Shire of Wangaratta (Victoria) November 1916. On 18 November 1994, the Shire was abolished, and merged with the City of Wangaratta, the Shire of Oxley and various surrounding districts into the Rural City of Wangaratta. Wangaratta was divided into four ridings, each of which elected three councillors: Shire of Wangaratta (Victoria) The Shire of Wangaratta was a local government area about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1863 until 1994. The Shire did not include Wangaratta itself, which was governed by a separate local government. Wangaratta was first incorporated as the
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,