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Guide to Sydney New South Wales
Sydney is the most populous city in
Australia with a metropolitan area population of over
four million people. 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 is also
an international tourist destination, notable for its
spectacular natural setting, beaches, and the landmarks
Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.
The Sydney region has been occupied
by indigenous Australians for at least 30 000 years, and
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 has an oceanic climate with warm
summers and cool 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 on the coast 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 January 14, 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 mm, 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 9cm
in diameter and resulting in insurance losses of around
$1.5 billion in less than one hour.
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.
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