Sydney is the largest city in Australia.
About 5.3 million people live in the city and its suburbs.
It is the capital city of the state of New South Wales.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House are in the city
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Sydney, Australia: the capital city of New South Wales
Sydney is Australia's most famous city. It is built around beautiful Sydney Harbour. The harbour covers an area of 5,500 hectares and has an average depth of 9 metres. The city covers an area of 12 407 square kilometres.
The famous Sydney Harbour Bridge, which was opened in 1932, and the Sydney Opera House, which opened in 1973, are tourist attractions that are known around the world.
The city was named after Thomas Townshend, the first Viscount Sydney, who was an English politician involved in managing the colony of New South Wales.
The city is run by a city council which is elected by the people of Sydney. The Lord Mayor leads the city council. Sydney is the state capital so the Parliament of New South Wales is situated in the city.
Sydney weather
The weather in Sydney is temperate which means it is rarely very hot or very cold. The average summer temperature is about 25 Celsius. In winter the average temperature is about 15 Celsius.
Aboriginal people had lived in Australia for more than 50 000 years before European settlement. Getty Images
The first people to live in the area now known as Sydney were the Australian Aboriginal peoples, the Eora. They lived by hunting, fishing and gathering food.
The first European settlement in Australia was established at Sydney Cove in 1788 by Captain Arthur Phillip. He had arrived with the First Fleet, a group of ships carrying soldiers, sailors and convicts from England.
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Sydney: A brief timeline of European settlement and development
1788 - 2000
1788
January 26: Captain Arthur Phillip arrived with the First Fleet and established the first white settlement at Sydney Cove.
1789
The first theatrical performance in Australia was in a mud hut. The play was 'The Recruiting Oficer' by George Farquhar.
1790
The second fleet arrived
1792
Land which will become Hyde Park is set aside.1926First electric trains.
1803
Australia's first newspaper, The Sydney Gazette is published
1809
Postal services began
1817
The first bank is opened and called The Bank of New South Wales. (now Westpac)
1831
Royal Botanic Gardens opened
1841
Sydney has gas lighting
1850
Sydney University is established. It is Australia's first university
1855
First railway line in New South Wales running from Redfern to Parramatta
1872
The first cable message sent to London using the transcontinental telegraph.
1879
The world's first meat freezing works built by Thomas Mort.
1916
Taronga Park Zoo is opened
1925
Foudation stones for Sydney Harbour Bridge laid and construction begins.
1932
Sydney Harbour Bridge opened.
1935
Luna Park opened
1957
Work begins to build the Sydney Opera House
1961
Tram replaced by buses in the city.
1973
Sydney Opera House is opened by Queen Elizabeth
1988
Powerhouse Museum opens
1996
Anzac Bridge opens
2000
Sydney hosts the 27th Olympic Games
Millions of people live in Sydney and in suburbs around it. Many people live around the Sydney Habour. ©iStock
Each day thousands of people travel across the harbour by ferry to work in the city, arriving at Circular Quay. Millions of tourists visit the city every year. They take ferry rides on the harbour and travel around the city by bus, train or on the Sydney lightrail
Sydney was the host city for the Olympic Games in 2000.
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is the centre of the city’s famous New Year’s Eve fireworks display. ©Getty Images
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel arch bridge, and one of the most famous man-made landmarks in Australia. The roadway is held up by the arch and not by the stone pylons.
Thousands walked across the bridge on the day it opened
The designer of the bridge was Dr J.J.C. Bradfield. The building of the bridge began in 1925 and finished in 1932.
Thousands walked across the bridge on the day it opened on March19,1932. At that time the bridge had two railway lines, two tram lines and four lanes for motor vehicles. There was also a walkway for pedestrians. In 1950 the tram lines became extra lanes for road traffic.
Since 1999 groups of people can be taken on climbs to the top of the arch of Sydney Harbour Bridge. ©Getty Images
Facts about the bridge:
The arch span is 503 metres. The steel in the bridge weighs 52 800 tonnes.
The roadway is 49 metres wide and the length of the bridge is 1149 metres.
It cost approximately $21 million in today's money.
People can climb into one of the pylons for a view of the bridge and the harbour.
Sydney Opera House
The glass in the windows is a colour created just for this building. Photo©iStock
One of the most famous buildings in Australia and the world is the Sydney Opera House with its roof that looks like sails. The building is located on Bennelong Point, jutting out into the beautiful Sydney Harbour.
In 1956, there was an international competition for designs for an opera house on that spot, and 233 designs were entered. In 1957, the design by a Swedish designer, Jørn Utzon, was announced as the winner. Work began in 1959.
To mark big events or occasions, special lighting is projected onto the sails. Photo©iStock
Three tower cranes made in France were bought in order to build the sails. The sails, an area of 1.62 hectares, are covered in 1,056,006 tiles made in Sweden. Instead of columns to support the weight of the sails, the engineering of the design uses folded beams in different shapes according to the stress and weight they support. The highest sail is as high as a 22 storey building.
There are seven performance venues in the Opera House: the Concert Hall, the Opera Theatre, Playhouse, Drama Theatre, The Studio, the Forecourt and the Utzon Room. The Concert Hall Grand Organ is the largest mechanical organ in the world, with its 10,154 pipes. It took 10 years to build it.
The building was opened in 1973.
Some fun facts about the Opera House:
Each year, 15,500 light bulbs are changed.
American singer Paul Robeson was the first person to perform at the Opera House: in 1960 he climbed the scaffolding and sang Ol' Man River to the construction workers as they ate their lunch.
Arnold Schwarzenegger won his final Mr Olympia bodybuilding title in the Concert Hall in 1980.
A net was put over the orchestra pit for the opera Boris Gudenov after one of the live chickens used in the performance walked off the stage and landed on a cellist.
The biggest audience to attend a performance at the Opera House was in 1996 for the Crowded House Farewell to the World concert in 1996.
There is an opera about the Sydney Opera House, called The Eighth Wonder.
It took 4 weavers more than 8 months to weave a new tapestry, Homage to CPE Bach, for the Utzon Room. About 4,500 km of wool was used in the weaving.
In a single day, a stage hand working at the Opera Theatre walks an average of 18,681 steps (about 13 km).
The Opera House is closed only on Good Friday and Christmas Day, open the other 363 days, with staff working 24/7.
Two distinctive landmarks. Photo©iStock
It is always a good idea to use more than one source of information, so here are some others for you to investigate
Read about things to see and do in Sydney. Click on each picture to see details.
https://www.sydney.com/destinations