[12] European settlement commenced in the first half of the 19th century, as evidenced by surviving landmarks such as St John's Anglican Church and Blundells Cottage.

Other major industries have developed in the city, including in health care, professional services, education and training, retail, accommodation and food, and construction.

City Interchange and Alinga Street station form the main hub of Canberra's bus and light rail transport network.

[40][44] British settlement of the area probably dates from late 1823, when a sheep station was formed on what is now the Acton Peninsula by James Cowan, the head stockman employed by Joshua John Moore.

[27][47][48] Campbell and his family built a dairy on the site in 1832, now regarded as the oldest standing European building in Canberra,[49][50][51] followed by the imposing stone house that is now the officers' mess of the Royal Military College, Duntroon.

[53] Other notable early colonists included Henry Donnison, who established the Yarralumla estate—now the site of the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia—in 1827, and John Palmer who employed Duncan Macfarlane to form the Jerrabomberra property in 1828.

[64] As the European presence increased, the Indigenous population dwindled largely due to the destruction of their society, dislocation from their lands and from introduced diseases such as influenza, smallpox, alcoholism and measles.

[69] A survey was conducted across several sites in New South Wales with Bombala, southern Monaro, Orange, Yass, Albury, Tamworth, Armidale, Tumut and Dalgety all discussed.

[70] In 1906, the New South Wales Government finally agreed to cede sufficient land provided that it was in the Yass-Canberra region as this site was closer to Sydney.

[66] After the ceremony, bureaucratic disputes hindered Griffin's work;[83] a Royal Commission in 1916 ruled his authority had been usurped by certain officials and his original plan was reinstated.

[127][128] Parts of Canberra were engulfed by bushfires on 18 January 2003 that killed four people, injured 435 and destroyed more than 500 homes as well as the major research telescopes of Australian National University's Mount Stromlo Observatory.

Other works included The Skywhale, a hot air balloon designed by the sculptor Patricia Piccinini,[131] and StellrScope by visual media artist Eleanor Gates-Stuart.

[159] Canberra is a planned city and the inner-city area was originally designed by Walter Burley Griffin, a major 20th-century American architect.

At the southwestern end of the land axis was Bimberi Peak,[166] the highest mountain in the ACT, approximately 52 km (32 mi) south west of Canberra.

[166][167] The Griffins assigned spiritual values to Mount Ainslie, Black Mountain, and Red Hill and originally planned to cover each of these in flowers.

[175] Development in Canberra has been closely regulated by government,[176][177] both through planning processes and the use of crown lease terms that have tightly limited the use of parcels of land.

[178] There have been persistent calls for constraints on development to be liberalised,[177] but also voices in support of planning consistent with the original 'bush capital' and 'urban forest' ideals that underpin Canberra's design.

[125] At the 2004 election, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope and the Labor Party won 9 of the 17 seats allowing them to form the ACT's first majority government.

In the administrative sphere, most frequently this is through the actions of the National Capital Authority which is responsible for planning and development in areas of Canberra which are considered to be of national importance or which are central to Griffin's plan for the city,[203] such as the Parliamentary Triangle, Lake Burley Griffin, major approach and processional roads, areas where the Commonwealth retains ownership of the land or undeveloped hills and ridge-lines (which form part of the Canberra Nature Park).

[224] The median house price in Canberra as of February 2020 was $745,000, lower than only Sydney among capital cities of more than 100,000 people, having surpassed Melbourne and Perth since 2005.

[232] Other major sectors by employment include Health Care (10.54%), Professional Services (9.77%), Education and Training (9.64%), Retail (7.27%), Accommodation & Food (6.39%) and Construction (5.80%).

[22] On census night in 2016, approximately 50.0% of ACT residents described themselves as Christian (excluding not stated responses), the most common denominations being Catholic and Anglican; 36.2% described themselves as having no religion.

[260] Tertiary level vocational education is also available through the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT), with campuses in Bruce, Reid, Gungahlin, Tuggeranong and Fyshwick.

[174] Many Commonwealth government buildings in Canberra are open to the public, including Parliament House, the High Court and the Royal Australian Mint.

[291] City-to-city relationships encourage communities and special interest groups both locally and abroad to engage in a wide range of exchange activities.

The National Press Club of Australia in Barton has regular television broadcasts of its lunches at which a prominent guest, typically a politician or other public figure, delivers a speech followed by a question-and-answer session.

[309] While the league has knocked back numerous proposals, according to the AFL Canberra belongs to the Greater Western Sydney Giants[310] who play three home games at Manuka Oval each season.

[316][318] The Royal Canberra Hospital was located on Acton Peninsula on Lake Burley Griffin; it was closed in 1991 and was demolished in 1997 in a controversial and fatal implosion to facilitate construction of the National Museum of Australia.

[340] In February 2021 ACT Minister for Transport and City Services Chris Steel said he expects construction on Stage 2A to commence in the 2021-22 financial year, and for "tracks to be laid" by the next Territory election in 2024.

A 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge construction railway was built in 1923 between the Yarralumla brickworks and the provisional Parliament House; it was later extended to Civic, but the whole line was closed in May 1927.