The Melbourne City Centre (also known as the "Central Business District" or "CBD") is the hub of the greater geographical area (or "metropolitan area") and the Census statistical division — of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of late 2009, the greater geographical area had an approximate population of 4 million. A resident of Melbourne is known as a "Melburnian".

The metropolis is located on the large natural bay known as Port Phillip, with the city centre positioned at the estuary of the Yarra River (at the northern-most point of the bay). The metropolitan area then extends south from the city centre, along the eastern and western shorelines of Port Phillip, and expands into the hinterland. The city centre is situated in the municipality known as the City of Melbourne, and the metropolitan area consists of a further 30 municipalities.

It was founded in 1835 (47 years after the European settlement of Australia) by settlers from Van Diemen's Land. The early settlement was originally known as "Bearbrass". It was renamed "Melbourne" in 1837, in honour of William Lamb — the 2nd Viscount Melbourne. Melbourne was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria in 1847. In 1851, it became the capital city of the newly created colony of Victoria. During the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the world's largest and wealthiest cities. After the federation of Australia in 1901, it then served as the interim seat of government of the newly created nation of Australia until 1927.

Today, it is a centre for the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, sport and tourism. It is the birthplace of cultural institutions such as Australian film (as well as the feature film), Australian television, Australian rules football, the Australian impressionist art movement (known as the Heidelberg School) and Australian dance styles (including New Vogue and later, the Melbourne Shuffle). The city is also the centre of contemporary and traditional Australian music. For these, it is known as the "cultural capital of Australia".

Melbourne is classified as a Beta World City+ by Loughborough University's GaWC Research Network, and as a City of Literature by UNESCO's Creative Cities Network. It has been ranked as one of the top three World's Most Livable Cities by the Economist Group's Intelligence Unit (since 2002), top 10 Global University Cities by RMIT's Global University Cities Index (since 2006) and top 20 Global Innovation Cities by the 2thinknow® Global Innovation Agency (since 2007). The metropolis is also home to the world's largest tram network. The main airport serving Melbourne is Melbourne Airport.

Fleet Street Station	Melbourne hotels Check-in: Check-out: Guests: 12 3 Rooms: 12 3 Search View all hotels in Melbourne	Royal Exhibition Building
Federation Square
Victoria Location Map	Melbourne area map	Melbourne Cricket Ground

Since 1997, Melbourne has maintained significant population and employment growth. There has been substantial international investment in the city's industries and property market. Major inner-city urban renewal has occurred in areas such as Southbank, Port Melbourne, Melbourne Docklands and more recently, South Wharf. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Melbourne sustained the highest population increase and economic growth rate of any Australian capital city in the three years ended June 2004. Melbourne also survived the financial crisis of 2007-2010 better than any other Australian city. In 2009, more new jobs were created in Melbourne than any other Australian capital - almost as many as the next weo fastest growing cities, Brisbane and Perth, combined.

These factors have led to population growth and further suburban expansion through the 2000s into "green wedges" and beyond urban growth boundaries. In 2009 Melbourne's property market remained strong, resulting in historically high property prices and widespread rent increases.

In 2003, Melbourne was named as a UNESCO City of Literature. In February 2010, The Transition Decade, an initiative to transition human society, economics and environment towards sustainability, was launched in Melbourne.