Sydney (Australia)

Sydney (Australia)

is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. It is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people. Inhabitants of Sydney are called Sydneysiders, comprising a cosmopolitan and international population.

The site of the first British colony in Australia, Sydney was established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, commodore of the First Fleet as a penal colony.The city is built on hills surrounding Port Jackson which is commonly known as Sydney Harbour, where the iconic Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge feature prominently. The hinterland of the metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and the coastal regions feature many bays, rivers, inlets and beaches including the famous Bondi Beach and Manly Beach. Within the city are many notable parks, including Hyde Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Sydney often ranks highly in various world cities rankings. It has hosted major international sporting events, including the 1938 British Empire Games and the 2000 Summer Olympics. The main airport serving Sydney is Sydney Airport[6] and the main port in the city is Sydney Harbour.
The 1830s and 1840s were periods of urban development including the development of the first suburbs, as the town grew rapidly when ships began arriving from Britain and Ireland with immigrants looking to start a new life in a new country. On 20 July 1842 the municipal council of Sydney was incorporated and the town was declared the first city in Australia, with John Hosking the first elected mayor.The first of several Australian gold rushes started in 1851, and the port of Sydney has since seen many waves of people arriving from around the world.

Rapid suburban development began in the last quarter of the 19th century with the advent of steam-powered tramways and railways. With industrialisation Sydney expanded rapidly and, by the early 20th century, it had a population of more than a million. In 1929, the novelist Arthur Henry Adams called it the "Siren City of the South" and the "Athens of Australia". The Great Depression hit Sydney badly. One of the highlights of the Depression era, however, was the completion of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932. There has traditionally been a rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne since the gold rushes of the 1850s made the capital of Victoria Australia's largest and richest city.[18] Sydney overtook Melbourne in population in the early years of the 20th century,[19] and continues to be the largest city in Australia. During the 1970s and 1980s, Sydney's CBD, with a great number of financial institutions including the headquarters of the Reserve Bank, surpassed Melbourne as the nation's financial capital.Throughout the 20th century, especially in the decades immediately following World War II, Sydney continued to expand as large numbers of European and later Asian immigrants took up residence in the metropolitan area.