Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales in Australia, and Australia's largest and oldest city. With a population of approximately 4 million, it is the financial and trade centre 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 Olympic Games.
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, and is six times the size of Greater London. A number of national parks are contained within the city's boundaries.
History
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 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) home secretary of Britain, Lord Thomas Townshend Sydney. This is possibly due to the fact that Lord Sydney issued the charter authorising Phillip to establish a colony. The 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. 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 waves of European and (later) Asian immigration, resulting in its highly cosmopolitan atmosphere of the present day.
Although immune to disasters such as earthquakes and cyclones due to its location, Sydney has experienced a number of devastating bushfires (forest fires), including ones in 1994 and 2002. The city has also faced occasional water shortages due to drought conditions in the general region.
Landmarks
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. Another famous landmark is the Centrepoint Tower, the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. Sydney also has an interesting subway system, one of only two in the country (Melbourne has the other). The Sydney Cricket Ground is probably the second-most hallowed venue for that sport in the world (after Lords in London). Sydney is the home of the Sydney Swans Australian Rules Football team.
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.
Sydney's primary IATA Airport code is SYD.
Sydney is also a city in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is the largest community on Cape Breton Island.