SYDNEY CITY
โญ Area: 12,368 kmยฒ
โญ Population: 5.23 million people (2018)
โญ Airports: Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD) & Sydney Domestic Airport Port
๐ฆ Sydney is the state capitol of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australiaโs east coast, the metropolis surrounds Port Jackson and extends about 70 km 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. Sydney is made up of 658 suburbs.
๐ฆ Sydney is best known for its harbourfront Sydney Opera House, with a distinctive sail-like design. Massive Darling Harbour and the smaller Circular Quay port are hubs of waterside life, with the arched Harbour Bridge and esteemed Royal Botanic Garden nearby. Sydney Towerโs outdoor platform, the Skywalk, offers 360-degree views of the city and suburbs.
EARLY HISTORY
๐ฆ The first people to inhabit the area now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia and before that from southeast Asia.
๐ฆ The first meeting between the native people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botony Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula.
๐ฆ 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.
๐ฆ Captain Arthur Philip led the First Fleet of 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 fresh water. He travelled a short way further north and arrived at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788. This was to be the location for the new colony. Phillip described Port Jackson as being "without exception the finest harbour in the world". The colony was at first to be titled "New Albion", but Phillip decided on "Sydney".
LANDMARKS
Sydney is home to many of Australia's best-known landmarks:
๐ก Sydney Harbour Bridge
๐ก Sydney Opera House
๐ก Queen Victoria Building
๐ก Darling Harbour
๐ก Bondi Beach
๐ก Sydney Tower
๐ก Sydney Harbour Cruises & shows
PARKS & ZOOS & OUTDOOR ACTIVITES
๐ง Royal Botanic Garden
๐ง Taronga Zoo
๐ง Scenic World Blue Mountain
๐ง Featherdale Park
๐ง Koala Wildlife Park
๐ง Glenworth Valley Outdoor Activities Centre
๐ง Tobruk Sheep Station
๐ง Fruit Picking & cherry picking
๐ง Wollongong
๐ง Jervis Bay
๐ง Port Stephens
๐ง New Castle
CULTURAL & SPORT EVENTS
Sydney also has hosted major annual cultural, sports & international events:
๐ New Year Eveโs firework attracted millions of people visit Sydney every year
Vivid Sydney
๐ Sydney Mardi Gras Festival
๐ The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race on Boxing Date (26 December)
๐ City2Surf Charity yearly event
๐ NRL & AFL sports games
Photo Credit: QueenTours
