The second smallest state in Australia, Victoria is also the second-oldest, and in the 1800s it was producing more gold than just about any region in the world. Immigrants flocked in from around the world to seek their fortune, the cities boomed and for a time it looked like Melbourne was going to overtake Sydney as the biggest, most important city in Australia. Gold fever didn't last, but the foundations were laid for a multi-cultural, progressive society. It's now the arts capital of Australia and home to more Greeks than Athens, and more Vietnamese than Bien San.