Location Information

Sydney, Australia
Language: English
Currency: Australian Dollar (AUD)

The Commonwealth of Australia is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the mainland of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania and a number of other islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

The first human habitation of Australia is estimated to have occurred between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago. These first Australians were possibly the ancestors of the current Indigenous Australians; they may have arrived via land bridges and short sea-crossings from present-day South-East Asia. Most of these people were hunter-gatherers, with a complex oral culture and spiritual values based on reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland was made by the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon, who sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in 1606. During the 17th century, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines of what they called New Holland, but made no attempt at settlement. In 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast of Australia, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain.

The climate of Australia varies widely, but by far the largest part of Australia is desert. Only the south-east and south-west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil. The northern part of the country has a tropical climate: part is tropical rainforests, part grasslands, and part desert.

Australia’s main tourist attractions are Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef, the Gold Coast of Queensland and Uluru (Ayers Rock), in the rugged outback of the Northern Territory. Other attractions in the continent range from the wild flowers of Western Australia to the vineyards of the Barossa Valley, and from Western Australia’s ghost towns to the remarkable wildlife on the island of Tasmania.

There are numerous specialty dishes and foods Australia also offers an enormous variety of cuisines, including Italian, French, Greek, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Thai, Japanese, Indian, African, Lebanese and Korean. The major vineyards (wineries) are outside Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra and Adelaide. The largest single wine-growing region is in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, two hours' drive from Adelaide, where high-quality red and white wines are produced.

Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast. The city is built around Port Jackson, which includes Sydney Harbour, leading to the city's nickname, "the Harbour City".

At the time of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, 4000 - 8000 Aboriginal people lived in the region, locally known to them as "Eora". European interest in colonizing 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, who arrived at Botany Bay with a fleet of 11 ships on January 26, 1788.

Sydney has a temperate climate with warm summers and mild winters, with rainfall spread throughout the year. The weather is moderated by the ocean, and more extreme temperatures are recorded in the inland western suburbs.

In inner-city Sydney, Macquarie Place and Macquarie Street are characterized by their imposing Victorian banking chambers and municipal buildings, while further afield, the areas of Kings Cross, Darlinghurst and Paddington are thriving cosmopolitan communities, each with their own distinct character.

Kings Cross, renowned more for its red light district, has a bustling café society, while Darlinghurst comes alive every March for the world-famous Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade. Paddington has a gentler feel, with its fashionable restaurants, galleries, antique shops and restored Victorian terraces complete with wrought-iron lace verandas.

Oxford Street, the heart of Sydney’s gay area, buzzes with cafés and clubs (gay, straight and mixed) while the established red-light district of Kings Cross continues to cater for the seedier side of life. The Rocks, with its wharves and warehouses, was the original drinking heart of the city and in the early 20th century, the rowdy scene of the ritual ’six o’clock swill’, when workers would drink as much as possible before the pubs closed at 1800. Today, the period pubs have been cleaned up for the huge tourist clientele. Drinks at the harbour-side terrace across the bay, at Bennelong Point, under the curves of the Sydney Opera House, are expensive but worth it for the views.

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