City of Heidelberg City of Heidelberg The City of Heidelberg was a local government area about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1840 until 1994. Heidelberg was first incorporated as a trust in 1840, making it one of the earliest local government formations in Australia. On 12 October 1860 it became a road district, administered by a Roads Board. It became a shire on 27 January 1871 and was proclaimed a city on 11 April 1934. In the 1960s it lost significant sections of its territory; on 1 October 1962,
Capital city meaning "head". In several English-speaking states, the terms county town and county seat are also used in lower subdivisions. In some unitary states, subnational capitals may be known as "administrative centres". The capital is often the largest city of its constituent, though not always. Historically, the major economic centre of a state or region often becomes the focal point of political power, and becomes a capital through conquest or federation. (The modern capital city has, however, not always existed: in medieval Western Europe, an itinerant (wandering) government was common.) Examples are Ancient Babylon, Abbasid Baghdad, Ancient Athens, Rome, Constantinople, Chang'an,