How did 2 states of Australian get their names?

Answer 1

Victoria and Queensland were both named to honour Queen Victoria, who was Queen when they were separated from New South Wales to form separate colonies.

South Australia is on the south coast of the continent.

Western Australia makes up most of the west of the continent.

Tasmania was named to honour Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer who "discovered" it. (It was previously "Van Diemen's Land", named by Tasman for a Dutch politician.)

The name "New South Wales" was originally applied to the whole eastern coast of the continent by James Cook, a British explorer who felt the the topography (especially south of the Hunter river) was reminiscent of the coast of south Wales. It was retained by the territory of the original British colony as various territories were cut off for new colonies.

Answer 2

States and Territories:

• New South Wales: James Cook, who was the first European to chart the area, named the entire eastern coast of Australia New South Wales because the countryside bore a resemblance (in his mind) to parts of southern Wales.
• Victoria: The state of Victoria was named for Queen Victoria, the ruling monarch at the time Victoria separated from New South Wales.
• Queensland: Queensland was also named for Queen Victoria.
• Tasmania: The state of Tasmania was named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, considered to be the first European explorer to sail past the island (which, at the time, he believed was part of the mainland). Tasman originally named Tasmania "Antony Van Diemen's Land", or Van Diemen's Land, in honour of the High Magistrate, or Governor-General of Batavia. Van Diemen's Land remained the name of the island until 1 January 1856, when Queen Victoria approved a petition to rename the island Tasmania, in honour of its discoverer.
• Western Australia and South Australia: These two states wee named for their geographical positions. South Australia is in the south and Western Australia takes up the Western third of the continent.
• Northern Territory: One of Australia's two mainland territories, e Northern Territory was also named for the fact that it is in the north.
• Australian Capital Territory: When land was ceded by New South Wales for the purpose of the new federal capital, this territory was originally named the Territory for the Seat of Government. However, government documents and enterprises variously referred to it as the Australian Capital Territory, the Federal Territory of Australia or other variations. With most other names considered too cumbersome, the name of Australian Capital Territory was formally adopted in 1938.

Capital Cities:

• National capital - Canberra:

Joshua John Moore was the first European settler to establish a stock station in the area. He called it "Canberry", a name based on an Aboriginal title for the area "Kamberra" or "Kambery". Moore's property is approximately where Canberra's city centre is today. Canberra became the official name for the area in 1913, and is believed to be an Aboriginal word meaning "meeting place".

• Sydney, NSW:

Sydney was named after the British Home Secretary, Viscount Sydney. Governor Arthur Phillip named Sydney Cove (later Sydney), New South Wales, on Port Jackson after the British Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend, the First Viscount Sydney of England, in recognition of Sydney's role in issuing the charter authorising Phillip to establish a penal colony.

• Melbourne, Victoria:

Melbourne, Victoria, was named in 1837 after the British Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount of Melbourne.

• Brisbane, Qld:

The Brisbane River (Queensland) was named first, in 1824, after the NSW Governor at the time, Sir Thomas Brisbane, and within a few years, the city of Brisbane was named after the river on which it was built.

• Adelaide, SA:

Adelaide, capital of South Australia, was named after Queen Adelaide, a German princess, who was the wife of William IV, the English king who reigned from 1830 until he died in 1837. Adelaide's full name was Adelheid Amalie Luise Theresa Carolin of Saxe-Meiningen. After she married the heir to the British throne in July 1818, she changed the spelling of her name, anglicising it from Adelheid to Adelaide. The name for the new city was chosen by the English authorities.

• Perth, WA:

Originally called the Swan River Colony, Perth in Western Australia had its name changed by Captain James Stirling after the Scottish city Perth. This was done because, apparently, Perth was the birthplace of Sir George Murray who was the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies.

• Hobart, Tasmania:

Hobart's first name was Hobart Town (some sources say Hobarton). It was named after Lord Hobart, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. It started out as the Derwent River colony.

• Darwin, Northern Territory:

The capital of the Northern Territory, Darwin, was originally called Palmerston. Darwin was re-named after naturalist Charles Darwin, because the harbour on which Darwin lies was found in 1836 by John Stokes, surveyor aboard the ship HMS Beagle - which was, of course, the ship on which Charles Darwin sailed.