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Sydney

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Oceania
(Australasia)

   Sydney
   New South Wales
   Population:
   • Density:        4,254,900 ( 1st)
                     345.7/km²
   Established:      1788
   Area:             12,144.6 km²
   Time zone:

    • Summer ( DST)
                     AEST ( UTC+10)

                     AEDT ( UTC+11)
   The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour
   Enlarge
   The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour

   Sydney ( pronounced /ˈsɪd.niː/) is the most populous city in Australia
   with a metropolitan area population of over 4.2 million people (2006).
   Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and is located on the
   country's south-east coast.

   The first European colony in Australia, Sydney was established in 1788
   at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip who led the First Fleet from Britain.
   Built around Port Jackson, which includes Sydney Harbour, the city of
   Sydney has been called the "Harbour City". It is Australia's largest
   financial centre and a major international tourist destination, notable
   for its beaches and twin landmarks: the Sydney Opera House and the
   Harbour Bridge. Sydney has also played host to numerous sporting
   events, including the 1938 British Empire Games, 2000 Summer Olympics
   and the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

History

   A map of Sydney in 1789.
   Enlarge
   A map of Sydney in 1789.

   It has been speculated that the Sydney region has been occupied 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. There were three different language groups in the Sydney
   region; these were further refined into dialects spoken by smaller
   clans. The principal languages were Darug (the Cadigal, original
   inhabitants of the City of Sydney, spoke a coastal dialect of Darug),
   Dharawal and Guringai. Each clan had a territory; the location of that
   territory determined the resources available. Although urbanisation has
   destroyed most evidence of these settlements (such as shell middens),
   rock carvings still exist in several locations.
   Sydney in about 1828, looking north over Hyde Park towards the harbour.
   Enlarge
   Sydney in about 1828, looking north over Hyde Park towards the harbour.

   European interest in colonising Australia arose with the landing of
   British sea captain, Lieutenant James Cook in Botany Bay in 1770. Under
   instruction from the British government, a convict settlement was
   founded by Arthur Phillip in 1788. Phillip founded the colony at Sydney
   Cove on Port Jackson. He named it after the British Home Secretary,
   Thomas Townshend, Lord 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 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 Governor Macquarie had begun
   initiatives to 'civilise, christianise and educate' the Aborigines by
   removing them from their clans.
   Sydney in 1796
   Enlarge
   Sydney in 1796

   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 convicts,
   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 the British Isles
   with immigrants looking to start a new life in a new country. On July
   20 1842 the municipal council of Sydney was incorporated and the town
   was declared the first city in Australia, Charles H. Chambers was the
   first mayor. The first of several 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 industrialisation 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.

   Throughout the 20th century Sydney continued to expand with various new
   waves of European and (later) Asian immigration, resulting in its
   highly cosmopolitan atmosphere. The majority of Sydneysiders are of
   British and Irish background. More recent arrivals have included
   Italians, Greeks, Jews, Lebanese, South Africans, South Asians
   (including Indians, Sri Lankans and Pakistanis), Sudanese, Turks,
   Macedonians, Croatians, Serbs, South Americans (Brazilians, Chileans
   and Argentinians), Armenians, Eastern Europeans (Czech, Poles,
   Russians, Ukrainians and Hungarians) and East Asians (including
   Chinese, Koreans and Vietnamese).

Geography

   Image of Sydney taken by NASA RS 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.
   Enlarge
   Image of Sydney taken by NASA RS 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
   ( rias) carved in the sandstone. One of these drowned valleys, Port
   Jackson, better known as Sydney Harbour, is the largest natural harbour
   in the world. There are more than 70 harbour and ocean beaches,
   including the famous Bondi Beach, in the urban area. Sydney's urban
   area covers 1687  square kilometres (651  mi²) as at 2001. The Sydney
   Statistical Division, used for census data, is the unofficial
   metropolitan area and covers 12,145 square kilometres (4,689 mi²). This
   area includes the Central Coast 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 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

   Sydney has an oceanic climate with warm summers and mild winters, with
   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 °C–25.8 °C
   and an average of 14.6 days a year over 30  °C. The maximum recorded
   temperature was 45.3 °C on 14 January 1939 at the end of a 4 day
   nationwide heat wave. 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. Snowfall last occurred in the Sydney City
   area in the 1830's.

   Although the city does not suffer from cyclones or significant
   earthquakes, the El Niño Southern Oscillation 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 2002 — 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.

   Recent research by a Macquarie University atmospheric scientist
   suggests that land clearing in western Sydney has contributed to major
   changes in the city's climate. 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).

   CAPTION: Climate Table

     Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
   Mean daily maximum temperature ( °C) 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 ( mm) 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
   Source: Bureau of Meteorology

Urban structure

   Eastern
   Suburbs
   Hills
   District
   Inner
   West
   Lower
   North
   Shore
   Northern
   Beaches
   Port Jackson
   North Shore
   Southern
   Sydney
   South-eastern
   Sydney
   South-western
   Sydney
   Sutherland
   Shire
   Botany
   Bay
   Greater
   Western
   Sydney
   Sydney
   central
   business
   district
   Bondi
   Beach
   Kingsford Smith
   International Airport
   North Sydney's high-rise commercial district.
   Enlarge
   North Sydney's high-rise commercial district.
   Sydney from the air.
   Enlarge
   Sydney from the air.

   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. 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, Hills
   District, Inner West, Lower North Shore, Northern Beaches, North Shore,
   Southern Sydney, South-eastern Sydney, South-western Sydney, Sutherland
   Shire and Western Sydney. However, many suburbs are not conveniently
   covered by any of these categories.

   Sydney's central business district (CBD) extends southwards for about
   2 kilometres (1.25  mi) 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 and Hyde Park. The Sydney CBD is bounded on the east
   side by a chain of parkland that extends from Hyde Park through the
   Domain and Royal Botanic Gardens to Farm Cove on the harbour. The west
   side is bounded by Darling Harbour, a popular tourist and nightlife
   precinct while Central station marks the southern end of the CBD.
   George Street 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, joined to the
   CBD by the Harbour Bridge, the most significant outer business
   districts are Parramatta in the central-west, Blacktown in the west,
   Bondi Junction in the east, Liverpool in the southwest, Chatswood to
   the north, and Hurstville to the south.

Governance

   Apart from the limited role of the Cumberland County Council 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 (LGAs). These areas have elected councils
   which are responsible for functions delegated to them by the New South
   Wales State Government, 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:
     * Ashfield
     * Auburn
     * Bankstown
     * Baulkham Hills
     * Blacktown
     * Botany Bay
     * Burwood

     * Camden
     * Campbelltown
     * Canada Bay
     * Canterbury
     * Fairfield
     * Holroyd
     * Hornsby

     * Hunter's Hill
     * Hurstville
     * Kogarah
     * Ku-ring-gai
     * Lane Cove
     * Leichhardt
     * Liverpool

     * Manly
     * Marrickville
     * Mosman
     * North Sydney
     * Parramatta
     * Penrith
     * Pittwater

     * Randwick
     * Rockdale
     * Ryde
     * Strathfield
     * Sutherland
     * Sydney
     * Warringah

     * Waverley
     * Willoughby
     * Woollahra

   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 Federal Parliaments. 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.

Economy

   The City District is home to most of Sydney's financial centers, and
   the Australian Stock Exchange
   Enlarge
   The City District is home to most of Sydney's financial centers, and
   the Australian Stock Exchange

   The largest economic sectors in Sydney, measured by numbers 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% of the country's total GDP.

   Sydney is the largest corporate and financial centre in Australia and
   is also an important financial centre in the Asia Pacific. 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. 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. In global terms it is the 12th largest futures
   market in the world and the 19th largest including options. 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.

   As of September 2003, the unemployment rate in Sydney was 5.3%.
   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 26th in the world in terms of net
   earnings.

   As of December 2005, Sydney has the highest median house price of any
   Australian capital city at $485 000. 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.

   Sydney has been classified as a "Beta" global city by the Globalization
   and World Cities Study Group and Network.

Demographics

   3,455,110 people lived in Sydney's urban area as at 2001. As of 2005
   there are an estimated 4,254,894 people living in the Sydney
   Statistical Division with a population density of 345.7 persons per
   square kilometre, Inner Sydney being the most densely populated place
   in Australia with 4023 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.
   Sydney's Chinatown
   Enlarge
   Sydney's Chinatown

   In the 2001 census, the most common self-described ancestries
   identified for Sydney residents were Australian, English, Irish, and
   Italian. The Census also recorded that 1% of Sydney's population
   identified as being of indigenous origin and 31.2% were born overseas.
   The three major sources of immigrants are the United Kingdom, China and
   New Zealand. Significant numbers of immigrants also came from Vietnam,
   Lebanon, Italy, India and the Philippines. Most Sydneysiders are native
   speakers of English; many have a second language, the most common being
   Chinese languages, Arabic (including Lebanese) and Greek. Sydney has
   the seventh largest percentage of a foreign born population, ahead of
   cities such as the highly multicultural London and Paris.

   Some ethnic groups are associated with the suburbs where they first
   settled: the Italians with Leichhardt, Greeks with Rockdale and
   Hurstville, Lebanese with Lakemba and Bankstown, Koreans with Campsie,
   Jews with Bondi St Ives and Rose Bay, Indians with Westmead and
   Parramatta, Chinese with Haymarket (where Sydney's Chinatown has
   emerged) and Vietnamese with Cabramatta. Redfern and parts of Western
   Sydney have a high concentration of indigenous Australians.

   The median age of a Sydney resident is 34, with 12% of the population
   over 65 years. 15.2% of Sydney residents have educational attainment
   equal to at least a bachelor's degree, which is lower than the national
   average of 19%. Approximately 67% of Sydney residents describe
   themselves as Christian, the most common denominations being Catholic
   and Anglican. About 9% of the population practises a non-Christian
   religion, the most common being Islam, at 3.4% of Sydney's total
   population and Buddhism. About 12% of Sydney residents are not
   religious.

Education

   The University of Sydney has been operating since 1850 and is the
   oldest university in Australia.
   Enlarge
   The University of Sydney 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. There are five other public universities 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 multicampus government funded Technical and Further
   Education (TAFE) institutes in Sydney which provide vocational training
   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 public, denominational, and independent 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 education
   areas in Sydney, that together coordinate 919 schools. Out of the
   thirty selective high schools in the state, twenty-five of those are
   located in Sydney.

Culture

   Many of Sydney's cultural attractions are in the CBD.
   Enlarge
   Many of Sydney's cultural attractions are in the CBD.

Arts and entertainment

   Sydney has a wide variety of cultural sites and institutions. Sydney's
   iconic 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. 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.
   Luna Park
   Enlarge
   Luna Park

   The National Institute of Dramatic Art, based in Kensington, boasts
   internationally famous alumni such as Mel Gibson and Baz Luhrmann.
   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 II and III, Superman Returns and The Matrix. Films using
   Sydney as a setting include Finding Nemo, Strictly Ballroom, Mission
   Impossible II, Muriels Wedding, Dirty Deeds and Dil Chahta Hai. As of
   2006, over 229 films have been set, or featured Sydney.

   Sydney hosts many different festivals including the Sydney Festival, a
   celebration involving both indoor and free outdoor performances
   throughout January; the Big Day Out, a travelling rock music festival
   which originated in Sydney; the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras along Oxford
   Street; 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.

   Australian rock bands which formed in Sydney include Midnight Oil,
   INXS, Radio Birdman, Wolfmother, indie rockers The Clouds 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.

   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 and the Australian National Maritime Museum.
   The Chinese Garden of Friendship
   Enlarge
   The Chinese Garden of Friendship

   Sydney is well endowed with open spaces, and has many natural areas
   even within the city centre. Within the Sydney central business
   district are the Chinese Garden of Friendship and Hyde Park, and the
   Royal Botanical Gardens. The metropolitan area contains several
   national parks, including the Royal National Park, the second oldest
   national park in the world.

Sport

   Sydney is the headquarters of the Australian Rugby League and is home
   to 8 of the 16 National Rugby League (NRL) teams ( Sydney Roosters,
   South Sydney Rabbitohs, Parramatta Eels, Cronulla Sharks, Wests Tigers,
   Penrith Panthers, Canterbury Bulldogs and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles),
   as well as being the northern home of the St George Illawarra Dragons
   (this team is half-based in Wollongong). Telstra Stadium in Sydney is
   the venue for the NRL Grand Final.
   Track and field events in Stadium Australia (now Telstra Stadium)
   during the 2000 Summer Olympics.
   Enlarge
   Track and field events in Stadium Australia (now Telstra Stadium)
   during the 2000 Summer Olympics.

   The first Australia rugby union club established was at Sydney
   University in 1864, and in 1882 the first inter-colonial games was held
   against Queensland. Today the state team plays as the New South Wales
   Waratahs in the Super 14. Sydney will also host two teams in the
   National Rugby Competition. Traditional club competitions include the
   Shute Shield. Sydney is also a regular host for Wallabies
   internationals.

   In addition to rugby football Sydney has teams in most national
   competitions including the Sydney Swans ( AFL), Sydney FC ( A-League),
   Sydney Kings and the West Sydney Razorbacks ( NBL), Sydney Uni Flames (
   WNBL), Sydney Blues ( Australian Major League Baseball) and the Sydney
   Swifts in Australian netball's Commonwealth Bank Trophy and New South
   Wales team New South Wales Blues ( First-class cricket).

   Sydney hosted the 1938 British Empire Games and the 2000 Summer
   Olympics. Sydney's most famous sports grounds include Sydney Olympic
   Park which includes Telstra Stadium, home to such events as the NRL
   Grand Final, the rugby league State of Origin series and most recently
   the football World Cup qualifier between Australia and Uruguay. It also
   hosted a semi-final at the 1987 Rugby World Cup, and the final of the
   2003 Rugby World Cup. Sydney Football Stadium (also known as Aussie
   Stadium) is home to such clubs as Sydney Roosters, Sydney FC and the
   NSW Waratahs, and the neighbouring Sydney Cricket Ground has been home
   to numerous sports for over a century, but is the main home for cricket
   and Australian rules football in the city. The Sydney Swans play most
   of their home games on the Sydney Cricket Ground. They were the
   Australian Football League premiers of 2005.

   Sydney Harbour is famous for its yacht racing, the Boxing Day start of
   the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and 18 foot (5.5 m) skiffs. The harbour
   is used for recreational boating, racing small yachts, recreational
   fishing, and occasional Dragon Boat racing. Sydney's beaches are
   popular recreation and sporting locations with both tourists and
   locals. Famous Sydney beaches include Bondi Beach, Manly Beach, Palm
   Beach and Cronulla Beach .

Infrastructure

Health

   Sydney Monorail above Market Street, Sydney
   Enlarge
   Sydney Monorail above Market Street, Sydney

   The Government of New South Wales operates 13 public hospitals in the
   Sydney metropolitan region. Management of these hospitals and other
   specialist health facilities are coordinated by 4 health services,
   Sydney South West (SSWAHS), Sydney West (SWAHS), Northern Sydney and
   Central Coast (NSCCAHS) and the South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra
   (SESIAHS) Area Health Services. There are also a number of private
   hospitals in the city, many of which are aligned with religious
   organisations.

Transport

   Most Sydney residents travel by car through the system of roads,
   freeways and tollways (known as motorways). The most important trunk
   routes in the urban area form the Metroad system. Sydney is also served
   by extensive train, bus and ferry networks.

   Sydney trains are run by CityRail, a corporation of the New South Wales
   State Government. Trains run as suburban commuter rail services in the
   outer suburbs, then converge in an underground city loop service in the
   CBD. In the years following the 2000 Olympics, CityRail's performance
   declined significantly. In 2005, CityRail introduced a revised
   timetable and employed more drivers. A large infrastructure project,
   the Clearways project, is scheduled to be completed by 2010.

   Sydney has one privately operated light rail line, the Metro Light
   Rail, running from Central Station to Lilyfield along a former goods
   train line. There is also a small monorail which runs in a loop around
   the main shopping district and Darling Harbour. Sydney was formerly
   served by an extensive tram network, which was progressively closed in
   the 1950s and 1960s. Most parts of the metropolitan area are served by
   buses, many of which follow the pre-1961 tram routes. In the city and
   inner suburbs the state-owned Sydney Buses has a monopoly. In the outer
   suburbs, service is contracted to many private bus companies.
   Construction of a network of rapid bus transitways in areas not
   previous well served by public transport began in 1999, and the first
   of these, the Liverpool-Parramatta Rapid Bus Transitway opened in
   February 2003. Sydney Ferries, another State government-owned
   organisation, runs numerous commuter and tourist ferry services on
   Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River.
   The new Sydney millennium train operates in the Sydney metropolitan
   area.
   Enlarge
   The new Sydney millennium train operates in the Sydney metropolitan
   area.

   Kingsford Smith International Airport, located in the suburb of Mascot,
   is Sydney's main airport, and the oldest continuously operating
   commercial airport in the world. The smaller Bankstown Airport mainly
   serves private and general aviation. There are light aviation airfields
   at Hoxton Park and Camden. RAAF Base Richmond lies to the north-west of
   the city. The question of whether Sydney needs a second international
   airport has raised much controversy. A 2003 study found that Kingsford
   Smith can manage as Sydney's sole international airport for 20 years
   with a significant increase in airport traffic predicted. The resulting
   expansion of the airport will have a substantial impact on the
   community, including additional aircraft noise affecting residents.
   Land has been acquired at Badgerys Creek for a second airport and
   alternative sites have been mooted.

Utilities

   Water storage and supply for Sydney is managed by the Sydney Catchment
   Authority, which is an agency of the NSW Government that sells bulk
   water to Sydney Water and other agencies. Water in the Sydney catchment
   is chiefly stored in dams in the Upper Nepean Scheme, the Blue
   Mountains, Woronora Dam, Warragamba Dam and the Shoalhaven Scheme.
   Historically low water levels in the catchment have led to water use
   restrictions and the NSW government is investigating alternative water
   supply options, including grey water recycling and the construction of
   a seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant at Kurnell. Sydney Water
   also collects the wastewater and sewerage produced by the city.

   Three companies supply natural gas and electricity to Sydney: Energy
   Australia, AGL and Integral Energy. Numerous telecommunications
   companies operate in Sydney providing terrestrial and mobile
   telecommunications services.
   A panorama of Sydney Harbour at night, with the Sydney Opera House on
   the left, the central business district in the image centre and Sydney
   Harbour Bridge on the right
   Enlarge
   A panorama of Sydney Harbour at night, with the Sydney Opera House on
   the left, the central business district in the image centre and Sydney
   Harbour Bridge on the right

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
