Canberra is the capital city of Australia and its population of over 328,000, makes it Australia's largest city that is not near the coast. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory, 300 kilometres (190 mi) southwest of Sydney, and 650 kilometres (400 mi) north-east of Melbourne. The site of Canberra was selected for the location of the nation's capital in 1908 as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne, the two largest cities. It is unusual among Australian cities as an entirely purpose-built, planned city. Following an international contest for the city's design, a design by Chicago architect Walter Burley Griffin was selected and construction commenced in 1913. The city's design was heavily influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra the title "bush capital". Although the growth and development of Canberra were hindered by the World Wars and the Great Depression, it emerged as a thriving city after World War II.

As the seat of the government of Australia, Canberra is the site of Parliament House, the High Court of Australia and numerous government departments and agencies. It is also the location of several social and cultural institutions of national significance. The federal government contributes the largest percentage of Gross State Product and is the largest employer in Canberra. Canberra is also a popular destination for domestic and international tourists

The two main tertiary institutions are the Australian National University (ANU) in Acton and the University of Canberra (UC) in Bruce. The ANU was established as a research university in 1946; it continues to have a strong research focus and is ranked among the best universities in the world in The Times Higher Education Supplement and the Shanghai Jiao Tong World University Rankings.[18] Both ANU and UC also have campuses interstate and overseas. There are also two religious university campuses in Canberra: Signadou in the North Canberra suburb of Watson is a campus of the Australian Catholic University; St Mark's Theological College adjacent to the Parliament House is a campus of Charles Sturt University.

The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) and the Royal Military College, Duntroon are near the suburb of Campbell in Canberra's inner north-east. ADFA teaches military undergraduates and postgraduates and is officially a campus of the University of New South Wales; Duntroon provides Australian Army Officer training. Tertiary level vocational education is also available through the multi-campus Canberra Institute of Technology.

In February 2004 there were 140 public and non-governmental schools in Canberra; 96 were operated by the Government and 44 are non-Government. During 2006 the ACT Government announced closures of up to 39 schools, to take effect from the end of the school year and after a series of consultations the Government announced its "Towards 2020: Renewing Our Schools" plan that closed some schools at the end of 2006 with more in 2007 and 2008, while consolidating school campuses and opening other schools through to 2010. Most suburbs are planned to include a primary school and a nearby preschool, and schools are usually located near open areas for play and sports. Preschool is not a compulsory year, but many children attend for the government-funded 12 hours a week (10.5 hours a week before 2006). Primary school consists of seven grades: kindergarten and years 1 to 6. From years 7 to 10 children attend high school and in years 11 to 12 attend a college, unlike the rest of Australia where high school comprises year 7 to year 12. The ACT has the highest retention rate in Australia with 89% of students who were enrolled in year 7 in 1999 being enrolled full-time in year 12 in 2004. This retention rate has declined from a peak in 1994 when the rate was nearly 5% more, probably because of poor job prospects for young people at that time compared with 2004. (Ref Wikipedia 2007)