Social Issues

Melbourne becomes most populous Australian city, surpassing Sydney

Sydney, Australia, Apr 17 (EFE).- Melbourne became the most populous city in Australia by surpassing Sydney, its historical rival, by virtue of a modification of its urban limits, Australia’s statistics office said Monday.

Melbourne added the western district of Melton to its urban area in 2021, whose population made the city exceed Sydney’s inhabitants, in a change that had gone unnoticed until now.

Melbourne now has 4,875,400 inhabitants, some 18,700 more than Sydney, according to data sent to EFE by the office.

However, it said it prioritizes in its measurements the geographical aspect of the area occupied by the metropolitan areas – which accounts for small independent municipalities attached to large cities.

This allows Sydney, with its almost 5.26 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, to continue being “the most populous city in terms of population,” said Andrew Howe, a demography expert for the office, by surpassing the area metropolitan Melbourne at about 283,600 inhabitants.

During the next decade, the Melbourne metropolitan area is expected to match and surpass, thanks to its greater growth, the Sydney metropolitan area, according to forecasts.

At the time of the Gold Rush, in the mid-19th century, Melbourne experienced its greatest period of splendor and remained the most populous city in the country for decades due to the arrival of immigrants and the explosion of the birth rate.

However, from 1902 Sydney managed to snatch the position after gold mining began to dwindle. EFE

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