Sydney is the capital of the Australian state of New South Wales. Sydney, Australia's largest city, is situated on the country's southeastern coast and is one of the most significant ports in the South Pacific, thanks to its gorgeous harbour and strategic location. It had already established trade with the Pacific Islands, India, China, South Africa, and the Americas in the early nineteenth century, when it was still a small convict town and the first immigrants had barely penetrated the interior.

Sydney's initial glimpse, whether from the sea or the air, is always breathtaking. The Sydney Harbour Bridge, one of the world's longest steel-arch bridges, and the Opera House, with their gleaming white shell-shaped roofs that seem to echo the sails of the many yachts in the adjacent harbour, dominate the city, which is built on low hills surrounding a huge harbour with innumerable bays and inlets. By day or by night, the intricate mix of water and buildings creates a remarkable impression.

Climate

Sydney is located at 34 degrees south latitude and has an average mean temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius) in January and 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius) in July. Its bright, sunny, but moderate climate has encouraged its residents to cultivate a fun-loving, relaxed attitude toward life and to take full use of the sailing, swimming, and surfing opportunities right outside their door. The annual precipitation averages 47 inches (1,200 mm) and is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year. With short tropical deluges in summer (December–February), the most rain occurs in late autumn and the least in early spring. Only a few days a year, when a westerly breeze blows in from the desert, is Sydney excessively hot.

Layout of the city

Greater Sydney stretches from the Blue Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the southern shores of Lake Macquarie in the north to Botany Bay in the south. Although just around a third of this territory is classed as urban, the urban area is home to the vast majority of the region's people. A trend of suburban sprawl, fueled in part by the cheapness of property in the past and the desire of ordinary Australians to own their own homes and gardens, has generated challenges for sewerage and transportation authorities. The sprawl contrasts sharply with the City of Sydney's comparably small and compact central business area, which is jammed into a narrow rocky peninsula between two arms of the harbour.

Sydney residents

Sydney was founded by the British, and the majority of its residents are still of British ancestry, assuming that word is expanded to include people of Irish ancestry. However, in the years following WWII, Australia welcomed a considerable number of immigrants from various European countries and Asia, including Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Turkish, and Vietnamese nationals. New Zealand also has a substantial immigrant population. Many of these newcomers chose to make their homes in Sydney. Some of the inner suburbs have a particular Greek or Italian flavor, and ethnic eateries can be found in practically every suburb. There is a Chinatown, and in one of the suburbs, Redfern, there is a small group of Aboriginals who live in deplorable conditions.

Economy

Services and manufacturing

The Sydney region employs over three-quarters of New South Wales' manufacturing workforce and about one-fourth of Australia's. Two-thirds of Sydney's working-age population is employed, with manufacturing accounting for a small and shrinking share of those employed, and the rest engaged in service-related sectors. Although oil refining is prominent in the area, there is no main industry in the city itself. Sydney is primarily a government and commercial center for local, national, and international trade, as well as a shopping, cultural, and entertainment hub for the state of New South Wales. Sydney surpassed Melbourne as the country's financial capital in the 1970s, and it is now the preferred location for multinational business headquarters, particularly in finance, computers, and mining. The Wool Centre, originally established in 1975, is the heart of Sydney's principal wool market.

Tourism

Sydney is a popular tourist destination for people from all over the world. Hotels, motels, and restaurants can be found all around Sydney, although they are particularly plentiful in central Sydney and the Kings Cross neighborhood to the east of the central business district. Restaurants serving practically any type of international cuisine may be found, while Sydney's famous oysters are among the most popular. The city's first contemporary complex for conventions, popular concerts, indoor sports, and political assemblies is located just west of downtown in Darling Harbour. In 1995, the city's first gaming casino opened.

Transportation

Sydney has had a railway connecting the city center to some of its suburbs since 1855. This radial suburban rail system was electrified between World Wars I and II, and work on the city's underground train began (the first section was opened in 1926). After the building of the Harbour Bridge in 1932, the north shore was connected to the city by rail. In 1979, both surface and underground train extensions to the eastern suburbs were completed.

Life in the arts

Above all, Sydney is a city for physical enjoyment. Few cities in the world provide such unequaled swimming, surfing, sailing, and other outdoor recreation options. Swimming is still available from numerous beaches in the harbour, however water pollution is still an issue, and the surf beaches to the north and south of the city are world-renowned. Bondi, for example, is only a short drive from the city center. Some of the beaches in the city's northern reaches, particularly those on the Palm Beach peninsula and near Manly, are breathtaking. The surf is good, but erratic, and is rendered somewhat safe by volunteer lifesaving clubs, which provide lifeguards and rescue equipment on all beaches throughout the summer months. Sydney is also a yachting city.

Image Sources:

Image by Patty Jansen from Pixabay 
Image by Patty Jansen from Pixabay 
Image by Tom Hill from Pixabay 
Image by Arvida Saubermann from Pixabay

Lead Image by Design n Print from Pixabay