Sunny Australia has a lot to offer to visitors and migrants alike. A large, young, thinly settled country of wide-open spaces, to many Australia seems as much a land of opportunity as the United States did in the 19th Century. It is one of those places where a motivated, hard-working person is left alone to make something of themselves. The warm climate and friendly people have a welcoming nature, so many of them being recent immigrants themselves.

As continental country, Australia is vast. The southwestern coastal city of Perth is more than 2,000 miles from Sydney, located on the southeastern seaboard. While the people are reasonably uniform and present a relatively homogeneous culture, the country itself represents a great diversity of climate and landscape. Spread across such an enormous expanse of territory, each of the major cities of Australia is something of a world unto itself. Darwin, for example, is closer to Indonesia than it is to Canberra, Sydney, or Melbourne, and exists in a tropical climate that seems a world away from Adelaide. The one thing most of Australia's great cities share in common is that they sit on the coastline, and have access to great beaches. Only Canberra, the national capital, is landlocked.

Adelaide is the core of Australia's booming wine industry and the capital of South Australia. With a population just over 1 million, it is where most of the people in that sparsely settled province live. Perhaps because of that, it still has the reputation of having a small town feel. It's the kind of place where you can spend the morning picking strawberries, the afternoon feeding a kangaroo in a park outside of the city, and then return for a big game in the city center. The Economist ranked Adelaide as being among the Top 10 of the world's most livable cities.

Brisbane ranks as the nation's number 3 city in terms of size. It straddles the Brisbane River and is criss- crossed by numerous creeks, making it a well-watered city where fishing and boating are popular. So is biking, as the city possesses almost 17 miles of bike paths. Brisbane is the home of one of Australia's most vibrant music scenes, both for classical and rock. Billboard magazine ranked it as one of the Top 5 live music hot spots in the world.

Canberra is noteworthy as Australia's capital, and its only large inland city. As such, it is the seat of most of Australia's leading cultural institutions, such as the National Gallery, National Library, and National Museum. It is also sitting on top of an expansive network of mountain biking trails, and many consider it to be the best mountain biking area in Australia.

Darwin sits across from the islands of Southeast Asia, so it should be no surprise that it is the most multi- cultural city in the country. It is noted for its relaxed lifestyle, Asian markets, and the more than four dozen different cultures that are mixed together there. It is also Australia's smallest major city, and sits amid a tropical climate more reminiscent of Jakarta than the milder cities of the south. However, that tropical climate makes Darwin the natural base for any fan of getting out into swamps and jungles for eco-adventure.

Hobart is the capital of the island of Tasmania, which is often overlooked when people think of Australia. Situated far away from the rest of Australia, Hobart is a city of a quarter-million that gets by on its own. It has its own thriving music and culture scene, and no one in Hobart is ever very far from the great outdoors.

Melbourne's population of 4 million make it the number 2 city of Australia. It is a multi-cultural city with Greek and Vietnamese neighborhoods, and it is also utterly sports mad. If you are looking to blend in with the locals in a hurry, adopt the local cricket or Australian Rules Football team and start rooting. If that doesn't suit your fancy, there is also a lively bohemian scene, as well as a vibrant beach culture based on Brighton Beach.

Perth is the big city of Western Australia. It has easy access to a broad stretch of under-populated beaches and good weather all-year-around, giving it's people have a laid-back attitude. It's Swan River Valley is also home to Australia's other major wine-producing region. Like Adelaide, it also sits on the Economist's list of the world's 10 most livable cities.

Sydney is Australia's great metropolis as the largest city in the country and home of the iconic Opera House. It is renowned as a green city, being dotted with inner city parks and then surrounded by an outer network of them. Some of the world's most famous surfing beaches, such as Bondi or Coogee, are located outside Sydney. The city could be described as the hearth of Australian surfing culture. They also love their sports, with rugby, soccer, and Australian Rules Football all having professional teams in the city.

Spread out over a large area, the capitals of Australia each has its own unique set of virtues and its own special identity, all the while being definitively Australian. They present the newcomer with many opportunities to find their place, carve out their niche, and go off in pursuit of their own brand of happiness.