Editing Australian Capital Territory (section)

==Demographics==
{{See also|Demographics of Canberra}}
[[File:Australian Capital Territory population pyramid in 2021.svg|thumb|ACT population pyramid in 2021]]
[[File:ABS-3101.0-AustralianDemographicStatistics-EstimatedResidentPopulationStatesTerritories-EstimatedResidentPopulation-Persons-AustralianCapitalTerritory-A2060850F.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|Estimated resident population since 1981.]]
[[File:ACT Canberra density.jpg|thumb|ACT population density by mesh blocks (MB), according to the 2016 census]]
The [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]] estimates that the population of the territory was 453,324 on 31 December 2021, with an annual growth in 2021 of 0.4%.<ref name="ABSPop" /> A 2019 projection estimated the population would reach to approximately 700,000 by 2058.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apps.treasury.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/1305581/ACT-Population-Projections-Paper-FINAL.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://apps.treasury.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/1305581/ACT-Population-Projections-Paper-FINAL.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=ACT Population Projections: 2018 to 2058 |date=January 2019 |website=ACT Government |access-date=2019-04-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Latest ACT Population Projections |url=https://apps.treasury.act.gov.au/snapshot/demography/act |website=ACT Treasury |publisher=ACT Government |access-date=27 June 2021 |archive-date=27 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627085150/https://apps.treasury.act.gov.au/snapshot/demography/act |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The overwhelming majority of the population reside in the city of Canberra.<ref name="ABSPop" />

At the {{CensusAU|2016}}, the median weekly income for people in the territory aged over 15 was $998 while the national average was $662.<ref name="census">{{Census 2016 AUS|id=8|name=Australian Capital Territory |access-date=27 June 2017|quick=on}}[[File:CC BY icon.svg|50px]] This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under the [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Attribution International] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016050101/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |date=16 October 2017 }} license.</ref>

The average level of degree qualification in the territory is higher than the national average. Within the territory, 37.1% of the population hold a bachelor's degree level or above education compared to the national figure of 20%.<ref name="census" />
{{Historical populations
| 1950 | 19921
| 1955 | 31393
| 1960 | 51208
| 1965 | 84411
| 1970 | 137300
| 1979 | 218995
| 1980 | 222885
| 1985 | 251649
| 1990 | 282263
| 1995 | 305308
| 2000 | 343655
| 2005 | 366339
| 2010 | 397692
| 2011 | 404973
| 2012 | 410821
| 2013 | 416737
| 2014 | 422747
| 2015 | 428843
| 2016 | 435036
| 2017 | 441318
| 2018 | 447692
| 2019 | 452497
| 2020 | 457330
| 2021 | 462213
}}

===City and towns===
{{Main|Canberra|Suburbs of Canberra}}
[[File:BikepathCanberra.jpg|thumb|Bikepath to Weston Creek.]]
[[File:Inner-canberra 01MJC.png|right|thumb|Inner Canberra demonstrates some aspects of the Griffin plan, in particular the [[Parliamentary Triangle, Canberra|Parliamentary Triangle]].]]  Major settlements include the city of [[Canberra]] and the towns of [[Williamsdale, Australian Capital Territory|Williamsdale]], [[Oaks Estate, Australian Capital Territory|Oaks Estate]], [[Uriarra, Australian Capital Territory|Uriarra]], [[Tharwa, Australian Capital Territory|Tharwa]] and [[Hall, Australian Capital Territory|Hall]].

The urban areas of the territory are organised into a hierarchy of districts, town centres, group centres, local suburbs as well as other industrial areas and villages. There are seven districts (with an eighth currently under construction), each of which is divided into smaller suburbs, and most of which have a town centre which is the focus of commercial and social activities. The districts were settled in the following chronological order:
*[[North Canberra]]: mostly settled in the 1920s and '30s, with expansion up to the 1960s, now 14 suburbs;
*[[South Canberra]]: settled from the 1920s to '60s, 13 suburbs;
*[[Woden Valley]]: first settled in 1963, 12 suburbs;
*[[Belconnen]]: first settled in 1967, 25 suburbs;
*[[Weston Creek]]: settled in 1969, 8 suburbs;
*[[Tuggeranong]]: settled in 1974, 19 suburbs;
*[[Gungahlin]]: settled in the early 1990s, 18 suburbs although only 15 are developed or under development;
*[[Molonglo Valley]]: first suburbs currently under construction.

The North and South Canberra districts are substantially based on Walter Burley Griffin's designs.{{sfn|Wigmore|1971|p=64}} In 1967, the then [[National Capital Development Commission]] adopted the "Y Plan" which laid out future urban development in the territory a series of central shopping and commercial area known as the 'town centres' linked by freeways, the layout of which roughly resembled the shape of the letter Y,{{sfn|Sparke|1988|pp=154–155}} with Tuggeranong at the base of the Y and Belconnen and Gungahlin located at the ends of the arms of the Y.{{sfn|Sparke|1988|pp=154–155}}

=== Ancestry and immigration ===
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right;"
|+ Country of Birth (2016)<ref name="quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au">{{cite web |url=https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/communityprofile/8ACTE?opendocument |title=2016 Census Community Profiles: Australian Capital Territory |website=quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au |access-date=16 June 2019 |archive-date=13 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813031658/https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/communityprofile/8ACTE?opendocument |url-status=dead }}</ref>
! Birthplace{{NoteTag|In accordance with the Australian Bureau of Statistics source, England, [[Scotland]], [[Mainland China]] and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and [[Macau]] are listed separately.}} !! Population
|-
| Australia ||269,682
|-
| England ||12,739 <!-- England and Scotland are listed separately as per the source. Do not combine -->
|-
| [[Mainland China]] ||11,334 <!-- Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau SARs are listed separately as per the source. Do not combine -->
|-
| India ||10,405
|-
| New Zealand ||4,722
|-
| [[Philippines]] ||3,789
|-
| [[Vietnam]] ||3,340
|-
| United States ||2,775
|-
| [[Sri Lanka]] ||2,774
|-
| [[Malaysia]] ||2,431
|-
| [[South Korea]] ||2,283
|}

At the {{CensusAU|2021}}, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:{{NoteTag|As a percentage of all people in that area, including those who did not state an ancestry.}}<ref name="2021 Census"/>
{{Columns-list|colwidth=13em|
*[[English Australians|English]] (32.0%)
*Australian (31.5%){{NoteTag|The Australian Bureau of Statistics has stated that most who nominate "Australian" as their ancestry are part of the [[Anglo-Celtic Australian|Anglo-Celtic]] group.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/94713ad445ff1425ca25682000192af2/49f609c83cf34d69ca2569de0025c182!OpenDocument |title=1301.0 – Year Book Australia, 1995 – Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Australia |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |website=www.abs.gov.au |date=January 1995}}</ref>}}
*[[Irish Australians|Irish]] (11.6%)
*[[Scottish Australians|Scottish]] (10.0%)
*[[Chinese Australians|Chinese]] (5.7%)
*[[Indian Australians|Indian]] (4.5%)
*[[German Australians|German]] (4.2%)
*[[Italian Australians|Italian]] (3.3%)
*[[Indigenous Australians|Indigenous]] (1.9%){{NoteTag|Includes those identifying as having [[Aboriginal Australians]] or [[Torres Strait Islanders]] ancestry. Indigenous identification is separate to the ancestry question on the Australian Census and persons identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander may identify any ancestry.}}
*[[Dutch Australians|Dutch]] (1.7%)
*[[Filipino Australians|Filipino]] (1.6%)
*[[Nepalese Australians|Nepalese]] (1.3%)
*[[Vietnamese Australians|Vietnamese]] (1.3%)
*[[Croatian Australians|Croatian]] (1.2%)
*[[Greek Australians|Greek]] (1.2%)
*[[Polish Australians|Polish]] (1.1%)
}}

The {{CensusAU|2021}} showed that 32.5% of territory inhabitants were [[Immigration to Australia|born overseas]].<ref name="2021 Census" /> Of inhabitants born outside of Australia, the most prevalent countries of birth were India, England, China, Nepal and New Zealand.<ref name="2021 Census" />

2.0% of the population, or 8,949 people, identified as [[Indigenous Australians]] ([[Aboriginal Australians]] and [[Torres Strait Islanders]]) in 2021.{{NoteTag|Of any ancestry. Includes those identifying as [[Aboriginal Australians]] or [[Torres Strait Islanders]]. Indigenous identification is separate to the ancestry question on the Australian Census and persons identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander may identify any ancestry.}}<ref name="2021 Census" />

===Language===
At the {{CensusAU|2021}}, 71.3% of people spoke only English at home. The other languages most commonly spoken at home were [[Standard Mandarin|Mandarin]] (3.2%), [[Nepali language|Nepali]] (1.3%), [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] (1.1%), [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] (1.1%), [[Hindi]] (1.0%).<ref name="2021 Census">{{cite web |title=Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Census All persons QuickStats |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/8 |website=www.abs.gov.au |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |access-date=11 October 2022}}</ref>

=== Religion ===
The most common responses in the {{CensusAU|2021}} for religion in the territory were No Religion (43.5%), Catholic (19.3%), Anglican (8.2%), Not stated (5.2%) and Hinduism (4.5%).<ref name="2021 Census" />