The Australian Capital Territory, an enclave within New South Wales, was ceded in 1911 but the history of Canberra can be traced back about 5,000 years to settlements of Aboriginal people. European settlement of the area began in 1824, and sheep herding was the primary activity.

Canberra is not only the Australian Capital Territory's capital but the nation's as well. Canberra is an Aboriginal word meaning "meeting place" and has been used since 1836 and made official in 1913. Canberra is therefore where the nation's federal Parliament is held but was not transferred from Melbourne, to a carefully planned Canberra, until 1927. The first Parliament House was opened in 1927 but a new larger subterranean Parliament House on Capital Hill opened in 1988 for Australia's bicentennial.

Canberra was designed by Chicago architect Walter Burley Griffin, as a part of a competition in which he won. An artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, part of Griffin's original design, is named after him.

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