Victoria, a British colony in S. E. Australia, between lat. 34° and 39° 9' S., and Ion. 141° and 150° E., bounded N. E. and N. by New South Wales, from which it is separated by the Murray river, W. by South Australia, and S. by the Pacific ocean and Bass strait, which separates it from Tasmania; area, 86,831 sq. m.; pop. in 1871, 729,868; estimated, Dec. 31,1874, 808,407. The coast line is more than 600 m. long. The "W". part as far as Cape Otway is generally low; its principal harbors are Portland bay, Port Fairy, and Warnambool or Lady bay. Between Cape Otway and Wilson's promontory the coast rises in some places 500 and 1,000 ft. above the sea. Here the chief harbors are Port Phillip bay, which is nearly 40 m. long and of about the same width, and Western Port. Wilson's promontory is a granite headland rising 3,000 ft. above the sea, connected with the mainland by a sandy isthmus. A peninsula extending N. from it forms Corner inlet, a bay well protected by sandy islands. Thence to Cape Howe, the most easterly point of Victoria, the coast is sandy, with many lagoons, the principal of which are Lakes Reeve, Wellington, Victoria, and King. The colony is divided into two unequal parts by a chain of mountains called the Dividing range, which runs E. and W., 60 or 70 m, from the coast.

Its E. part, called the Australian Alps, varies from 1,000 to 7,000 ft. in height; its principal peaks are Mt. Hotham, Mt. Smyth, Mt. Selwyn, the Twins, Forest Hill, and the Cobboras. The part dividing the Wimmera district from Ripon county is called the Pyrenees; its principal peaks are the Coorong-ageering, the Jambour, and Ben Nevis. The W. end of the Dividing range forms the Grampians, the principal peak of which is Mt. William. There are many smaller ranges, several of which are spurs of the main range. Most of the rivers dry up in summer, but in winter are swollen into angry torrents. None but the Murray and the Yarra-Yarra are navigable. Besides these the principal rivers are the Goulburn, 230 m. long; Glenelg, 205 m.; Loddon, 150 m.; Wimmera, 135 m.; Avoca, 130 m.; Hopkins, 110 m.; Wannon, 105 m.; and Ovens, 100 m. There are many lakes, both salt and fresh, all of which are shallow, and some of them dry in summer. The largest is Lake Corangamite, 76 sq. m. Others are Tyrrell, Hindmarsh, Albacutya, Buloke, Connewarra, and Colac. Of the lagoons on the coast, Victoria covers 91 and Wellington 75 sq. m. - Geologically, Victoria is a mass of palaeozoic rock, with large areas of granite and trap protruding through it.

Its wealth in minerals is almost unparalleled, among its productions being gold, silver, copper, tin, zinc, iron, lead, antimony, cobalt, bismuth, manganese, molybdenum, coal, sulphur, kaolin, and bitumen; and of precious stones, the ruby, sapphire, topaz, garnet, and agate. It is estimated that one third of the area of the colony is occupied by gold-bearing rocks, only about one thirtieth of which has been properly explored. - The climate is mild, the mean temperature of summer being 66°, of winter 48°, and of the whole year 58°. In January and the early part of February, the hottest part of the summer, the thermometer frequently stands at 100° to 108°, and hot winds blow from the north; but they continue only 20 to 30 hours, and are succeeded by cool breezes from the south and southwest. In July, the coldest month, the thermometer rarely falls below the freezing point. The average rainfall is about 30 inches. - About three fourths of the soil of Victoria is available for agricultural and pastoral purposes. Along the coast the lands are light but fertile. Gipps Land, the S. E. part of the colony, is mostly rugged and mountainous, and remarkable for its minerals, but it contains large tracts suitable for grazing.

The Murray district, in the east, is also mountainous and noted for mineral wealth, but it has vast plains of fine grass land, used as sheep runs, and some good agricultural land. The Wimmera district, occupying the whole of the northwest, consists chiefly of sandy, thinly grassed plains, with belts of myall scrub and forests of she-oak, box, and honeysuckle. The Loddon district is principally pastoral land, but contains some gold reefs in the S. part. The most useful of the native trees are the red and blue gums (eucalypti). The species called the peppermint attains a colossal height in the mountain ravines; a fallen tree near Healesville was 480 ft. long. Among the most numerous of the other indigenous trees are the Banksia or honeysuckle, she-oak, native cherry tree, and tea tree. Nearly everything grown in temperate climates thrives. Wheat, barley, and oats are the chief agricultural productions, but all the other grains and the legumes, roots, and grasses are largely raised. In 1875 there were 11,281,120 acres of enclosed land, of which 1,011,799 acres were under tillage; the total yield of wheat was 4,850,135 bushels, and of oats 2,121,612; wine produced, 599,093 gallons; and there were 180,254 horses, 11,221,036 sheep, 958,658 cattle, and 137,941 swine.

For the indigenous animals, see Australia. - Manufacturing industry has received a great impetus of late in consequence of being fostered by the government. In 1875 there were 1,545 manufactories, large and small, in the colony, the chief articles made being glass, paper, cloth, oil cloth, dyes, beer, starch, soap, cigars, pianos, safes, agricultural implements, engines, carriages, and brushes. There are 126 breweries, which in 1874 produced 13,653,531 gallons. The number of flouring mills was 161, most of which are worked by steam. Locomotives are now built at Ballarat; the first made in the colonies was delivered to the government on Feb. 6, 1873. But the most important industry of Victoria is gold mining, which in 1873 employed 52,544 men, of whom 13,528 were Chinese. The number of steam engines used in alluvial mining in 1874 was 353, of 9,317 horse power, and in quartz mining 788, of 15,549 horse power. The estimated value of all the machinery used in mining was £2,078,936; the number of quartz reefs worked or prospected was 3,398; and the number of companies registered was 143, with a nominal capital of £1,592,213. Many of the mining shafts are 500 to 1,000 ft. deep; in the Ararat district there is one nearly 1,500 ft. deep, and one has lately been sunk over 1,700 ft.

The total amount of gold obtained from all the mines, from the discovery in 1851 to Jan. 1, 1875, was 44,414,177 oz.,.valued at £177,821,125. During 1874 the yield was 1,097,664 oz.; and during the first quarter of 1875, 257,641 oz. In the same year 18 mineral leases were issued for mining other metals than gold. The following shows the amount of other minerals produced in 1874: silver, 11,906 oz.; tin, 86,016 lbs.; iron ore, 130 tons; antimony ore, 111 tons; coal, 2,909 tons; and lignite, 750 tons. - The total value of the imports of Victoria in 1874 was £16,953,985; of the exports, £15,441,109. During the year ending March 31, 1875, there were exported 45,365,693 lbs. of greasy wool, 6,879,963 lbs. of scoured wool, and 36,416,355 lbs. of washed wool, all valued at £6,373,641. The number of vessels which entered the ports in 1873 was 2,187, of 756,103 aggregate tonnage, and 36,307 men. - The aboriginal population, which numbered about 5,000 when the colony was settled, had been reduced in 1871 to 1,330, of whom 784 were males and 546 females.

The white population in 1871, of whom 401,050 were males and 330,478 females, were divided according to nationality as follows: natives of Australia and New Zealand, 356,936; England and Wales, 170,907; Scotland, 56,210; Ireland, 100,468; Germany, 9,264; United States, 2,423; France, 1,170; China, 17,857; other countries, 8,585; unknown, 3,514. There were 257,835 Anglicans, 170,952 Roman Catholics, 31,144 Presbyterians, 94,220 Wesleyans, 18,191 Congregationalists, and 47,513 of other Protestant sects. The number of churches and chapels in 1871 was 1,399, of which 229 were Anglican, 266 Presbyterian, 356 Wesleyan, 189 Roman Catholic, 91 Primitive Methodist, 61 Congregational, and 47 Baptist. Education is free, secular, and compulsory. In 1873 there were 1,936 schools and colleges, with 160,743 pupils and 4,257 teachers. Of these, 1,048 were common schools and 881 private schools. There were eight colleges and grammar schools, five of which are at Melbourne, two at Geelong, and one at Ballarat, and one university, at Melbourne, which had 134 students in 1872. Most of the large towns have public libraries; in 1875 there were 120 in all, with an aggregate of 162,540 volumes. In 1873 the public library in Melbourne had 75,500 volumes.

Newspapers are published in all the large towns. - Victoria is divided into 38 counties. Besides the capital, Melbourne, the principal towns are Ballarat, Sandhurst, Geelong, Fitzroy (pop. 16,500), Castlemaine (7,500), Williamstown (7,200), Stawell (6,000), Daylesford (5,000), Warnambool (5,000), Hamilton (4,000), and Maryborough (3,500). - The government of Victoria consists of a governor appointed by the crown, whose term of office is seven years, an executive council, and a parliament of two houses, the legislative council and legislative assembly. The executive council consists of an attorney general, who is also premier, a treasurer, commissioners of trade and customs, of crown lands, of railways and roads, and of public works, a minister of mines and public instruction, a postmaster general, and a solicitor general. The legislative council consists of 30 members, representing six provinces into which the colony is divided, viz.: the central, northwestern, northeastern, southern, eastern, and western. The term of office is ten years, one member from each province retiring at the end of every two years.

The qualification for members of this house is £2,500 freehold, or property of the value of £250 a year; for electors, a leasehold of £50 a year, or freehold property of the same value. In 1871 the number of electors in this class was 23,736. The legislative assembly contains 78 members, representing 49 electoral districts, who are elected for three years. Members receive £300 per annum. The qualifications for electors of this house are so small that universal suffrage may be said to prevail. In 1871 there were 142,305 voters in this class. All voting is by ballot. The net revenue of the government for the year ending June 30, 1875, was £4,132,118; the total expenditure, £4,325,277. The estimated revenue for 1875-'6 was £4,287,313; estimated expenditure, £4,488,658. The public debt on June 30, 1874, was £12,485,432, of which £10,657,000 had been expended on railway construction. The first railway in Victoria, from Melbourne to Sandridge, was opened in 1856. At the end of 1875 605 m. were in operation. The principal lines are: from Melbourne to Echuca, 156 m., with a branch from Castlemaine to Maryborough of 34 m.; Melbourne to Geelong, 45 m.; Geelong to Ballarat, 55¼ m.; Ballarat to Ararat, 57 m.; Ballarat to Dunolly, 56 m.; and Melbourne to Wodonga, 187 m.

Lines are projected from Melbourne to Sale, 120 m.; Ararat to Hamilton, 64 m.; Sandhurst to Inglewood, 30 m.; Maryborough to Avoca, 15m.; Leigh Road to Colac, 42 m.; and Portland to Hamilton, 55 m. In 1875 there were 3,928 m. of telegraph lines in operation, with 131 stations. There were 800 post offices and 210 money-order offices in the colony in 1873; income, £193.384; expenditure, £290,162. In 1875 the volunteer military force of the colony numbered 3,953 men, with 230 commissioned officers. The naval force comprised the cupola ship Cerberus of 2,100 tons and 4 guns, and the Nelson of 2,736 tons and 72 guns. - For the early history of Victoria, see Australia. The first settlement was made in 1835 on the W. shore of Port Phillip harbor, then included within the bounds of New South Wales. In 1839 was appointed the first superintendent of the district of Port Phillip, which had a population at that time of 3,511. An attempt was made in 1840-41 to secure a separation from New South Wales, but independence was not achieved till 1851.