[english] [español] [français] [deutsch] [italiano]

Sydney (Australia), capital city of New South Wales,...
...on the eastern coast of Australia. The oldest and largest Australian city, Sydney was established as a British penal settlement. Arthur Phillip commanded the First Fleet on its antipodean voyage and was the first governor of the new colony, which was established at Sydney Cove on January 26, 1788. Sydney, named after Viscount Sydney (the British Home Secretary of the time), was a pre-emptive British presence to deter further French penetration of the South Pacific. The city is situated on the southern shore of its harbour, Port Jackson, and has a foreshore of 240 km (149 mi), consisting of inlets, tributary rivers, bays, coves, and promontories. Climatically, Sydney has warm summers and mild, though sometimes rather wet, winters, with mean temperatures ranging from 12.6°C (55°F) to 21°C (70°F) and an average annual rainfall, fairly evenly distributed through the year, of 1,194 mm (47 in).

The metropolitan area of modern Sydney extends from the Hawkesbury River in the north to the southern tablelands in the south; and from the Blue Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It is thus effectively hemmed in and prevented from expanding further by geographical obstacles. The city and suburbs cover about 12,400 sq km (4,790 sq mi) and Sydney faces serious pollution problems resulting from the intensity of development, habitation, and traffic. The suburbs themselves, especially the great western expanse, are undistinguished, many of the inhabitants having been forced to the city's periphery by continually rising housing costs in the city and its immediate environs. Long fingers of bushland extend deep into Sydney's metropolitan heart and the consequent vulnerability to bushfires was tragically underlined in January 1994 when fires sweeping through New South Wales engulfed many suburban homes and came close to the city centre.

Like other major Australian cities but even more so, Sydney has been transformed by migration. While it remains true that most “Sydneysiders”, as they are called, are of British and Irish descent, Sydney is one of Australia's major multi-cultural cities: a decade ago, 22.75 per cent of Australia's Italian-born population, 72.66 per cent of its Lebanese (easily the highest concentration in the country), and 39.17 per cent of its Vietnamese (again the largest in the country) were living in Sydney. At the same time, the Aboriginal population of Sydney stood at 18,590 constituting 0.6 per cent of the city's total population. All these percentages have remained consistent or have increased since.

A new transport route, the Eastern Distributor, opened in Sydney in December 1999. It links the central business district with the international airport in the south-east, is approximately 6 km (4 mi) long, and includes a double-storeyed or “piggyback” tunnel. Sydney was the venue for the Olympic Games in the year 2000. In September and October, over 10,000 athletes from 198 countries competed in 28 sports. The budget for the games was about US$1.4 billion. A new Olympic Park and 80,000-seat auditorium were built on Homebush Bay, 12 km (7½ mi) west of the Harbour Bridge.

In December 2001 and January 2002 the suburbs of Sydney were threatened by bush fires, which devastated large areas of the Blue Mountains.

Population: ca. 4.000.000 (2002 estimate)

"Sydney (Australia)," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2002
http://encarta.msn.co.uk © 1997-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.