- This is about Sydney in Australia. See also Sydney, Nova Scotia. There are also several places spelled Sidney, including Sidney, British Columbia.
Sydney ['sidni:] is the capital city of the state of New South Wales in Australia, and Australia's largest and
oldest city. With a population exceeding 4 million, it is slightly the larger of the two main financial and trade centres of
Australia. It is also a significant tourist destination and is regularly declared to be one of the most beautiful and livable
cities in the world. Sydney hosted the 2000 Summer
Olympics.
Geography
Image of Sydney taken by NASA
Sydney is located between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the
Blue Mountains to the west. Sydney features the largest natural harbour
in the world, and also enjoys over 70 beaches, including the famous Bondi
Beach. Greater Sydney has the world's largest suburban area. It is almost twice the size of Beijing, and six times the size of Rome or Greater London. A number of national parks are contained within the city's boundaries.
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 every 5 to 10 years). The city
has also faced occasional water shortages due to drought conditions in the general region.
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. Central Station marks the southern end of the CBD. George St is the Sydney CBD's main
North-South street. 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.
History
Main article: History of Sydney
The area surrounding Sydney Harbour was home to Aboriginal tribes since 40,000
years ago or more. Although urbanisation has destroyed most evidence of
these settlements, there are still rock carvings in several locations. European
interest arose with the sighting of Botany Bay (now a southern suburb of
Sydney) in 1770 by Captain James Cook.
Under instruction from the British government, a convict settlement was
founded by Arthur Phillip in 1788. (See First Fleet). Phillip originally landed at Botany Bay,
but found it unsatisfactory. After a brief sail north, Phillip landed at Sydney
Cove on Port Jackson (the proper name for Sydney Harbour).
Phillip originally named the colony "New Albion", but for some uncertain reason the colony acquired the name "Sydney", after
the (then) British Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney
(Viscount Sydney from 1789).
This is possibly due to the fact that Lord Sydney issued the charter authorising Phillip to establish a colony. Prisoners were
quickly set to work to build the settlement and by 1822 the town had banks, markets,
well-established thoroughfares and an organised constabulary; by 1847 convicts accounted for only 3.2 per cent of the
population.
Sails of the Opera House with Harbour Bridge in background
Each week, ships would arrive from Europe with Irish, English, and European immigrants looking to start a new life in a new
country. The first of several gold rushes was in 1851, since which time the port of Sydney has seen many waves of people from
around the world. With industrialisation Sydney expanded rapidly,
and by the early 20th century it had a population well in excess of one
million. Throughout the 20th century Sydney continued to expand with
various new waves of European and (later) Asian
immigration, resulting in its highly cosmopolitan atmosphere of the present day.
Historical population
Timeline of events
Politics
Sydney has always been a hotspot for the politics of both State and Federal Parliaments. In 2004, the State Government dismissed the local councils of the cities of Sydney and South Sydney. Critics claimed that this
was performed with the intention of creating a "super-council" which would be under the control of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), which also controlled the State
Government. Subsequent to this merger, an election took place on 27 March 2004 which resulted in the independent candidate Clover Moore taking the position of Lord Mayor from the ALP
incumbent. Critics of the merger claimed that this was a result of a voter backlash against the party for attempting to create
the "super-council".
Landmarks
A view of Sydney Harbour, with the Sydney Opera House on the left, the central business district in the image centre
and Sydney Harbour Bridge on the right.
The city's most famous landmarks are the Sydney Harbour
Bridge, and the Sydney Opera House, both of which are
located on Sydney Harbour. Sydney's principal river is the Parramatta
River, which enters Sydney Harbour from the west. While the Harbour is famous for its racing yachts, the Boxing Day start of
the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and 18ft
skiffs, the river is used for dinghy sailing and rowing as well as
recreational boating, racing small yachts, recreational fishing, and occasional Dragon Boat racing. Another famous landmark is
the Sydney Tower (also known as Centrepoint Tower or the AMP
Tower) which is the second tallest free standing tower in the Southern Hemisphere. Darling Harbour is
also a popular tourist attraction. Sydney also has an interesting subway
system (see also CityRail), one of only two in the country (Melbourne has the other). The Sydney Cricket Ground, which
retains several beautiful 1920s-era grandstands, hosts several international cricket
matches and the Sydney Swans football team. Sydney is also known for the
annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi
Gras.
Bondi beach
Sydney is the home of the Australian Stock
Exchange. It also has 6 universities: the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales, Macquarie University, the University of Technology, Sydney, the
University of Western Sydney, and one of
the campuses of the Australian Catholic
University.
Tourist attractions
Sydney is noted for its tourist attractions,
including:
Culture
Government House near the Botanic gardens
Main article: Culture of Sydney
As Australia's oldest and largest city, Sydney (like Melbourne) boasts a full
roster of musical, theatrical and artistic activity throughout the year. From the formal including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Theatre Company, the Sydney Dance Company, and the Archibald Prize; to the many festivals including the Sydney Festival, a celebration of free
performances throughout January. Many internationally known Australian rock bands
have had their genesis in Sydney, from Midnight Oil to INXS. Sydney also has been home to many visual artists, from the lush pastoralism of Lloyd Rees's depictions of Sydney Harbour to
Jeffrey Smart's portraits of
bleak urban alienation. Sydney is also home to several large ethnic communities throughout the greater metropolitan area, and a
significant gay community who host the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras along Oxford Street.
Transport
Sydney is served by extensive train, bus and ferry networks. Sydney trains are run by CityRail, a corporation of the New South Wales State
Government. Trains run as suburban commuter rail services in the outer suburbs, then converge in a frequent metro-like service in tunnels under the Central Business District (CBD). Buses serve the whole metroplitan
area. In the city and inner suburbs the state-owned Sydney Buses has a monopoly. Services are
frequent, even outside peak hours. In the outer suburbs, service is divided up between many private bus companies. These bus
services are often criticised for their relative scarcity of service and sometimes complete lack of off-peak service. Sydney Ferries, another state
government-owned organisation, runs extensive commuter and tourist ferry services on Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River.
Sydney has one light rail line, the Metro Light Rail, running from Central Station to Lilyfield. There is also a monorail which runs in a loop
around the main shopping district and Darling Harbour.
Sydney is serviced by an extensive network of motorways and roads. The most important trunk routes in the metropolitan area
form the Metroad system.
Kingsford Smith
International Airport, located in the suburb of Mascot and is Sydney's main airport.
Regions and suburbs
Regions of Sydney
The extensive area covered by metropolitan Sydney is formally divided into more than 300 suburbs (for addressing and postal
purposes), and formally administered by about 38 separate local government areas (in addition to the extensive responsibilities
of the New South Wales State government and its agencies). In
addition, there are a number of regional descriptions which are used informally to conveniently describe large sections of the
metropolitan area. However it should be noted that there are many suburbs which are not conveniently descibed by any of the
following informal regional categories.
Sydney suburbs and satellite cities
Metropolitan Sydney cover about 2000 square kilometers, has 4 million inhabitants and about 300 suburbs. There are about 38 local government areas in the Sydney region, each containing several suburbs. See
Local Government
Areas of New South Wales. The City of Sydney covers a fairly small area comprising downtown Sydney and neighbouring
inner-city neighbourhoods.
This is a partial list of Sydney suburbs and satellite cities. For a complete suburbs listing see List of Sydney suburbs.
Local Government Areas
the City of Sydney, as well as
Selected suburbs
Sydney localities
See also
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