Sydney

Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Sydney shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Sydney offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Sydney at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Sydney? Wrong! If the Sydney is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Sydney then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Sydney? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Sydney and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Sydney wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Sydney then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Sydney site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Sydney, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Sydney, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{{Infobox Australian Place| type = city| name = Sydney || state = New South Wales|| image = Sydney locator-MJC.png || caption = Location of Sydney within Australia, [1788 ] (38)| county = Cumberland County, New South Wales| stategov = New South Wales Legislative Assembly electoral districts (49)| fedgov = :Image:Map2a.gif (22)| maxtemp = 21.6| mintemp = 13.7| rainfall = 1207.9| timezone = Australian Eastern Standard Time| utc = +10| timezone-dst = Australian Eastern Daylight Time| utc-dst = +11| dist1 = 697| location1 = Melbourne| dist3 = 3314| location3 = [Perth, Australia-->

on Port Jackson

Sydney (IPA chart for English ) is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.28 million. Sydney is the List of Australian capital cities of New South Wales, and is the site of the first European colony in Australia, established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, leader of the First Fleet from Britain. A resident of the city is referred to as a Sydneysider.

Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast. The city is built around Port Jackson, which includes Sydney Harbour, leading to the city's nickname, "the Harbour City". It is Australia's largest financial centre and is home to the Australian Stock Exchange. Sydney's leading economic sectors include property and business services, manufacturing, tourism, media, health and community services.

Sydney is a major international tourist destination notable for Beaches in Sydney and twin landmarks: the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and contains many bays, rivers and inlets. It has been recognised as a global city by the Loughborough University group's 1999 inventory.The city has played host to numerous international sporting, political and cultural events, including the 1938 British Empire Games, 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2003 Rugby World Cup. In September 2007, the city hosted the leaders of the 21 APEC economies for APEC Australia 2007, and in July 2008 will host World Youth Day 2008.

Sydney is one of the most multiculturalism cities in the world which reflects its role as a major destination for Immigration to Australia to Australia. According to the Mercer cost of living survey, Sydney is Australia’s most expensive city, and the 21st most expensive in the world.

History Radiocarbon dating has provided evidence that the Sydney region has been populated by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years. At the time of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, 4000 - 8000 Aboriginal people lived in the region.Kohen, J. L. 2000. First and last peoples: Aboriginal Sydney. In J. Connell (Ed.). Sydney the emergence of a global city. pp 76-95. Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-550748-7, pp 76-78, 81-82, 83 There were three language groups in the Sydney region; these were further refined into dialects spoken by smaller clans. The principal languages were Darug language (the Cadigal, original inhabitants of the City of Sydney, spoke a coastal dialect of Darug), Dharawal language and Guringai language. Each clan had a territory; the location of that territory determined the resources available. Although urbanization has destroyed most evidence of these settlements (such as shell middens), Sydney and its environs are well known for numerous rock drawings and carvings due to the nature of the rock, Hawkesbury sandstone. towards the Port Jackson at the Garden PalaceEuropean interest in colonising Australia arose with the landing of British sea captain Lieutenant James Cook in Botany Bay in 1770. Under instruction from the United Kingdom government, a Penal colony was founded by Arthur Phillip, who arrived at Botany Bay with a fleet of 11 ships on January 26, 1788. This site was soon found to be unsuitable for habitation, owing to poor soil and a lack of reliable fresh water. Phillip founded the colony at Sydney Cove on Port Jackson. He named it after the British Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, in recognition of Sydney's role in issuing the charter authorising Phillip to establish a colony. In April 1789 a disease, thought to be smallpox, decimated the indigenous population of Sydney; a conservative estimate says that 500 to 1000 Aboriginal people died in the area between Broken Bay and Botany Bays.There was violent resistance to British settlement, notably by the warrior Pemulwuy in the area around Botany Bay, and conflicts were common in the area surrounding the Hawkesbury River. By 1820 there were only a few hundred Aborigines and Lachlan Macquarie had begun initiatives to 'civilize, Christianize and educate' the Aborigines by removing them from their clans.Macquarie's tenure as Governor of New South Wales was a period when Sydney was improved from its basic beginnings. Roads, bridges, wharves and public buildings were constructed by British and Irish Convictism in Australia, and by 1822 the town had banks, markets, well-established thoroughfares and an organised constabulary. 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 United Kingdom of Great 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 Charles H. Chambers the first mayor. Australian Encyclopaedia Volume 2, p 524, Angus & Robertson Limited, 1926 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 Industrial revolution Sydney expanded rapidly, and by the early 20th century it had a population well in excess of one million. 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.{{cite web]an and (later) Asian immigration, resulting in its highly cosmopolitan atmosphere.

Geography satellite. The city centre is about a third of the way in on the south shore of the upper inlet. Click on the image and then scroll down for an annotated version

Sydney is in a coastal basin bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north and the Woronora Plateau to the south. Sydney lies on a submergent coastline, where the ocean level has risen to flood deep river valleys (ria carved in the hawkesbury sandstone. One of these drowned valleys, Port Jackson, better known as Sydney Harbour, is the largest natural harbour in the world. Showcase Destinations Sydney, Australia: The Harbour City by David Latta There are more than 70 harbour and ocean beaches, including the famous Bondi Beach, New South Wales, in the urban area. Sydney's urban area covers 1 E9 m²#Oceania km² (651 square mile) as at 2001. 2016.0 Census of Population and Housing: Selected Characteristics for Urban Centres, Australia, Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003-03-26 The Sydney Statistical Division, used for census data, is the unofficial metropolitan area 1217.0.55.001 - Glossary of Statistical Geography Terminology, 2003, Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003 and covers 12,145 square kilometres (4,689 mi²). "2032.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Australia in Profile – A Regional Analysis, 2001", Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004-01-16 This area includes the Central Coast, New South Wales and Blue Mountains as well as broad swathes of national park and other unurbanised land.

Geographically, Sydney sprawls over two major regions: the Cumberland Plain, a relatively flat region lying to the south and west of the harbour, and the Hornsby Plateau, a sandstone plateau lying mainly to the north of the harbour, dissected by steep valleys. The oldest parts of the city are located in the flat areas south of the harbour; the North Shore (Sydney) was slower to develop because of its hilly topography, and was mostly a quiet backwater until the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932, linking it to the rest of the city.

Climate at nightSydney has an temperate climate with warm summers and mild winters, with rainfall spread throughout the year.Bureau of Meteorology Climate Map. The weather is moderated by proximity to the ocean, and more extreme temperatures are recorded in the inland western suburbs. The warmest month is January, with an average air temperature range at Sydney Observatory of 18.6 °C–25.8 °C and an average of 14.6 days a year over 30 Celsius. The maximum recorded temperature was 45.3 °C on 14 January 1939 at the end of a 4 day nationwide heat wave.Bureau of Meteorology. 2006. Climate summary for Sydney, January 2006 The winter is mildly cool, with temperatures rarely dropping below 5 °C in coastal areas. The coldest month is July, with an average range of 8.0 °C–16.2 °C. The lowest recorded minimum was 2.1 °C. Rainfall is fairly evenly divided between summer and winter, but is slightly higher during the first half of the year, when easterly winds dominate. The average annual rainfall, with moderate to low variability, is 1217.0 millimetres (47.9 in), falling on an average 138.0 days a year.Australian Bureau of Meteorology. 2005. Climate averages.Ellyard, D. 1994. Droughts and Flooding Rains. Angus & Robertson ISBN 0-207-18557-3 Snowfall last occurred in the Sydney City area in the 1830s.MacDonnell, Freda. Thomas Nelson (Australia) Limited, 1967. Before King’s Cross

Although the city does not suffer from tropical cyclones or significant earthquakes, the El Niño plays an important role in determining Sydney's weather patterns: drought and bushfire on the one hand, and storms and flooding on the other, associated with the opposite phases of the oscillation. Many areas of the city bordering bushland have experienced bushfires, notably in 1994 and Black Christmas (bushfires) — these tend to occur during the spring and summer. The city is also prone to severe hail storms and wind storms. One such storm occurred in Sydney's eastern and city suburbs on the evening of 14 April 1999, producing massive hailstones of at least 9 centimetres (3.5 in) in diameter and resulting in insurance losses of around $1.5 billion in less than one hour. The city is also prone to flash flooding from enormous amounts of rain caused by East Coast Lows (a low pressure depression which deepens off the state usually in winter and early spring which can bring significant damage due to heavy rain, cyclonic winds and huge swells). The most notable event was the great Sydney flood which occurred on 6 August 1986 and dumped a record 327.6 millimetres (12.9 in) on the city in 24 hours. This caused major traffic chaos and damage in many parts of the metropolitan area. Rain in Sydney, 1986 in Australian Climate Extremes, Bureau of Meteorology, accessed 9 September 2006.

The Bureau of Meteorology have reported that the last four years in Sydney have been the warmest on record (since 1859). 2004 had an average daily maximum temperature of 23.39 °C, 2005 - 23.35 °C, 2002 - 22.91 °C and 2003 - 22.65 °C. The average daily maximum between 1859 and 2004 was 21.6 °C. For the first nine months of 2006 the mean temperature was 18.41 °C; the warmest year previously was 2004 with 18.51 °C. Since the beginning of 2002, there have been only two months in which the average daily maximum was below average: March 2005 (0.43 °C below average) and June 2006 (0.25 °C below average).

{])| 25.8 || 25.7 || 24.7 || 22.4 || 19.3 || 16.9 || 16.2 || 17.7 || 19.9 || 22.0 || 23.6 || 25.1 || 21.6|-! Mean daily minimum temperature (°C)| 18.6 || 18.7 || 17.5 || 14.7 || 11.5 || 9.2 || 8.0 || 8.9 || 11.0 || 13.5 || 15.5 || 17.5 || 13.7|-! Mean total rainfall (Millimetre)| 103.3 || 117.4 || 131.2 || 127.2 || 123.3 || 128.1 || 98.1 || 81.5 || 68.7 || 76.9 || 83.1 || 78.1 || 1217.0|-! Mean number of rain days| 12.1 || 12.3 || 13.3 || 12.0 || 12.0 || 11.4 || 10.3 || 9.9 || 10.3 || 11.5 || 11.4 || 11.5 || 138.0|-| colspan="15" style="text-align: center;" | Source: Bureau of Meteorology|}

Urban structure 's high-rise commercial district.

The extensive area covered by urban Sydney is formally divided into more than 300 suburbs (for addressing and postal purposes), and administered as 38 local government areas. There is no city-wide government, but the Government of New South Wales and its agencies have extensive responsibilities in providing metropolitan services.Department of Local Government. Local Council Boundaries Sydney Outer (SO) The City of Sydney itself covers a fairly small area comprising the central business district and its neighbouring inner-city suburbs. In addition, regional descriptions are used informally to conveniently describe larger sections of the urban area. These include Eastern Suburbs (Sydney),Hills District (Sydney),Inner West (Sydney),Lower North Shore (Sydney),Northern Beaches (Sydney),North Shore (Sydney),St George, New South Wales,Southern Sydney,South-eastern Sydney,South-western Sydney,Sutherland Shire andWestern Sydney. However, many suburbs are not conveniently covered by any of these categories.

Sydney central business district (CBD) extends southwards for about 2 kilometres (1.25 mile) from Sydney Cove, the point of the first European settlement. Densely concentrated skyscrapers and other buildings including historic sandstone buildings such as the Sydney Town Hall and Queen Victoria Building are interspersed by several parks such as Wynyard Park, Sydney and Hyde Park, Sydney. The Sydney CBD is bounded on the east side by a chain of parkland that extends from Hyde Park, Sydney through The Domain, Sydney and Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney to Farm Cove, New South Wales on the harbour. The west side is bounded by Darling Harbour, a popular tourist and nightlife precinct while Central railway station, Sydney marks the southern end of the CBD. George Street, Sydney serves as the Sydney CBD's main north-south thoroughfare.

Although the CBD dominated the city's business and cultural life in the early days, other business/cultural districts have developed in a radial pattern since World War II. As a result, the proportion of white-collar jobs located in the CBD declined from more than 60 per cent at the end of World War II to less than 30 per cent in 2004. Together with the commercial district of North Sydney, New South Wales, joined to the CBD by the Harbour Bridge, the most significant outer business districts are Parramatta, New South Wales in the central-west, Penrith, New South Wales in the west, Bondi Junction, New South Wales in the east, Liverpool, New South Wales in the southwest, Chatswood, New South Wales to the north, and Hurstville, New South Wales to the south.

Governance Apart from the limited role of the Cumberland County, New South Wales from 1945–1964, there has never been an overall governing body for the Sydney metropolitan area; instead, the metropolitan area is divided into Local Government Areas in Australias (LGAs). These areas have elected councils which are responsible for functions delegated to them by the Government of New South Wales, such as planning and garbage collection.

The City of Sydney includes the central business area and some adjoining inner suburbs, and has in recent years been expanded through amalgamation with adjoining local government areas, such as South Sydney. It is led by the elected Lord Mayor of Sydney and a council. The Lord Mayor, however, is sometimes treated as a representative of the whole city, for example during the Olympics.

The 38 LGAs in Sydney are:

Municipality of Ashfield
Auburn Council
City of Bankstown
Baulkham Hills Shire
City of Blacktown
City of Botany Bay
Burwood Council

Camden Council
City of Campbelltown, New South Wales
City of Canada Bay
City of Canterbury, New South Wales
City of Fairfield
City of Holroyd
Hornsby Shire

Municipality of Hunter's Hill
City of Hurstville
Municipality of Kogarah
Ku-ring-gai Council
Municipality of Lane Cove
Municipality of Leichhardt
City of Liverpool, New South Wales

Manly Council
Marrickville Council
Municipality of Mosman
North Sydney Council
City of Parramatta
City of Penrith
Pittwater Council

City of Randwick
City of Rockdale
City of Ryde
Municipality of Strathfield
Sutherland Shire
City of Sydney
Warringah Council

in Sydney is home to most of Sydney's financial centres

Most citywide government activities are controlled by the state government. These include public transport, main roads, traffic control, policing, education above preschool level, and planning of major infrastructure projects. Because a large proportion of New South Wales' population lives in Sydney, state governments have traditionally been reluctant to allow the development of citywide governmental bodies, which would tend to rival the state government. For this reason, Sydney has always been a focus for the politics of both State and Government of Australia. For example, the boundaries of the City of Sydney LGA have been significantly altered by state governments on at least four occasions since 1945, with expected advantageous effect to the governing party in the New South Wales Parliament at the time.Golder, Hilary, Sacked: Removing and Remaking the Sydney City Council, Sydney, 2004.

Economy Sydney is a modern, prosperous city with the highest Median household income in Australia and New Zealand of any major city in Australia (Median household income in Australia and New Zealand#Household income growth since 2000 ).

The largest economic sectors in Sydney, measured by numbers of people employed, include property and business services, retail, manufacturing, and health and community services.Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2002. Sydney - Basic Community Profile and Snapshot - 2001 Census Since the 1980s, jobs have moved from manufacturing to the services and information sectors. Sydney provides approximately 25 per cent of the country's total GDP. City Commerce - City of Sydney Media Centre. Accessed 21 July, 2006.

Sydney is the largest corporate and financial centre in Australia and is also an important financial centre in the Asia Pacific.Daly, M. T. and Pritchard, B. 2000. Sydney:Australia's financial and commercial capital. In J. Connell (Ed.). Sydney the emergence of a global city. pp 76-95. Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-550748-7, pp 167-188 The Australian Stock Exchange and the Reserve Bank of Australia are located in Sydney, as are the headquarters of 90 banks and more than half of Australia's top companies, and the regional headquarters for around 500 multinational corporations. City Commerce - City of Sydney Media Centre. Accessed 21 July, 2006. Fox Studios Australia has large Film studio in the city.

The Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE) is one of the Asia Pacific's largest financial futures and options exchanges, with 64.3 million contracts traded during 2005. In global terms it is the 12th largest Futures exchange in the world and the 19th largest including options. Overview, Sydney Futures Exchange website, accesssed 3 July 2006 With the increasing commercial role of Sydney's many medical laboratories and research centres, science and research is another strong growth sector.

Tourism plays an important role in Sydney's economy, with 7.8 million domestic visitors and 2.5 million international visitors in 2004.Tourism NSW. 2004. Tourism Data Card - Forecasts, Economic Impacts and selected Regional Data - 2004

As of September 2003, the unemployment rate in Sydney was 5.3 per cent.Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2005. Sydney Statistical Division. According to The Economist Intelligence Unit's Worldwide cost of living survey, Sydney is the sixteenth most expensive city in the world, while a UBS survey ranks Sydney as 18th in the world in terms of net earnings. CityMayors.com, accessed 3 July 2007

As of 20 September 2007, Sydney has the highest median Real estate pricing of any Australian capital city at Australian dollar559 000.Real Estate Institute of Australia. Still strong confidence in the housing market, Press Release Sydney also has the highest median rent prices than any other Australian city at $450 a week. A report published by the OECD in November 2005, shows that Australia has the Western World's highest housing prices when measured against rental yields.Boilling, M. February 2 2006. City among most costly, Herald Sun

Sydney has been classified as a "Beta" global city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network.Beaverstock, J.V. et al A Roster of World Cities

Demographics 3,455,110 people lived in Sydney's urban area as at 2001. As of 2006, there are an estimated 4,119,190 people living in the Census in Australia 2006 Census data for Sydney Inner Sydney being the most densely populated place in Australia with 4023 persons per square kilometre.Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2005. National Regional Profile: Inner Sydney The statistical division is larger in area than the urban area, as it allows for predicted growth. A resident of Sydney is commonly referred to as a Sydneysider.about.com, Strine and Aussie Slang. Sanger to Sydneysider

In the 2006 census, the most common self-described ancestries identified for Sydney residents were Australian, English people, Irish people, Scottish people and Chinese people. The Census also recorded that one per cent of Sydney's population identified as being of indigenous Australians origin and 31.7 per cent were born overseas. The three major sources of Immigration to Australia are England, China and New Zealand . Significant numbers of immigrants also came from Vietnam, Lebanon, Italy, India and the Philippines. Most Sydneysiders are native speakers of Australian English; many have a second language, the most common being Arabic language (including the Lebanese dialect), Chinese languages (Mandarin language and Cantonese language), and Greek language. Sydney has the seventh largest percentage of a foreign born population in the world, ahead of cities such as the highly multicultural London and Paris.http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2004/pdf/hdr04_chapter_55.pdf

Some List of ethnic groups are associated with the suburbs where they first settled: the Italian People with Leichhardt, New South Wales, Haberfield, New South Wales, Five Dock, New South Wales; Indonesians in Tempe and Marrickville; Greek people with Earlwood, New South Wales, Marrickville, New South Wales and Brighton-Le-Sands, New South Wales; Portuguese people with Petersham, New South Wales; Lebanese people with Lakemba, New South Wales and Bankstown, New South Wales; Korean people with Campsie, New South Wales and Strathfield, New South Wales and Eastwood, New South Wales; Macedonians (ethnic group) with Rockdale; Irish people and New Zealanders with Bondi, New South Wales; Jews with Bondi, Waverley, New South Wales, St Ives, New South Wales and Rose Bay, New South Wales; Indians with Westmead, New South Wales and Parramatta, New South Wales; Han Chinese with Hurstville, New South Wales, Chatswood, New South Wales, Ashfield, New South Wales, Eastwood, New South Wales and Haymarket, New South Wales (location of Sydney's Chinatown); Armenian people with Ryde, New South Wales and Willoughby, New South Wales and Chatswood, New South Wales; Serbian people with Liverpool, New South Wales; Turkish people with Auburn, New South Wales; Filipino people with Blacktown, New South Wales and Mount Druitt, New South Wales; Vietnamese people with Cabramatta, New South Wales and Marrickville, New South Wales; Assyrians with Fairfield, New South Wales; Croatians with Edensor Park, Fairfield.

The median age of a Sydney resident is 34, with 12 per cent of the population over 65 years. 15.2 per cent of Sydney residents have educational attainment equal to at least a bachelor's degree,The City of Sydney Community Profile - Sydney Statistical Division. 2006. What are our qualifications?, profile.id which is lower than the national average of 19 per cent.

According to the 2006 census, 64 per cent of the Sydney residents are identified as Christians, 3.7 per cent as Buddhists, 3.9 per cent as Islam in Australias, 1.7 per cent as Hindus, 0.9 per cent as Jews and 14.1 per cent as having no religion. Religious Affiliation by Sex - Sydney, 2006 census

Education has been operating since 1850 and is the oldest university in Australia

Sydney is home to some of Australia's most prominent universities, and is the site of Australia's first university, the University of Sydney, established in 1850.The Australian Education Network University and College Guide. 2005. Rankings of Australian universities. There are five other Public university operating primarily in Sydney: the University of New South Wales, Macquarie University, the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of Western Sydney, and the Australian Catholic University (two out of six campuses). Other universities which operate secondary campuses in Sydney include the University of Notre Dame Australia and the University of Wollongong.

There are four multi-campus government-funded Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes in Sydney, which provide Vocational education at a tertiary level: the Sydney Institute of Technology, Northern Sydney Institute of TAFE, Western Sydney Institute of TAFE and South Western Sydney Institute of TAFE.

Sydney has State school, Parochial school and Private school schools. Public schools, including pre-schools, primary and secondary schools, and special schools are administered by the New South Wales Department of Education and Training. There are four state-administered List of school education areas in New South Wales in Sydney, that together co-ordinate 919 schools. Of the 30 Selective school (New South Wales) in the state, 25 are in Sydney.

Culture

Arts and entertainment Sydney has a wide variety of cultural sites and institutions. Sydney's iconic Sydney Opera House has five theatres capable of hosting a range of performance styles; it is the home of Opera Australia—the third busiest opera company in the world, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Other venues include the Sydney Town Hall, City Recital Hall, the State Theatre and the Wharf Theatre.

The Sydney Dance Company under the leadership of Graeme Murphy during the late 20th century has also gained acclaim. The Sydney Theatre Company has a regular roster of local plays, such as noted playwright David Williamson, classics and international playwrights.

In 2007, New Theatre (Newtown) celebrates 75 years of continuous production in Sydney. Other important theatre companies in Sydney include Company B and Griffin Theatre Company. From the 1940s through to the 1970s the Sydney Push, a group of authors and political activists whose members included Germaine Greer, influenced the city's cultural life.

The National Institute of Dramatic Art, based in Kensington, New South Wales, boasts internationally famous alumni such as Mel Gibson, Judy Davis, Baz Luhrmann and Cate Blanchett. Sydney's role in the film industry has increased since the opening of Fox Studios Australia in 1998. Prominent films which have been filmed in the city include Moulin Rouge!, Mission Impossible II, Star Wars episodes Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Superman Returns, Dark City (1998 film), Dil Chahta Hai, and The Matrix. Films using Sydney as a setting include Finding Nemo, Strictly Ballroom, Mission Impossible II, Muriel's Wedding, and Dirty Deeds (2002 film). As of 2006, over 229 films have been set, or featured Sydney.http://www.imdb.com/find?s=kw&q=Sydney

Sydney hosts many different festivals and some of Australia's largest social and cultural events. These include the Sydney Festival, Australia's largest festival which is a celebration involving both indoor and free outdoor performances throughout January; the Big Day Out, a travelling Rock and roll festival which originated in Sydney; the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras along Oxford Street, Sydney; the Sydney Film Festival and many other smaller festivals such as Tropfest and Archibald Prize, a competition organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The Sydney Royal Easter Show which is the largest event in Australia is held every year at Sydney Olympic Park, the final of Australian Idol takes place on the steps of the Opera House, and Australian Fashion Week takes place in April/May. Also Sydney's New Years Eve and Australia Day celebrations are the largest in Australia. on a winter's dayAustralian rock bands which formed in Sydney include AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, The Vines, Sick Puppies , Midnight Oil, INXS, Noiseworks, Hoodoo Gurus, The Church, Radio Birdman, You Am I, The Cruel Sea, The Whitlams, Alex Lloyd, Wolfmother, indie rockers The Clouds (Australian band), Decoder Ring and The Crystal Set, electronic music pioneers Severed Heads, Single Gun Theory and Itch-E and Scratch-E. Jazz groups such as the Sydney-based The Necks have performed at The Basement and the Harbourside Brasserie. On 7th July 2007, Sydney was one of the legs of the global concert series called Live Earth which was hosted jointly with other global cities around the world. Sydney is home to many heavy metal bands such as Lord Kaos, Infernal Method and Flesh Mechanic. Although these bands have not acquired much mainstream success in Australia they have found fairly substantial popularity in European countries and America. Also many Heavy Metal Musicians such as Astennu currently reside in Sydney.

Sydney's most popular nightspots include Kings Cross, New South Wales, Oxford Street, Sydney, Darling Harbour, Circular Quay and The Rocks which all contain various bars, nightclubs and restaurants. Star City Casino, is Sydney's only casino and is situated around Darling Harbour. There are also many traditional pubs, cafes and restaurants in inner city areas such as Newtown, New South Wales, Balmain, New South Wales and Leichhardt, New South Wales. Sydney's main live music hubs include areas such as Newtown, New South Wales and Annandale, New South Wales. It once had thriving live music scene in the 1970s and 1980s, nurturing great acts such as AC/DC, Midnight Oil and INXS. Other popular nightspots tend to be spread throughout the city in areas such as Bondi, New South Wales, Manly, New South Wales and Parramatta.

Sydney also has many shopping centres and retail outlets throughout the city. These include Westfield Parramatta, a large shopping complex located in Western Sydney, and Westfield Bondi Junction a shopping centre in the Eastern Suburbs which caters for the upmarket consumer. The Queen Victoria Building on George Street also contains many shops, as do other parts of the city around Pitt Street and Oxford Street, Sydney which sell more niche products. Many of the large regional centres around the metropolitan area also contain large shopping complexes.

Sydney has several museums. The biggest are the Australian Museum (natural history and anthropology), the Powerhouse Museum (science, technology and design), the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney and the Australian National Maritime Museum.

Being Australia's oldest city there is also much architecture and historic buildings to be seen throughout the city. Some of the most well know architectural sites in Sydney include Sydney Opera House, Queen Victoria Building, Martin Place and Sydney Town Hall. Some of the most well known historic buildings are the Sydney Mint, one of Australia's oldest buildings, Fort Denison, a penal site which was built in the colonial days on a small island situated on the harbour, as well as the heritage listed buildings built on The Rocks which were the first buildings built in Australia on settlement.

Sydney is well endowed with Parks in Sydney, and has many natural areas even within the city centre. Within the Sydney central business district are the Chinese Garden of Friendship, Hyde Park, Sydney, The Domain and the Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney. The metropolitan area contains several national parks, including the Royal National Park, the second oldest national park in the world and several parks in Sydney's far west which are part of the World Heritage listed Greater Blue Mountains Area.NPWS website, Royal National Park

Sport is also an important part of the culture in Sydney. For more information go to Sport in Sydney or Sport in New South Wales.

Media Sydney has two main daily newspapers. The Sydney Morning Herald (which is the oldest Australian newspaper) is a broadsheet, and is Sydney's newspaper of record with extensive coverage of domestic and international news, culture and business. It is also the oldest extant newspaper in Australia, having been published regularly since 1831. The Herald's competitor, The Daily Telegraph (Australia), is a News Corporation-owned tabloid. Both papers have tabloid counterparts published on Sunday, The Sun-Herald and the Sunday Telegraph, respectively.

The three commercial television networks (Seven Network, Nine Network and Network Ten), as well as the government national broadcast services (Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Special Broadcasting Service) each have a presence in Sydney. Historically, the networks have been based on the north shore, but the last decade has seen several move to the inner city. Nine have kept their headquarters north of the harbour, in Willoughby, New South Wales. Ten have their studios in a redeveloped section of the inner-city suburb of Pyrmont, New South Wales, and Seven also have headquarters in Pyrmont as well as a new purpose built news studio in the CBD. The ABC has a large headquarters and production facility in the neighbouring suburb of Ultimo, New South Wales and SBS have their studios at Artarmon, New South Wales. Foxtel and Optus Television both supply pay-TV over their cable services to most parts of the urban area. The five free-to-air networks have provided Digital television transmissions in Sydney since January 2001. Additional services recently introduced include ABC's Second Channel ABC2 (Channel 21), SBS's world news service SBS2, an on-air program guide (Channel 4), ABC news, sport, and weather items (Channel 41), ChannelNSW: Government and Public Information (Channel 45), Australian Christian Channel (Channel 46), MacquarieBank TV (Channel 47), SportsTAB (Channel 48), Expo Home Shopping (Channel 49), and Federal parliamentary broadcasts.

Sydney is Australia’s centre for film and media. Many of the landmarks in Sydney have been referenced, shown and the setting for countless films and television programs. Sydney also has a wide amount of references to films that have been set in the city, the most famous being Finding Nemo, which was set in the famous Sydney Harbour.

Many Amplitude modulation and Frequency modulation government, commercial and community radio services broadcast in the Sydney area. The local ABC Local Radio radio station is 702 ABC Sydney (formerly 2BL). The talkback radio genre is dominated by the perennial rivals 2GB and 2UE. Popular Music radio stations include Triple M, 2Day FM and Nova 96.9, which generally targets people under 40. In the older end of the music radio market, Vega (radio network) & Mix 106.5 targets the 25 to 54 age group, while 2WS {{Infobox Australian Place| type = city| name = Sydney || state = New South Wales|| image = Sydney locator-MJC.png || caption = Location of Sydney within Australia, [1788 ] (38)| county = Cumberland County, New South Wales| stategov = New South Wales Legislative Assembly electoral districts (49)| fedgov = :Image:Map2a.gif (22)| maxtemp = 21.6| mintemp = 13.7| rainfall = 1207.9| timezone = Australian Eastern Standard Time| utc = +10| timezone-dst = Australian Eastern Daylight Time| utc-dst = +11| dist1 = 697| location1 = Melbourne| dist3 = 3314| location3 = [Perth, Australia-->

on Port Jackson

Sydney (IPA chart for English ) is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.28 million. Sydney is the List of Australian capital cities of New South Wales, and is the site of the first European colony in Australia, established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, leader of the First Fleet from Britain. A resident of the city is referred to as a Sydneysider.

Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast. The city is built around Port Jackson, which includes Sydney Harbour, leading to the city's nickname, "the Harbour City". It is Australia's largest financial centre and is home to the Australian Stock Exchange. Sydney's leading economic sectors include property and business services, manufacturing, tourism, media, health and community services.

Sydney is a major international tourist destination notable for Beaches in Sydney and twin landmarks: the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and contains many bays, rivers and inlets. It has been recognised as a global city by the Loughborough University group's 1999 inventory.The city has played host to numerous international sporting, political and cultural events, including the 1938 British Empire Games, 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2003 Rugby World Cup. In September 2007, the city hosted the leaders of the 21 APEC economies for APEC Australia 2007, and in July 2008 will host World Youth Day 2008.

Sydney is one of the most multiculturalism cities in the world which reflects its role as a major destination for Immigration to Australia to Australia. According to the Mercer cost of living survey, Sydney is Australia’s most expensive city, and the 21st most expensive in the world.

History Radiocarbon dating has provided evidence that the Sydney region has been populated by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years. At the time of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, 4000 - 8000 Aboriginal people lived in the region.Kohen, J. L. 2000. First and last peoples: Aboriginal Sydney. In J. Connell (Ed.). Sydney the emergence of a global city. pp 76-95. Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-550748-7, pp 76-78, 81-82, 83 There were three language groups in the Sydney region; these were further refined into dialects spoken by smaller clans. The principal languages were Darug language (the Cadigal, original inhabitants of the City of Sydney, spoke a coastal dialect of Darug), Dharawal language and Guringai language. Each clan had a territory; the location of that territory determined the resources available. Although urbanization has destroyed most evidence of these settlements (such as shell middens), Sydney and its environs are well known for numerous rock drawings and carvings due to the nature of the rock, Hawkesbury sandstone. towards the Port Jackson at the Garden PalaceEuropean interest in colonising Australia arose with the landing of British sea captain Lieutenant James Cook in Botany Bay in 1770. Under instruction from the United Kingdom government, a Penal colony was founded by Arthur Phillip, who arrived at Botany Bay with a fleet of 11 ships on January 26, 1788. This site was soon found to be unsuitable for habitation, owing to poor soil and a lack of reliable fresh water. Phillip founded the colony at Sydney Cove on Port Jackson. He named it after the British Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, in recognition of Sydney's role in issuing the charter authorising Phillip to establish a colony. In April 1789 a disease, thought to be smallpox, decimated the indigenous population of Sydney; a conservative estimate says that 500 to 1000 Aboriginal people died in the area between Broken Bay and Botany Bays.There was violent resistance to British settlement, notably by the warrior Pemulwuy in the area around Botany Bay, and conflicts were common in the area surrounding the Hawkesbury River. By 1820 there were only a few hundred Aborigines and Lachlan Macquarie had begun initiatives to 'civilize, Christianize and educate' the Aborigines by removing them from their clans.Macquarie's tenure as Governor of New South Wales was a period when Sydney was improved from its basic beginnings. Roads, bridges, wharves and public buildings were constructed by British and Irish Convictism in Australia, and by 1822 the town had banks, markets, well-established thoroughfares and an organised constabulary. 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 United Kingdom of Great 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 Charles H. Chambers the first mayor. Australian Encyclopaedia Volume 2, p 524, Angus & Robertson Limited, 1926 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 Industrial revolution Sydney expanded rapidly, and by the early 20th century it had a population well in excess of one million. 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.{{cite web]an and (later) Asian immigration, resulting in its highly cosmopolitan atmosphere.

Geography satellite. The city centre is about a third of the way in on the south shore of the upper inlet. Click on the image and then scroll down for an annotated version

Sydney is in a coastal basin bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north and the Woronora Plateau to the south. Sydney lies on a submergent coastline, where the ocean level has risen to flood deep river valleys (ria carved in the hawkesbury sandstone. One of these drowned valleys, Port Jackson, better known as Sydney Harbour, is the largest natural harbour in the world. Showcase Destinations Sydney, Australia: The Harbour City by David Latta There are more than 70 harbour and ocean beaches, including the famous Bondi Beach, New South Wales, in the urban area. Sydney's urban area covers 1 E9 m²#Oceania km² (651 square mile) as at 2001. 2016.0 Census of Population and Housing: Selected Characteristics for Urban Centres, Australia, Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003-03-26 The Sydney Statistical Division, used for census data, is the unofficial metropolitan area 1217.0.55.001 - Glossary of Statistical Geography Terminology, 2003, Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003 and covers 12,145 square kilometres (4,689 mi²). "2032.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Australia in Profile – A Regional Analysis, 2001", Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004-01-16 This area includes the Central Coast, New South Wales and Blue Mountains as well as broad swathes of national park and other unurbanised land.

Geographically, Sydney sprawls over two major regions: the Cumberland Plain, a relatively flat region lying to the south and west of the harbour, and the Hornsby Plateau, a sandstone plateau lying mainly to the north of the harbour, dissected by steep valleys. The oldest parts of the city are located in the flat areas south of the harbour; the North Shore (Sydney) was slower to develop because of its hilly topography, and was mostly a quiet backwater until the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932, linking it to the rest of the city.

Climate at nightSydney has an temperate climate with warm summers and mild winters, with rainfall spread throughout the year.Bureau of Meteorology Climate Map. The weather is moderated by proximity to the ocean, and more extreme temperatures are recorded in the inland western suburbs. The warmest month is January, with an average air temperature range at Sydney Observatory of 18.6 °C–25.8 °C and an average of 14.6 days a year over 30 Celsius. The maximum recorded temperature was 45.3 °C on 14 January 1939 at the end of a 4 day nationwide heat wave.Bureau of Meteorology. 2006. Climate summary for Sydney, January 2006 The winter is mildly cool, with temperatures rarely dropping below 5 °C in coastal areas. The coldest month is July, with an average range of 8.0 °C–16.2 °C. The lowest recorded minimum was 2.1 °C. Rainfall is fairly evenly divided between summer and winter, but is slightly higher during the first half of the year, when easterly winds dominate. The average annual rainfall, with moderate to low variability, is 1217.0 millimetres (47.9 in), falling on an average 138.0 days a year.Australian Bureau of Meteorology. 2005. Climate averages.Ellyard, D. 1994. Droughts and Flooding Rains. Angus & Robertson ISBN 0-207-18557-3 Snowfall last occurred in the Sydney City area in the 1830s.MacDonnell, Freda. Thomas Nelson (Australia) Limited, 1967. Before King’s Cross

Although the city does not suffer from tropical cyclones or significant earthquakes, the El Niño plays an important role in determining Sydney's weather patterns: drought and bushfire on the one hand, and storms and flooding on the other, associated with the opposite phases of the oscillation. Many areas of the city bordering bushland have experienced bushfires, notably in 1994 and Black Christmas (bushfires) — these tend to occur during the spring and summer. The city is also prone to severe hail storms and wind storms. One such storm occurred in Sydney's eastern and city suburbs on the evening of 14 April 1999, producing massive hailstones of at least 9 centimetres (3.5 in) in diameter and resulting in insurance losses of around $1.5 billion in less than one hour. The city is also prone to flash flooding from enormous amounts of rain caused by East Coast Lows (a low pressure depression which deepens off the state usually in winter and early spring which can bring significant damage due to heavy rain, cyclonic winds and huge swells). The most notable event was the great Sydney flood which occurred on 6 August 1986 and dumped a record 327.6 millimetres (12.9 in) on the city in 24 hours. This caused major traffic chaos and damage in many parts of the metropolitan area. Rain in Sydney, 1986 in Australian Climate Extremes, Bureau of Meteorology, accessed 9 September 2006.

The Bureau of Meteorology have reported that the last four years in Sydney have been the warmest on record (since 1859). 2004 had an average daily maximum temperature of 23.39 °C, 2005 - 23.35 °C, 2002 - 22.91 °C and 2003 - 22.65 °C. The average daily maximum between 1859 and 2004 was 21.6 °C. For the first nine months of 2006 the mean temperature was 18.41 °C; the warmest year previously was 2004 with 18.51 °C. Since the beginning of 2002, there have been only two months in which the average daily maximum was below average: March 2005 (0.43 °C below average) and June 2006 (0.25 °C below average).

{])| 25.8 || 25.7 || 24.7 || 22.4 || 19.3 || 16.9 || 16.2 || 17.7 || 19.9 || 22.0 || 23.6 || 25.1 || 21.6|-! Mean daily minimum temperature (°C)| 18.6 || 18.7 || 17.5 || 14.7 || 11.5 || 9.2 || 8.0 || 8.9 || 11.0 || 13.5 || 15.5 || 17.5 || 13.7|-! Mean total rainfall (Millimetre)| 103.3 || 117.4 || 131.2 || 127.2 || 123.3 || 128.1 || 98.1 || 81.5 || 68.7 || 76.9 || 83.1 || 78.1 || 1217.0|-! Mean number of rain days| 12.1 || 12.3 || 13.3 || 12.0 || 12.0 || 11.4 || 10.3 || 9.9 || 10.3 || 11.5 || 11.4 || 11.5 || 138.0|-| colspan="15" style="text-align: center;" | Source: Bureau of Meteorology|}

Urban structure 's high-rise commercial district.

The extensive area covered by urban Sydney is formally divided into more than 300 suburbs (for addressing and postal purposes), and administered as 38 local government areas. There is no city-wide government, but the Government of New South Wales and its agencies have extensive responsibilities in providing metropolitan services.Department of Local Government. Local Council Boundaries Sydney Outer (SO) The City of Sydney itself covers a fairly small area comprising the central business district and its neighbouring inner-city suburbs. In addition, regional descriptions are used informally to conveniently describe larger sections of the urban area. These include Eastern Suburbs (Sydney),Hills District (Sydney),Inner West (Sydney),Lower North Shore (Sydney),Northern Beaches (Sydney),North Shore (Sydney),St George, New South Wales,Southern Sydney,South-eastern Sydney,South-western Sydney,Sutherland Shire andWestern Sydney. However, many suburbs are not conveniently covered by any of these categories.

Sydney central business district (CBD) extends southwards for about 2 kilometres (1.25 mile) from Sydney Cove, the point of the first European settlement. Densely concentrated skyscrapers and other buildings including historic sandstone buildings such as the Sydney Town Hall and Queen Victoria Building are interspersed by several parks such as Wynyard Park, Sydney and Hyde Park, Sydney. The Sydney CBD is bounded on the east side by a chain of parkland that extends from Hyde Park, Sydney through The Domain, Sydney and Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney to Farm Cove, New South Wales on the harbour. The west side is bounded by Darling Harbour, a popular tourist and nightlife precinct while Central railway station, Sydney marks the southern end of the CBD. George Street, Sydney serves as the Sydney CBD's main north-south thoroughfare.

Although the CBD dominated the city's business and cultural life in the early days, other business/cultural districts have developed in a radial pattern since World War II. As a result, the proportion of white-collar jobs located in the CBD declined from more than 60 per cent at the end of World War II to less than 30 per cent in 2004. Together with the commercial district of North Sydney, New South Wales, joined to the CBD by the Harbour Bridge, the most significant outer business districts are Parramatta, New South Wales in the central-west, Penrith, New South Wales in the west, Bondi Junction, New South Wales in the east, Liverpool, New South Wales in the southwest, Chatswood, New South Wales to the north, and Hurstville, New South Wales to the south.

Governance Apart from the limited role of the Cumberland County, New South Wales from 1945–1964, there has never been an overall governing body for the Sydney metropolitan area; instead, the metropolitan area is divided into Local Government Areas in Australias (LGAs). These areas have elected councils which are responsible for functions delegated to them by the Government of New South Wales, such as planning and garbage collection.

The City of Sydney includes the central business area and some adjoining inner suburbs, and has in recent years been expanded through amalgamation with adjoining local government areas, such as South Sydney. It is led by the elected Lord Mayor of Sydney and a council. The Lord Mayor, however, is sometimes treated as a representative of the whole city, for example during the Olympics.

The 38 LGAs in Sydney are:

Municipality of Ashfield
Auburn Council
City of Bankstown
Baulkham Hills Shire
City of Blacktown
City of Botany Bay
Burwood Council

Municipality of Hunter's Hill
City of Hurstville
Municipality of Kogarah
Ku-ring-gai Council
Municipality of Lane Cove
Municipality of Leichhardt
City of Liverpool, New South Wales

Manly Council
Marrickville Council
Municipality of Mosman
North Sydney Council
City of Parramatta
City of Penrith
Pittwater Council

City of Randwick
City of Rockdale
City of Ryde
Municipality of Strathfield
Sutherland Shire
City of Sydney
Warringah Council

Waverley Council
City of Willoughby
Municipality of Woollahra

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