Sydney is the capital city of the Australian state of New South Wales and Australia's largest and oldest city, founded in 1788. With a population exceeding 4 million, the Sydney metropolis is the larger - and arguably the more influential - of the two main financial, transport, trade and cultural centres of Australia (the other being Melbourne, Sydney's long term rival to the title of pre-eminent Australian city). Sydney is a significant global and domestic tourist destination and is regularly declared to be one of the most beautiful and livable cities in the world, admired for its harbour, beaches and cosmopolitan culture. Sydney significantly raised its global profile in recent years as the host city of the 2000 Summer Olympics. The city's name is pronounced "SID-nee" ( SAMPA: ["sIdni], IPA: [ˈsɪdni]), and a resident of Sydney is known as a "Sydneysider". 1 Geography Sydney is located in a coastal basin between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Blue Mountains to the west. Sydney features the largest natural harbour in the world, Port Jackson, and also enjoys over 70 beaches, including the famous Bondi Beach. Greater Sydney, with an area of 12,400 sq km, is one of the world's largest suburban areas, especially for its population. It is almost twice the size of Beijing, and is larger than LondonLondon is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England, and with over seven million inhabitants in the Greater London area, is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe (after Moscow). From being Londinium the capital of the Roman province of Bri, TokyoTokyo (; Tokyo lit. eastern capital) is the capital of Japan as well as the most populous conurbation in Japan, and the world's largest metropolitan area by population with 33,750,000 people living within its urban influence. A little more than 12 million and Mexico CityMexico City ( Spanish: Ciudad de Mexico known in Pre-Columbian times as Tenochtitlan is the capital of Mexico; it geographically spans both the Mexican Federal District and part of the state of Mexico, to the north of the Federal District. Mexico City is but smaller than New York CitySkyline, with Statue of Liberty New York, New York" redirects here. For alternate meanings, see New York, New York (disambiguation). New York — officially named City of New York and often called New York City to distinguish it from the state of New York,. A number of national parks are contained within the city's boundaries. Sydney can be divided into two geographical regions: the Cumberland Plain , a relatively flat or rolling region lying south and west of the harbour, and the Hornsby Plateau , an elevated (up to 200 m) plateau north of the harbour that is dissected by steep, forested valleys.The Cumberland Plain developed first, and the oldest parts of the city are located in the flat areas. The Hornsby Plateau, known as the North ShoreThe North Shore refers to those suburbs of Sydney, Australia which are located on the north shore of Sydney Harbour, and between Middle Harbour and the Lane Cove River. The suburbs of Mosman, Cremorne, North Sydney and Lane Cove which are adjacent to the, was slower to develop because of its rough topography, and was mostly a quiet backwater until the Sydney Harbour BridgeThe Sydney Harbour Bridge is one of the major landmarks of Sydney, Australia, connecting the Sydney Central Business District (CBD) with the North Shore commercial and residential areas, both of which are located on Sydney Harbour. The dramatic water vist was built, linking it to the city south of the harbour. Thereafter the North Shore has become widely upper-middle class suburban in character, although it has developed its own high-rise business districts at ChatswoodChatswood is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and the seat of the City of Willoughby local government area. Chatswood is believed to be named from the pet name "Chat" of the second wife of Richard Harnett, a pioneer of the district. It is lo and North SydneyNorth Sydney is the name of a suburb, local and federal government area, and commercial district on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. North Sydney is located about three kilometers north of the central business di. The central business district (CBD) extends southwards for about 2 km from the point of first European settlement, Sydney Cove. The CBD is an area of very densely concentrated skyscrapers and other buildings, interspersed by several parks such as Wynyard Park and Hyde Park. The CBD is bounded on the east side by a chain of parkland that extends from Hyde Park through The Domain and Royal Botanic Gardens to Farm Cove on Sydney Harbour. The west side is bounded by Darling Harbour, a popular tourist precinct. Central Station marks the southern end of the CBD. George St is the Sydney CBD's main north-south thoroughfare. The streets run on a slightly warped grid pattern in the southern CBD, but in the older northern CBD the streets are less logical, reflecting their random placement in the early days of the city. (See the City of Sydney article for more detail.) Although the CBD dominated the city's business and cultural life in the early days, significant other business/cultural districts have developed since World War II, in a radial pattern. As a result of business development in other districts, the proportion of white-collar jobs located in the CBD declined from more than 60% at the end of World War II to less than 30% in 2004. The four most significant other business districts are Parramatta in the central-west, Liverpool to the southwest, Chatswood to the north and Hurstville to the south. Although Sydney does not suffer from cyclones, and the earthquake risk is considered very low, some areas of Sydney have experienced bushfires, including ones in 1994 and 2002. The city is also subject to infrequent severe hail storms and wind storms (maybe once every 5 to 10 years). The city has also faced occasional water shortages due to drought conditions in the general region.

New South Wales NSW 2000, 2001 Sydney:


New South Wales State flag ( In detail) Coat of Arms ( In detail ) Motto: "Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites" (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine) Capital Sydney Governor HE Professor Marie Bashir Premier Hon Bob Carr Area — Land — Marine — Total 800,642 km² 8,802 km² 809,444 km² Population Density 6,657,400 (2002) 8.32/km² Time zone UTC+10 (except during daylight saving time—UTC+11) Highest point Mount Kosciuszko (2,229 mFor other uses of "metre" and "meter", see Metre (disambiguation). The metre is the basic unit of length in the International System of Units (SI: Systeme International d'Unites). It is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in absolute vacu) ISO 3166-2ISO 3166-2 is the second part of the ISO 3166 standard. It is a geocode system created for coding the names of subdivisions of countries ( subnational entities) and dependent areas. The purpose of the standard is to establish a worldwide series of short a code: AU-NS New South Wales (NSW) is Australia'sAustralia is the sixth-largest country in the world (geographically), the only one to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia. Australia includes the island of Tasmania, which is an Australian State. Its neighbouring count most populous and oldest state, located in the southeast, north of Victoria. It was founded in 1788Events January 1 First edition of The Times previously The Daily Universal Register was published. January 2 Georgia ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 4th U. January 9 Connecticut ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes t and originally comprised much of the Australian mainland. During the 19th centuryAlternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical ( 18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801- 1900. Events The Little Ice Age ended large areas were successively separated to form the BritishGreat Britain (often abbreviated as Britain is an island lying off the western coast of Europe, comprising the main territory of the United Kingdom. Great Britain is also used as a political term describing the combination of England, Scotland, and Wales, colonies of TasmaniaTasmania State flag ( In detail) Coat of Arms ( Full size) Capital Hobart Governor William Cox (Acting Governor) Premier Paul Lennon Area — Land — Marine — Total 68 401 km² 22 357 km² 90 758 km² Population(Sep 2003) Density 478 400 6. 92/km² Time zone UTC ( 1825), Victoria ( 1851), Queensland ( 1859), and South Australia (which at that time included what is now the Northern Territory). In 1901 these colonies plus Western Australia voted to form an independent nation called the "Commonwealth of Australia". New South Wales is known the world over for the picturesque harbour of its capital, Sydney. Sydney combines one of the twin hearts of the Australian financial sector with a population that loves the outdoor life from beaches and caving, to riding or sailing.