Perth

Perth

, city, Australia

Perth, city (2016 pop. 21,797, Greater Perth 2016 pop. 1,943,858), capital of Western Australia, SW Australia, on the Swan River estuary. Fremantle is Perth's port. Perth is a communications and transportation center and the state's financial, commercial, and cultural hub. The suburbs of Fremantle, Kwinana, and Welshpool have heavy industries. Perth was founded in 1829 but did not gain importance until the Coolgardie gold rush (1890s), the development of the port at Fremantle, and the construction of rail lines (early 20th cent.). Perth evolved into a modern metropolis in the late 20th cent. and saw much new construction. The Univ. of Western Australia and Murdoch Univ. are there. It is also the seat of Roman Catholic and Anglican archbishops. Perth is very isolated; Adelaide, the closest major city, is nearly 2,000 mi (3,219 km) away.

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Perth

, former county, Scotland

Perth, former county, Scotland: see Perthshire.

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Perth

, town, Scotland

Perth, town (1991 pop. 41,916), Perth and Kinross, central Scotland, on the Tay River. It was called St. Johnstoun until the 17th cent. Perth is famous for its dye works and cattle markets. Other industries are linen and wool factories and whiskey distilling. Points of interest include Tay St., beside the river, and the Inches, parks that were formerly islands in the Tay.

Strategically located between the Highlands and the Lowlands, Perth was long an important military fortress. It was the capital of Scotland from the 11th to the mid-15th cent. James I of Scotland was murdered there in 1437. John Knox preached his famous sermon against idolatry in the Church of St. John in 1559; the resulting iconoclasm leveled the city's four monasteries. Gowrie House (no longer standing) was the scene (1600) of a plot to seize James VI (James I of England; see Ruthven, family). James I in 1618 issued the Five Articles of Perth, which opened the battle between crown and church. The earl of Montrose took the city after the battle of Tippermuir in 1644; Oliver Cromwell seized it again in 1651. It was held by Jacobites in 1689, 1715, and 1745. A prison was built in 1812 for French prisoners of war.

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Perth

 

a city in western Australia and the capital of the state of Western Australia; situated on the Swan River 20 km from the Indian Ocean. Population, 97,500 (1971; including suburbs, 725,000). Perth is a major industrial, commercial, and transportation center of Western Australia. Agricultural and mining products are exported from the city through the ports of Fre-mantle and Kwinana. Perth has facilities for shipbuilding and the manufacture of automobiles and hoisting and transportation equipment. There are chemical, textile, and wood-processing industries. Meat is one of the products of the city’s food-processing industry. Paper and cardboard are manufactured locally. Perth has a university.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Perth

1. a city in central Scotland, in Perth and Kinross on the River Tay: capital of Scotland from the 12th century until the assassination of James I there in 1437. Pop.: 43 450 (2001)

2. a city in SW Australia, capital of Western Australia, on the Swan River: major industrial centre; University of Western Australia (1911). Pop.: 1 176 542 (2001)

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005