So That's Why It's Called That Quiz

Answer: Sydney, New South Wales

The area now occupied by the city of Sydney has been occupied for around 30,000 years, with around 29 separate clans of the Eora Nation inhabiting the area at the time the first Europeans encountered Australia. The first Europeans to reach the southeast of Australia arrived in 1770, when an expedition led by Lieutenant James Cook arrived at the area now called Botany Bay. Cook explained to the native inhabitants that his mission was exploration, not settlement, and he soon left, having named the area as first "New Wales", then "New South Wales" in his journal.

However, following the American Revolution that led to the independence of the United States, Britain required a new penal outpost, which led to it focusing on the area discovered by Cook.

In 1788, a fleet of 11 ships led by Captain Arthur Phillip sailed into Botany Bay with 850 convicts. The area was found to be unsuitable for settlement, so the fleet sailed a short distance north. Here the new colony was officially proclaimed - initially intended to be called "New Albion", Phillip, who was the first governor of the new colony, instead decided to name the settlement for his patron, the British Home Secretary Viscount Sydney, who had recommended him for the mission in the first place, with the colony as a whole named as New South Wales.

Into the 19th century, Sydney evolved from a penal settlement into a major town. The transportation of convicts ended in 1840, with Sydney incorporated as a city in 1842. Since then, the city has become Australia's largest, and has become one of the major cities of the world.

Answer: Brisbane, Queensland

The area upon which the city of Brisbane is sited was originally land that was occupied by the Jagera people, who named it "Meanjin" or "Mianjin", meaning "place shaped like a spike". Europeans first explored the area in 1799, when Matthew Flinders arrived at what he called Red Cliff Point (what is now Woody Point), and proceeded to chart the area of Moreton Bay.

In 1823, the then Governor of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Brisbane, ordered the development of a new penal settlement further north along the coast from Sydney, with a party led by John Oxley undertaking further explorations of Moreton Bay, arriving in November the same year. Oxley's recommendation was that Red Cliff Point be used as the site of the new colony, having claimed the local river and named it for Brisbane.

However, the penal settlement was moved after a year 17 miles further south to provide a more secure water supply. The new settlement was initially named Edenglassie, before then being given the name Brisbane. Free settlers began arriving in the area from 1835, with work on the first town plan started in 1840.

In 1859, the new Colony of Queensland was formed through separating the north-east of Australia from the existing Colony of New South Wales, with Brisbane named as the capital. Brisbane received city status in 1902.

Answer: Adelaide, South Australia

Adelaide was originally established in 1836, prior to which the land had been occupied for several thousand years by the Kaurna people, who called the area "Tarntanya" or "Tarndanyangga", which means "red kangaroo rock". In February 1836, a new Australian province was founded, which came to be called South Australia, with self-government beginning in December. Unlike the other Australian colonies, South Australia was established as a wholly free colony with no penal settlements.

The colony was to receive a planned capital, which was named in honour of Queen Adelaide, the wife of King William IV, which was located close to the River Torrens. Following the successful navigation of the Murray River by Francis Cadell in 1853, Adelaide was able to establish trade links with the rest of Australia allowing the town's prosperity to increase.

By the end of the nineteenth century, Adelaide had become one of Australia's major centres, with a university founded in 1874, and significant agricultural and mining operations around the city forming the basis of its economy.

Answer: Hobart, Tasmania

Hobart traces its modern history back to 1804. Prior to this, the area was inhabited by the nomadic Mouheneener people, who engaged in a series of violent conflicts with European settlers on their arrival in Tasmania. Tasmania (then named Van Dieman's Land) was first explored between the 1770s and 1790s, when it was established to be an island separate from the rest of Australia.

As such, it did not form part of Britain's claim to Australia, which led to concerns that the French might establish a presence there. So, the first European settlement was established in 1803, when Philip Gidley King, then Governor of New South Wales, despatched an expedition of both convicts and free settlers under Lt John Bowen to establish a British presence. At the same time, Britain despatched Colonel David Collins, the former Lt Governor of New South Wales, to also establish a presence. Upon arrival, Collins determined that the original choice was unsuitable, while the first settlement at Risdon Cove was also in a poor location. So, both were merged and moved to a new site at Sullivans Cove, which was named as Hobart Town after Lord Hobart, the then Secretary of War and the Colonies. From its foundation, Hobart has served as Tasmania's major administrative centre, increasing in importance when the island was separated from New South Wales in 1825 to form the separate colony of Van Dieman's Land, and officially becoming the capital of the newly renamed Tasmania in 1854.

Answer: Melbourne, Victoria

The area of what is now Melbourne was inhabited for around 40,000 years, with at least three branches of the Kulin people occupying the region up to the 19th century. The area was an important meeting point for the various groups in the Kulin nation, as well as being a vital source of both food and water.

Although the first attempt at a European settlement came in 1803, this was quickly abandoned when the settlers moved to Van Dieman's Land. The next attempt came in 1835, when John Batman purchased 600,000 acres of land on the north bank of the Yarra River from one of the Kulin groups. Two groups of settlers from Van Dieman's Land came to the area, agreeing to share the new settlement, which was named Dootigala.

The purchase agreement was subsequently annulled by the Governor of New South Wales, Richard Bourke, who declared the new settlement the capital of Port Phillip District, and ordered the settlement to be renamed Melbourne, after the then British prime Minister. Melbourne was made a city in 1847 by Queen Victoria while, in 1851, Port Phillip District split from New South Wales to become the separate colony of Victoria, with Melbourne named as the new colony's capital.

Answer: Perth, Western Australia

The area of Perth was originally occupied by the Noongar people for approximately 40,000 years before Europeans set foot there. Although the area had been sighted from the sea since 1697, the first settlement in the western third of Australia was only established in 1829.

The new colony was informally named after the Swan River, upon which the major settlement was founded. The settlement itself was named Perth even before its foundation, as the proclamation of the new colony was stated as to have been made there upon its foundation.

The name was chosen according to the wish of Sir George Murray, the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies at the time of its foundation, who was born in the city of Perth in Scotland. Perth was named as the capital of the Swan River Colony from its foundation, and retained this status upon the renaming of the colony as Western Australia in 1832.

It subsequently received city status in 1856, although it was not until communications with the rest of Australia improved that Perth began to experience major growth, with the telegraph line to Adelaide completed in 1877, and the arrival of the first railways to the city in the early 1880s.

Answer: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

The area around Canberra had been occupied for around 20,000 years, mainly by the Ngunnawal, with settlement by Europeans only beginning in the early 1820s. Initially, the settlement was small, with a homestead belonging to Joshua John Moore built on the Acton Peninsula, at which time Moore named the property Canberry, derived from a Ngunnawal word meaning "meeting place".

The settlement expanded slowly from the 1830s onwards, until the last decades of the 19th century. At that point, a debate had started over whether the various colonies should enter into a federation as an independent country under the British crown. Following the establishment of an independent Australia in 1901, the debate then turned to the site of the new national capital.

As a compromise in the dispute over the choice of Sydney or Melbourne (the country's two largest cities), it was decided to establish a new city in New South Wales, provided it was at least 100 miles from Sydney. Initially, Dalgety was chosen as the new capital, but this changed when the New South Wales government refused to cede the land required.

Instead, it insisted on the choice of Canberra, which was closer to Sydney. New South Wales transferred land to the Australian government in 1911, which saw the establishment of the Federal Capital Territory. In 1912, the name of the new city was announced as Canberra, an evolution of the original Canberry name, after which it has been steadily developed into a large and modern city.

Answer: Darwin, Northern Territory

The Larrakia people had inhabited the region around Darwin prior to the arrival of the first Europeans. The first Europeans to identify the area were the Dutch, who made the first charts in the 1600s. The British only arrived in 1839, when the survey ship HMS Beagle arrived in a harbour, which the ship's captain, John Wickham, named for the naturalist Charles Darwin, who had been on board during a previous expedition.

In 1863, administration of the Northern Territory, in which Port Darwin was located, was transferred to South Australia, at which point efforts were made to found a new capital.

The original choice at Escape Cliffs was quickly abandoned as unsuitable, and a new settlement at Port Darwin was inaugurated, which was named Palmerston.

The settlement quickly grew, first with the establishment of the Overland Telegraph link to South Australia, then with the discovery of gold in the area. Administration of the Northern Territory was eventually transferred to the Australian government in 1911, at which Palmerston was renamed as Darwin. Darwin was awarded city status in 1959.

Answer: Kingston, Norfolk Island

Although Norfolk Island was uninhabited when it was first reached by Europeans, there is evidence of previous habitation, with both Polynesian and Melanesian artefacts having been discovered. It is estimated that the isolation and inhospitability of the island led to these settlers leaving a few hundred years before the arrival of Europeans.

The British arrived on the island in 1788, only a few weeks after the establishment of the original settlement on the Australian mainland. The first settlement, a penal colony, was originally named as Sydney Bay by its first governor, Lt Philip Gidley King, taking the name of Sydney by 1796.

However, this was abandoned by 1814, as it was felt too remote to maintain. A second penal settlement was established in 1825, which saw the construction of the modern town.

This second colony lasted until 1855, when the settlers were removed to Tasmania. The following year, a new settlement was established when 193 Pitcairn Islanders were moved to Norfolk Island.

At some point, the name of the island's capital, originally founded by Philip Gidley King, became Kingston in honour of its founder. However, as the island has developed, Burnt Pine has become its largest settlement and commercial hub, with Kingston serving as the island's municipal centre.

Answer: Flying Fish Cove, Christmas Island

Christmas Island was first sighted by Europeans in 1615, while it received its name in 1643, when the East India Company ship Royal Mary sailed past it on Christmas Day. Attempts were made to explore the island from 1857. In 1886, the survey ship HMS Flying Fish anchored in an area that the ship's captain, John Maclear, named Flying Fish Cove. Following the discovery of deposits of phosphate of lime on the island, it was annexed by the British in June 1888.

The same year, a small settlement was established at Flying Fish Cove by G. Clunies Ross, the owner of the Cocos Islands, to supply timber and other materials to Cocos, while phosphate mining began in 1899.

At this time, Christmas Island was administered as part of the Straits Settlements (later to become Singapore).

The United Kingdom transferred Christmas Island to Australia in 1958, with its capital (and largest and most populous settlement) remaining at Flying Fish Cove, which is generally referred to simply as "The Settlement".