SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)

SYDNEY

Call the Queen from the Pacific, the extensive and vibrant Sydney welcomes one of the most beautiful ports in the world, with her imposing Opera like the jewel of the crown.

Sydney is the capital of New South Wales and it is the center of the business and the arts. The city has all type of cosmopolitan amenity - good trade, excellent restaurants and one set night life. Located between the mountains and the sea, it offers this way an extraordinary landscape. The Ocean Pacific arrives to its golden beaches, and from there it expands an entire range of colors for the whole interior until the Blue Mountains. Besides the port, with their ships and the famous Opera of Sydney, there are also numerous interior channels and national parks.

Sydney (pronounced /ˈsɪdniː/) is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.28 million (2006 estimate).It is the state capital of New South Wales, and was the site of the first British colony in Australia. It was established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, leader of the First Fleet from Britain.

Topography

Sydney's urban area is in a coastal basin, which is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the East, the Blue Mountains to the West, the Hawkesbury River to the North and the Royal National Park to the South. It lies on a submergent coastline, where the ocean level has risen to flood deep river valleys (ria) carved in the hawkesbury sandstone. Port Jackson, better known as Sydney Harbour, is one such ria and is the largest natural harbour in the world.The Sydney area is not affected by significant earthquakes. The urban area has around 70 harbour and ocean beaches, including the famous Bondi Beach. Sydney's urban area covers 1,687 km2 (651 sq mi) as at 2001. The Sydney Statistical Division, used for census data, is the unofficial metropolitan area and covers 12,145 km2 (4,689 sq mi).This area includes the Central Coast, the Blue Mountains, and national parks and other unurbanised land.

Climate

Sydney has a temperate, oceanic climate with warm summers and cool winters, and rainfall spread throughout the year. 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 Observatory Hill of 18.6-25.8 °C (65.5-78.4 °F) and an average of 14.6 days a year over 30 °C (86.0 °F).

Demographics
The 2006 census reported 4,119,190 residents in the Sydney Statistical Division, of which 3,641,422 lived in Sydney's urban area.Inner Sydney was the most densely populated place in Australia with 4,023 persons per square kilometre. 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".

Education
The University of Sydney established in 1850, is the oldest university in Australia
Main article: Education in Sydney
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. There are five other public universities operating primarily in Sydney: the Australian Catholic University (two out of six campuses), Macquarie University, University of New South Wales, the University of Technology, Sydney and the University of Western Sydney. Other universities which operate secondary campuses in Sydney include the University of Notre Dame Australia and the University of Wollongong.

Economy
The largest economic sectors in Sydney, as measured by the number of people employed, include property and business services, retail, manufacturing, and health and community services. Since the 1980s, jobs have moved from manufacturing to the services and information sectors. Sydney provides approximately 25 percent of the country's total GDP. The Australian Securities 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.[39] Of the ten largest corporations in Australia (based on revenue),four have headquarters in Sydney (Caltex Australia, the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and Woolworths). Fox Studios Australia has large movie studios 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. It is the 12th largest futures market in the world and the 19th largest including options.