Sydney

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This article is about the Australian metropolis. For the local government area, see City of
Sydney. For other uses, see Sydney (disambiguation).
Sydney
New South Wales

The Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour

Bridge, two of Sydney's most famous landmarks,
taken at dusk

Map of the Sydney metropolitan area

 Sydney
33°51′54″S
Coordinates 151°12′34″ECoordinates:
33°51′54″S 151°12′34″E
Population 5,312,163 (2019)[1] (1st)
 • Density 423/km2 (1,100/sq mi) (2018)[2]
Established 26 January 1788
12,367.7 km2 (4,775.2 sq mi)
Area
(GCCSA)[3]
Time zone AEST (UTC+10)
 • Summer (DST) AEDT (UTC+11)
 877 km (545 mi) NE of
Melbourne
 923 km (574 mi) S of
Brisbane
 287 km (178 mi) NE of
Location Canberra
 3,936 km (2,446 mi) E
of Perth
 1,404 km (872 mi) E of
Adelaide

LGA(s) various (31)

County Cumberland[4]
State electorate(s) various (49)
Federal Division(s) various (24)
Mean max Mean min Annual
temp[5] temp[5] rainfall[5]
21.8 °C 13.8 °C 1,213.4 mm
71 °F 57 °F 47.8 in
Sydney (/ˈsɪdni/ ( listen) SID-nee; Dharug: Cadi) is the capital city of the state of New South
Wales, and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania.[6] Located on Australia's east coast,
the metropolis surrounds Port Jackson and extends about 70 km (43.5 mi) on its periphery
towards the Blue Mountains to the west, Hawkesbury to the north, the Royal National Park to the
south and Macarthur to the south-west.[7] Sydney is made up of 658 suburbs, spread across 33
local government areas. Informally there are at least 15 regions. Residents of the city are known
as "Sydneysiders".[8] As of June 2019, Sydney's estimated metropolitan population was
5,312,163,[9] meaning the city is home to approximately 65% of the state's population.[10]

Indigenous Australians have inhabited the Sydney area for at least 30,000 years, and thousands
of engravings remain throughout the region, making it one of the richest in Australia in terms of
Aboriginal archaeological sites. Around 29 clan groups of the Eora Nation inhabited the region
at the time of European contact.[11] During his first Pacific voyage in 1770, Lieutenant James
Cook and his crew became the first Europeans to chart the eastern coast of Australia, making
landfall at Botany Bay and inspiring British interest in the area. In 1788, the First Fleet of
convicts, led by Arthur Phillip, founded Sydney as a British penal colony, the first European
settlement in Australia. Phillip named the settlement after Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount
Sydney.[12] Penal transportation to New South Wales ended soon after Sydney was incorporated
as a city in 1842. A gold rush occurred in the colony in 1851, and over the next century, Sydney
transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural and economic centre. After
World War II, it experienced mass migration and became one of the most multicultural cities in
the world.[3] At the time of the 2011 census, more than 250 different languages were spoken in
Sydney.[13] In the 2016 Census, about 35.8% of residents spoke a language other than English at
home.[14] Furthermore, 45.4% of the population reported having been born overseas, and the city
has the third-largest foreign-born population of any city in the world after London and New York
City.[15][16] Between 1971 and 2018, Sydney lost a net number of 716,832 people to the rest of
Australia[17] but its population has continued to grow, largely due to immigration.

Despite being one of the most expensive cities in the world,[18] Sydney frequently ranks in the top
ten most liveable cities in the world.[19][20][21] It is classified as an Alpha Global City by
Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and
throughout the world.[22][23] Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity,[24] Sydney
has an advanced market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing and tourism.[25][26]
There is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney
and the city is promoted as Australia's financial capital and one of Asia Pacific's leading financial
hubs.[27][28] Established in 1850, the University of Sydney was Australia's first university and is
regarded as one of the world's leading universities.[29] Sydney is also home to the oldest library in
Australia, the State Library of New South Wales, opened in 1826.[30]

Sydney has hosted major international sporting events such as the 2000 Summer Olympics. The
city is among the top fifteen most-visited cities in the world,[31] with millions of tourists coming
each year to see the city's landmarks.[32] Boasting over 1,000,000 ha (2,500,000 acres) of nature
reserves and parks,[33] its notable natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National
Park, Royal Botanic Garden and Hyde Park, the oldest parkland in the country.[34] Built
attractions such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the World Heritage-listed Sydney Opera
House are also well known to international visitors. The main passenger airport serving the
metropolitan area is Kingsford-Smith Airport, one of the world's oldest continually operating
airports.[35] Established in 1906, Central station, the largest and busiest railway station in the
state, is the main hub of the city's rail network.[36]

Contents
 1 History
o 1.1 First inhabitants
o 1.2 Establishment of the colony
 1.2.1 Conflicts
o 1.3 Modern development
 1.3.1 19th century
 1.3.2 20th century–present
 2 Geography
o 2.1 Topography
o 2.2 Geology
o 2.3 Ecology
o 2.4 Climate
 3 Regions
o 3.1 Inner suburbs
 3.1.1 Inner West
o 3.2 Eastern suburbs
o 3.3 Southern Sydney
o 3.4 Northern Sydney
o 3.5 Hills district
o 3.6 Western suburbs
 4 Urban structure
o 4.1 Architecture
o 4.2 Housing
o 4.3 Parks and open spaces
 5 Economy
o 5.1 Corporate citizens
o 5.2 Domestic economics
o 5.3 Financial services
o 5.4 Manufacturing
o 5.5 Tourism and international education
 6 Demographics
o 6.1 Ancestry and immigration
o 6.2 Language
o 6.3 Religion
o 6.4 Crime
 7 Culture
 o 7.1 Science, art, and history
o 7.2 Entertainment
o 7.3 Media
 8 Sport and outdoor activities
o 8.1 Notable sporting venues
 9 Government
o 9.1 Historical governance
o 9.2 Government in the present
 10 Infrastructure
o 10.1 Education
o 10.2 Health
o 10.3 Transport
 10.3.1 Roads
 10.3.2 Buses
 10.3.3 Trams and light rail
 10.3.4 Trains
 10.3.5 Ferries
 10.3.6 Airports
o 10.4 Environmental issues and pollution reduction
o 10.5 Utilities
 11 See also
 12 Notes
 13 References
 14 External links

History
Main articles: History of Sydney and Timeline of Sydney

First inhabitants

Charcoal drawing of kangaroos in Heathcote National Park.

The first people to inhabit the area now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians who had
migrated from northern Australia and before that from southeast Asia. While radiocarbon dating
has shown evidence of human activity in the Sydney area from around 30,000 years ago,[37]
Aboriginal stone tools found in Western Sydney's gravel sediments indicate there was human
settlement in the region from as far back as 45,000 to 50,000 years BP.[38]

The first meeting between the native people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when
Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula and encountered the
Gweagal clan.[39][40][41] He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile
towards the foreign visitors.[39] Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned
to start a settlement. He spent a short time collecting food and conducting scientific observations
before continuing further north along the east coast of Australia and claiming the new land he
had discovered for Britain. Prior to the arrival of the British, there were 4,000 to 8,000 native
people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans.[42]

The earliest British settlers called the natives Eora people. "Eora" is the term the indigenous
population used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is
"from this place".[43] Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal
clan.[42] The principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The earliest
Europeans to visit the area noted that the indigenous people were conducting activities such as
camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells, and cooking fish.[39]

Establishment of the colony

The Founding of Australia, 26 January 1788, by Captain Arthur Phillip R.N., Sydney Cove.
Painting by Algernon Talmage.

Britain—before that, England—and Ireland had for a long time been sending their convicts
across the Atlantic to the American colonies. That trade was ended with the Declaration of
Independence by the United States in 1776. Britain decided in 1786 to found a new penal outpost
in the territory discovered by Cook some 16 years earlier.[12]

Captain Phillip led the First Fleet of 11 ships and about 850 convicts into Botany Bay on 18
January 1788, though deemed the location unsuitable due to poor soil and a lack of freshwater.
He travelled a short way further north and arrived at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788.[44][45] This
was to be the location for the new colony. Phillip described Port Jackson as being "without
exception the finest harbour in the world".[46] The colony was at first to be titled "New Albion"
(after Albion, another name for Great Britain), but Phillip decided on "Sydney".The official
proclamation and naming of the colony happened on 7 February 1788. Lieutenant William
Dawes produced a town plan in 1790 but it was ignored by the colony's leaders. Sydney's layout
today reflects this lack of planning.[47]
Between 1788 and 1792, 3,546 male and 766 female convicts were landed at Sydney—many
"professional criminals" with few of the skills required for the establishment of a colony. The
food situation reached crisis point in 1790. Early efforts at agriculture were fraught and supplies
from overseas were scarce. From 1791 on, however, the more regular arrival of ships and the
beginnings of trade lessened the feeling of isolation and improved supplies.[48]

The colony was not founded on the principles of freedom and prosperity. Maps from this time
show no prison buildings; the punishment for convicts was transportation rather than
incarceration, but serious offences were penalised by flogging and hanging.[49] Phillip sent
exploratory missions in search of better soils and fixed on the Parramatta region as a promising
area for expansion and moved many of the convicts from late 1788 to establish a small township,
which became the main centre of the colony's economic life, leaving Sydney Cove only as an
important port and focus of social life. Poor equipment and unfamiliar soils and climate
continued to hamper the expansion of farming from Farm Cove to Parramatta and Toongabbie,
but a building programme, assisted by convict labour, advanced steadily.[50]

Thomas Watling's View of Sydney Cove, circa 1794-1796

Officers and convicts alike faced starvation as supplies ran low and little could be cultivated
from the land.[51] The region's indigenous population was also suffering. It is estimated that half
of the native people in Sydney died during the smallpox epidemic of 1789.[42][52] Enlightened for
his age, Phillip's personal intent was to establish harmonious relations with local Aboriginal
people and try to reform as well as discipline the convicts of the colony. Phillip and several of
his officers – most notably Watkin Tench – left behind journals and accounts which tell of
immense hardships during the first years of settlement.[53] Part of Macquarie's effort to transform
the colony was his authorisation for convicts to re-enter society as free citizens.[53] Roads,
bridges, wharves, and public buildings were constructed using convict labour and by 1822 the
town had banks, markets, and well-established thoroughfares. Parramatta Road was opened in
1811, which is one of Sydney's oldest roads and Australia's first highway between two cities –
Sydney (present day city centre) and Parramatta.[54]

Conditions in the colony were not conducive to the development of a thriving new metropolis,
but the more regular arrival of ships and the beginnings of maritime trade (such as wool) helped
to lessen the burden of isolation.[49] Between 1788 and 1792, convicts and their jailers made up
the majority of the population; in one generation, however, a population of emancipated convicts
who could be granted land began to grow. These people pioneered Sydney's private sector
economy and were later joined by soldiers whose military service had expired, and later still by
free settlers who began arriving from Britain. Governor Phillip departed the colony for England
on 11 December 1792, with the new settlement having survived near starvation and immense
isolation for four years.[55]

Conflicts

The Castle Hill convict rebellion of 1804.

Between 1790 and 1816, Sydney became one of the many sites of the Australian Frontier Wars, a
series of conflicts between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the resisting Indigenous clans.[56] In
1790, when the British established farms along the Hawkesbury River, an Aboriginal leader
Pemulwuy resisted the Europeans by waging a guerrilla-style warfare on the settlers in a series of
wars known as the Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars which took place in western Sydney. He
raided farms until Governor Macquarie dispatched troops from the British Army 46th Regiment
in 1816 and ended the conflict by killing 14 Indigenous Australians in a raid on their campsite.[57]
[58]

In 1804, Irish convicts led the Castle Hill Rebellion, a rebellion by convicts against colonial
authority in the Castle Hill area of the British colony of New South Wales. The first and only
major convict uprising in Australian history suppressed under martial law, the rebellion ended in
a battle fought between convicts and the colonial forces of Australia at Rouse Hill.[59] The Rum
Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australian history,
where the Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, was ousted by the New South Wales
Corps under the command of Major George Johnston, who led the rebellion. Conflicts arose
between the governors and the officers of the Rum Corps, many of which were land owners such
as John Macarthur.

Modern development

19th century
Aerial illustration of Sydney, 1888

Early Sydney was moulded by the hardship suffered by early settlers. In the early years, drought
and disease caused widespread problems, but the situation soon improved. The military colonial
government was reliant on the army, the New South Wales Corps. Macquarie served as the last
autocratic Governor of New South Wales, from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social
and economic development of Sydney which saw it transition from a penal colony to a budding
free society. He established public works, a bank, churches, and charitable institutions and
sought good relations with the Aborigines.

Victorian Sydney

Over the course of the 19th-century Sydney established many of its major cultural institutions.
Governor Lachlan Macquarie's vision for Sydney included the construction of grand public
buildings and institutions fit for a colonial capital. Macquarie Street began to take shape as a
ceremonial thoroughfare of grand buildings. The year 1840 was the final year of convict
transportation to Sydney, which by this time had a population of 35,000.[44][49] Gold was
discovered in the colony in 1851 and with it came thousands of people seeking their fortune.[44][60]
Sydney's population reached 200,000 by 1871 and during this time the city entered a period of
prosperity which was reflected in the construction of grand edifices. Temperance coffee palaces,
hotels as well as other civic buildings such as libraries and museums were erected in the city.[61]
[62][63]
Demand for infrastructure to support the growing population and subsequent economic
activity led to massive improvements to the city's railway and port systems throughout the 1850s
and 1860s.[64]

After a period of rapid growth, further discoveries of gold in Victoria began drawing new
residents away from Sydney towards Melbourne in the 1850s, which created a historically strong
rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne.[65][66][67] Nevertheless, Sydney exceeded Melbourne's
population in the early twentieth century and remains Australia's largest city.[6][68] Following the
depression of the 1890s, the six colonies agreed to form the Commonwealth of Australia.
Sydney's beaches had become popular seaside holiday resorts, but daylight sea bathing was
considered indecent until the early 20th century.[50]

20th century–present

A tramcar on George Street in 1920. Sydney once had one of the largest tram networks in the
British Empire.
Under the reign of Queen Victoria federation of the six colonies occurred on 1 January 1901.
Sydney, with a population of 481,000, then became the state capital of New South Wales. The
Great Depression of the 1930s had a severe effect on Sydney's economy, as it did with most
cities throughout the industrial world. For much of the 1930s up to one in three breadwinners
were unemployed.[69] Construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge served to alleviate some of the
effects of the economic downturn by employing 1,400 men between 1924 and 1932.[70] The
population continued to boom despite the Depression, having reached 1 million in 1925.[64] The
city had one of the largest tram networks in the British Empire until it was dismantled in 1961.

Sydney Harbour Bridge opening day 19 March 1932

When Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, Australia also entered. During the war, Sydney
experienced a surge in industrial development to meet the needs of a wartime economy. Far from
mass unemployment, there were now labour shortages and women becoming active in male
roles. Sydney's harbour was attacked by the Japanese in May and June 1942 with a direct attack
from Japanese submarines with some loss of life.[71] Households throughout the city had built air
raid shelters and performed drills.

Consequently, Sydney experienced population growth and increased cultural diversification

throughout the post-war period. The people of Sydney warmly welcomed Queen Elizabeth II in
1954 when the reigning monarch stepped onto Australian soil for the first time to commence her
Australian Royal Tour.[72] Having arrived on the Royal Yacht Britannia through Sydney Heads,
Her Majesty came ashore at Farm Cove. There were 1.7 million people living in Sydney in 1950
and almost 3 million by 1975. The Australian government launched a large scale multicultural
immigration program.

Sydney hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics.

New industries such as information technology, education, financial services and the arts have
risen. Sydney's iconic Opera House was opened in 1973 by Her Majesty. A new skyline of
concrete and steel skyscrapers swept away much of the old lowrise and often sandstone skyline
of the city in the 1960s and 1970s, with Australia Square being the tallest building in Sydney
from its completion in 1967 until 1976 and is also notable for being the first skyscraper in
Australia.[73] This prolific growth of contemporary high-rise architecture was put in check by
heritage laws in the 1990s onwards, which prevent the demolition of any structure deemed
historically significant. Since the 1970s Sydney has undergone a rapid economic and social
transformation. As a result, the city has become a cosmopolitan melting pot.

To relieve congestion on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Sydney Harbour Tunnel opened in
August 1992. The 2000 Summer Olympics were held in Sydney and became known as the "best
Olympic Games ever" by the President of the International Olympic Committee.[74] Sydney has
maintained extensive political, economic and cultural influence over Australia as well as
international renown in recent decades. Following the Olympics, the city hosted the 2003 Rugby
World Cup, the APEC Australia 2007 and Catholic World Youth Day 2008, led by Pope
Benedict XVI.

Geography
Main article: Geography of Sydney

Topography

Sydney lies on a submergent coastline where the ocean level has risen to flood deep rias.

Sydney is a coastal basin with the Tasman Sea to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the
Hawkesbury River to the north, and the Woronora Plateau to the south. The inner city measures
25 square kilometres (10 square miles), the Greater Sydney region covers 12,367 square
kilometres (4,775 square miles), and the city's urban area is 1,687 square kilometres (651 square
miles) in size.[75][76][77]

Sydney spans two geographic regions. The Cumberland Plain lies to the south and west of the
Harbour and is relatively flat. The Hornsby Plateau is located to the north and is dissected by
steep valleys. The flat areas of the south were the first to be developed as the city grew. It was
not until the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge that the northern reaches of the coast
became more heavily populated. Seventy beaches can be found along its coastline with Bondi
Beach being one of the most famous.
The Nepean River wraps around the western edge of the city and becomes the Hawkesbury River
before reaching Broken Bay. Most of Sydney's water storages can be found on tributaries of the
Nepean River. The Parramatta River is mostly industrial and drains a large area of Sydney's
western suburbs into Port Jackson. The southern parts of the city are drained by the Georges
River and the Cooks River into Botany Bay.

According to calculations by the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT), 25.9% of Sydney is covered by trees, making it the third largest city in the
world with the most trees after Singapore and Oslo, respectively, tying with Vancouver.[78]

Geology

Almost all of the exposed rocks around Sydney are Sydney sandstone.

Sydney is made up of mostly Triassic rock with some recent igneous dykes and volcanic necks.
The Sydney Basin was formed when the Earth's crust expanded, subsided, and filled with
sediment in the early Triassic period.[79] The sand that was to become the sandstone of today was
washed there by rivers from the south and northwest and laid down between 360 and 200 million
years ago. The sandstone has shale lenses and fossil riverbeds.[79]

The Sydney Basin bioregion includes coastal features of cliffs, beaches, and estuaries. Deep river
valleys known as rias were carved during the Triassic period in the Hawkesbury sandstone of the
coastal region where Sydney now lies. The rising sea level between 18,000 and 6,000 years ago
flooded the rias to form estuaries and deep harbours.[79] Port Jackson, better known as Sydney
Harbour, is one such ria.[80] Sydney features two major soil types; sandy soils (which originate
from the Hawkesbury sandstone) and clay (which are from shales and volcanic rocks), though
some soils may be a mixture of the two.[81]

Directly overlying the older Hawkesbury sandstone is the Wianamatta shale, a geological feature
found in western Sydney that was deposited in connection with a large river delta during the
Middle Triassic period which shifted over time from west to east. The Wianamatta shale
generally comprises fine grained sedimentary rocks such as shales, mudstones, ironstones,
siltstones and laminites, with less common sandstone units.[82] The Wianamatta Group is made up
of the following units (listed in stratigraphic order): Bringelly Shale, Minchinbury Sandstone and
Ashfield Shale.[83]