City of Ararat Smith and built in 1899. City of Ararat The City of Ararat was a local government area about west-northwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. It existed from 1858 until 1994. Headquartered in Ararat, Victoria, the city had jurisdiction over an area of , and by 1992 a population of 8,070 people. It was surrounded by the separate and largely rural Shire of Ararat. Ararat was first incorporated as a borough on 24 September 1858, known as the Municipal District of Ararat, headed by chairmen. In 1862 it was declared as a borough and known as the Borough
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,