main article: Education in Melbourne
Ormond College, part of the University of Melbourne
Melbourne was ranked the world's fourth top university city in 2008 after London, Boston and Tokyo in a poll commissioned by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.[166] Melbourne is the home of the University of Melbourne, as well as Monash University, the largest university in Australia. The University of Melbourne is the second oldest university in Australia.[167] It was ranked first among Australian universities in the 2010 THES international rankings.[168]
The 2011-2012 Times Higher Education Supplement ranked the University of Melbourne as the 37th (30th by QS ranking) best university in the world. Monash University was ranked as the 117th (60th by QS ranking) best university in the world. Both universities are members of the Group of Eight.
Other universities located in Melbourne include La Trobe University, RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology, based in the inner city Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn, Victoria University, which has nine campuses across Melbourne's western region, including three in the heart of Melbourne's Central Business District (CBD) and another four within ten kilometres of the CBD, and the St Patrick's campus of the Australian Catholic University. Deakin University maintains two major campuses in Melbourne and Geelong, and is the third largest university in Victoria. In recent years, the number of international students at Melbourne's universities has risen rapidly, a result of an increasing number of places being made available to full fee paying students.[169]
[edit] Media
Main article: Media in Melbourne
SBS studios at Federation Square
Three daily newspapers serve Melbourne: the Herald Sun (tabloid), The Age (broadsheet) and The Australian (national broadsheet). The free mX is also distributed weekday afternoon at railway stations and on the streets of central Melbourne.[170] Five television networks and a community television station serve Melbourne: HSV-7, which broadcasts from the Melbourne Docklands precinct; GTV-9, which broadcasts from their new Docklands studios; and ATV-10, which broadcasts from the Como Complex in South Yarra. National stations that broadcast into Melbourne include ABV-2 (branded ABC1) from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The ABC has two studios, one at Ripponlea and another at Southbank. SBS One from the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), broadcasts from their studios at Federation Square in central Melbourne.
New digital-only channels available in addition to ABC1, HSV-7 (Seven), GTV-9 (Nine), ATV-10 (Ten) and SBS One include One HD, Eleven, ABC2, ABC3, ABC News 24, SBS Two, 7Two, 7mate, GEM HD and GO!. C31 Melbourne is the only local community television station in Melbourne, and its broadcast range also branches out to regional centre Geelong. Melbourne also receives Pay TV, largely through cable and satellite services. Foxtel and Optus are the main Pay TV providers. Various television programs are produced in Melbourne, notably Neighbours, Kath & Kim, Winners and Losers, Offspring, The Project and Underbelly.
A long list of AM and FM radio stations broadcast to greater Melbourne. These include "public" (i.e. state owned ABC & SBS) and community stations. Many commercial stations are networked-owned: DMG has Nova 100 and Classic Rock; ARN controls Gold and Mix; and Southern Cross Austereo runs both Fox and Triple M. Stations from towns in regional Victoria may also be heard (e.g. 93.9 Bay FM, Geelong ). Youth alternatives include ABC Triple J and youth run SYN. Triple J, and similarly PBS and Triple R, strive to play under represented music. JOY caters for gay and lesbian audiences. For fans of classical music there are 3MBS and ABC Classic FM. Light FM is a contemporary Christian station. AM stations include ABC: 774, Radio National, and News Radio; also Fairfax affiliates 3AW (talk) and Magic (easy listening). For sport fans and enthusiasts there is SEN 1116. Melbourne has many community run stations that serve alternative interests, such as 3CR and 3KND (Indigenous). Many suburbs have low powered community run stations serving local audiences.[171]
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