Australian Capital Territory Geography
Facts: Australian Capital Territory facts, Demographics, Geography, Government, History
ACT Geography
The ACT has three contrasting landforms. In the north, where urban development has taken place, it is a low land of undulating hills including the floodplains of the Murrumbidgee and Molonglo Rivers; mostly below 600m. Beyond this are forested mountain slopes rising to 1200m divided by numerous tributaries of the Murrumbidgee. In the south and extreme west are highlands of steep ridges and mountain peaks rising above 1800m.
To look at, the ACT has two geographical regions: Canberra and ‘the rest’. Canberra’s urban development covers undulating low land areas while ‘the rest’ is an amazing natural environment of mountainous national parks and rivers.
In the northern part of the ACT, Canberra’s artificial Lake Burley Griffin is an attempt to relieve and refresh this landlocked landscape and as such is a new geographical landmark. In the south, Namadgi National Park and the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve offer age-old mostly untouched forests that lead into the New South Wales high country and the glorious Snowy Mountains. more
