The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) (formerly, "The Territory for the Seat of Government" and, later, the "Federal Capital Territory") is a territory in the south east of Australia, enclaved within New South Wales. It is the smaller of the two self-governing internal territories in Australia. The only city and by far the most populous community is Canberra, the capital city of Australia.
The need for a national territory was flagged by colonial delegates during the Federation conventions of the late 19th century. Section 125 of the Australian Constitution provided that, following Federation in 1901, land would be ceded freely to the new Federal Government. The territory was transferred to the Commonwealth by the state of New South Wales in 1911, two years prior to the naming of Canberra as the national capital in 1913. The floral emblem of the ACT is the royal bluebell and the bird emblem is the gang-gang cockatoo.
The economic activity of the Australian Capital Territory is heavily concentrated around the largest and most populous city, Canberra. A stable housing market, steady employment and rapid population growth in the 21st century have led to economic prosperity and in 2011, ACT was ranked as the second best performing economic region in the country by CommSec. Demographically, there is a higher proportion of young adults in the region compared to other Australian states. Approximately one-fifth of the ACT residents were born outside of Australia, mainly in the United Kingdom. Almost one-fifth speak a language other than English at home, the most common being Chinese.