According to abbreviationfinder, Sydney is the capital of the state of New South Wales, the oldest and largest city of Australia, on the southeast coast of the continent, straddling the Port Jackson Bay, covers a metropolitan area with an area of 12,368 km 2 (of which about 1 700 km 2 built up) and (2018) 4.8 million residents (around 64% of the population of New South Wales) to the Blue Mountains to the west (70 km), about 90 km long on the coast.
Sydney is the seat of an Anglican, a Catholic and a Chaldean Archbishop and the Exarch for Australia and New Zealand of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The city region has six universities, several technical colleges and scientific institutes, conservatory, art academy, National Aboriginal Culture Center (opened in 1997), numerous libraries and museums (including Australian Museum, Marine Museum, Museum of Geology and Mining, Natural History Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art), botanical and zoological garden; highly developed service sector. Sydney is the most important financial and industrial center of Australia (provides about a quarter of the economic output), shipyards, machine and vehicle construction, oil refining, chemical, metal and wood processing, paper.
The industry is concentrated v. a. in the south and west of the metropolitan area. Part of the port facilities of Sydney is located at Port Jackson, a second major port exists in the south on Botany Bay; ferry service to Tasmania from the port. The Harbor Bridge (1932; 503 m span) and the Harbor Tunnel, opened in 1992 (2.3 km), represent an important traffic connection between the south and north coast of Port Jackson Bay; The new Glebe Island Bridge (opened in 1996; 345 m span, 804 m long) leads across Johnston Bay; urban transport is provided by buses, trains (underground in the city center), numerous ferries and a tram line. Sydney is the eastern terminus of the transcontinental railway line from Perth (“Indian Pacific”). Kingsford Smith International Airport, the largest in Australia, is located in Mascot (on Botany Bay). – In 2000 the Summer Olympics were held in Sydney. Sydney is the main tourist center in Australia.
Cityscape
The city is very spacious outside the city (lots of green areas, sports fields and suburban settlements) and has grown strongly along the coast. In the inner city there are still numerous buildings from the 19th century in Victorian style: State Parliament House (1811-17); Hyde Park Barracks (1817; now the Court of Justice); Town Hall (1889); Saint Mary Cathedral (1868), Saint Andrew Cathedral (1888). With the development of the city there was a lot of building activity: State Theater (1929); Building of the University of New South Wales (1962) as well as residential, commercial and industrial buildings by the Australian architects H. Seidler (including Australia Square Tower, 1967; MLC Center, 1978; Grosvenor Place Tower, 1988; Capita Center, 1989) and J Andrews (King George Tower, 1976). The former port district of Darling Harbor was completely redesigned in 1988 for the 200th anniversary. In recent years, among other things, numerous other high-rise buildings for banks and commercial enterprises. The landmark of Sydney is the opera house, built according to plans by J. Utzon (begun in 1957, opened in 1973), which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2007.
History
Sydney was founded as a British convict settlement in 1788 and named Sydney Cove after Lord Thomas Townshend, then British Interior and Colonial Minister, Sydney (* 1733, † 1800). With the increasing European settlement of New South Wales, Sydney developed into a flourishing city in the 19th century, the population of which rose sharply in the course of industrialization and port traffic (largest city in Australia until 1851 and again since 1901). The rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne led to the establishment of the capital Canberra.
Greater Blue Mountains (World Heritage)
The World Heritage area is located in the state of New South Wales approx. 60 km south of Sydney. It comprises eight protected areas and has an exceptionally large number of eucalyptus trees. The Blue Mountains are up to 1000 m high and part of the Great Dividing Range.
Greater Blue Mountains: Facts
| Official title: | Greater Blue Mountains |
| Natural monument: | Up to 1,000 m high, mostly forested landscape on a rugged sandstone plateau in southeast Australia; eight protected areas on an area of 10,300 km²; more than 100 different types of eucalyptus of all kinds as well as diverse and rare plant species |
| Continent: | Australia and Oceania |
| Country: | Australia |
| Location: | State of New South Wales, approx. 60 km south of Sydney |
| Appointment: | 2000 |
| Meaning: | Unique eucalyptus occurrence with a multitude of rare and threatened endemic plant species |
| Flora and fauna: | 90 species of eucalyptus (13% of the world’s occurrence), twelve of which are endemic, as well as moist and dry hard-leaved plants; Grass and heathland, swamps and wetlands |
Purnululu National Park (World Heritage)
The Purnululu National Park in Western Australia is a habitat for rare plants and animals. The Aborigines have lived in this area for over 20,000 years. The sandstone massif extends over about 45,000 hectares and is 350 million years old. The rock chain is best known for its bizarre shapes with orange-black colored cone mountains, gorges and cliffs.
Purnululu National Park: Facts
| Official title: | Purnululu National Park |
| Natural monument: | National park; 2397 km² total area; extraordinary geological formation with the Bungle Bungles rock chain: orange-black striped cone mountains (“beehives”), created by the weathering of sandstone; Ravines, domes, cliffs; Habitat of rare animals and plants |
| Continent: | Australia and Oceania |
| Country: | Australia |
| Location: | Kimberley Area, Western Australia |
| Appointment: | 2003 |
| Meaning: | Unique example of sandstone cone mountains; of exceptional geological value; high cultural importance for the Aborigines |
