Sydney

Music Home >> Music Genres >> Undetermined Music



< < < < < > > > > > More Info on Sydney Similar Undetermined Music Search Artistopia

Biography

Infobox Australian place| type = city| name = Sydney| state = nsw| image = Sydney skyline at dusk - Dec 2008.jpg| imagesize = 300| caption = The Sydney Opera House and Sydney central business district|Sydney CBD at dusk from Jeffrey Street , Kirribilli | coordinates = | force_national_map = yes| latd = 33| latm = 51| lats = 35.9| longd = 151| longm = 12| longs = 40| pushpin_label_position = left| pop = 4,627,345| pop_footnotes = | poprank = 1st| density = 2058| density_footnotes = (2006)| est = Australia Day|26 January 1788| area = 12144.6| area_footnotes =| timezone = Australian Eastern Standard Time|AEST | utc = +10| timezone-dst = Australian Eastern Daylight Time|AEDT | utc-dst = +11| dist1 = 881| dir1 = NE| location1 = Melbourne| dist2 = 938| dir2 = S| location2 = Brisbane| dist3 = 286| dir3 = NE| location3 = Canberra| dist4 = 3970| dir4 = E| location4 = Perth, Western Australia|Perth | dist5 = 1406| dir5 = E| location5 = Adelaide| lga = Sydney#Government|various (38)| county = Cumberland County, New South Wales|Cumberland | stategov = Electoral districts of New South Wales|various (49)| maxtemp = 21.7| mintemp = 13.8| rainfall = 1212.8 Sydney () is the List of cities in Australia by population|most populous city in Australia and the List of Australian capital cities|state capital of New South Wales . Sydney is classified as an Alpha+ World City indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world.

Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea . As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people. Inhabitants of Sydney are called Sydneysiders, comprising a cosmopolitan and international population.

The site of the first British colony in Australia, Sydney was established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip , commodore of the First Fleet as a penal colony .> The city is built on hills surrounding Port Jackson which is commonly known as Sydney Harbour, where the iconic Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge|Harbour Bridge feature prominently. The hinterland of the metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks , and the coastal regions feature many bays, rivers, inlets and Beaches in Sydney|beaches including the famous Bondi Beach and Manly Beach . Within the city are many notable parks, including Hyde Park, Sydney|Hyde Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney|Royal Botanic Gardens .

Sydney ranks among the top Global city|global cities in the world. In 2010, Sydney was ranked 7th in Asia and 28th globally for economic innovation in the Innovation Cities Top 100 Index by innovation agency 2thinknow. Sydney also ranks among the top 10 World's Most Livable Cities|most liveable cities in the world according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting , The Economist and Monocle (2007 magazine)|Monocle , www.mercer.com. Retrieved on 2 March 2009., The Economist . Retrieved 2 March 2009. and is considered among the top fashion capital s in the world. – The Global Language Monitor , 2011 It was also ranked in the top 10 global university cities according to RMIT University —which limited its selection to cities already ranked in the "top 100 most liveable cities".

It has hosted major international sporting events, including the 1938 British Empire Games and the 2000 Summer Olympics . The main airport serving Sydney is Sydney Airport and the main port in the city is Port Jackson|Sydney Harbour .

History

Radio carbon dating suggests that the Sydney region has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years.

The traditional indigenous inhabitants of Sydney Cove are the Cadigal people, whose land once stretched from south of Port Jackson to Petersham, New South Wales|Petersham .City of Sydney. While estimates of the population numbers prior to the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 remains contentious, approximately 4,000–8,000 Aboriginal people lived in the Sydney region prior to contact with British settlers. The British called the indigenous people the " Eora ",Kohen, J. L. 2000. First and last peoples: Aboriginal Sydney. In J. Connell (Ed.). Sydney the emergence of a global city. pp 76–95. Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-550748-7, pp 76–78, 81–82, 83 because being asked where they came from, these people would answer: " Eora ", meaning "here", or "from this place" in their language. There were three language groups in the Sydney region, which were divided into dialects spoken by smaller clans. The principal languages were Darug language|Darug (the Cadigal , original inhabitants of the City of Sydney, spoke a coastal dialect of Darug), Dharawal language|Dharawal and Guringai language|Guringai . Each clan had a territory, the location of each territory determined the resources available. Although urbanisation has destroyed much evidence of these settlements (such as shell midden s), a number of Sydney rock engravings , carvings and rock art remain visible in the Hawkesbury sandstone of the Sydney basin.

In 1770, British sea captain Lieutenant James Cook landed in Botany Bay on the Cronulla sand dunes, Kurnell Peninsula|Kurnell Peninsula . It is here that Cook made first contact with an Aboriginal community known as the Gweagal . Under instruction from the British government, a Penal colony|convict settlement was founded by Arthur Phillip, who arrived at Botany Bay with a First Fleet|fleet of 11 ships on 18 January 1788. This site was soon determined to be unsuitable for habitation, owing to poor soil and a lack of reliable fresh water. Phillip subsequently founded the colony one inlet further up the coast, at Sydney Cove on Port Jackson on 26 January 1788. However the official proclamation of the founding and naming of Sydney took place only on 7 February 1788 when he named it after the British Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney|Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney , in recognition of Sydney's role in issuing the charter authorising Phillip to establish a colony. The original name was intended to be Albion until Phillip decided upon Sydney .

In April 1789, shortly after the arrival in Botany Bay of the French expedition led by La Perouse, a catastrophic epidemic disease—thought to be smallpox—spread through the Eora people and surrounding groups, with the result that local Aborigines died in their thousands, and bodies could often be seen bobbing in the water in Sydney Harbour. The cause of the epidemic has always been a matter of speculation and controversy, introduction by the British being among the most likely explanations. In any event, the results were catastrophic for the Eora people and their kin and by the early 1800s the Aboriginal population of the Sydney basin "had been reduced to only 10 percent of the 1788 estimate", or an estimated 500 to 1000 Aboriginal people between Broken Bay and Botany Bay.

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 Lachlan Macquarie|Governor Macquarie had begun initiatives to 'civilise, Christianise and educate' the Aborigines by removing them from their clans. 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 Convictism in Australia|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 Britain and Ireland with immigrants looking to start a new life in a new country. On 20 July 1842 the municipal council of Sydney was incorporated and the town was declared the first city in Australia, with John Hosking the first elected mayor. Australian Encyclopaedia Volume 2, p 524, Angus & Robertson|Angus and Robertson Limited, 1926 The first of several Australian 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 of more than a million. In 1929, the novelist Arthur Henry Adams called it the "Siren City of the South" and the " Athens of Australia".Adams, H. Arthur '' at University of Sydney Library, 2003, p. 62. (First published 1929) 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. There has traditionally been a rivalry between Sydney-Melbourne rivalry|Sydney and Melbourne since the gold rushes of the 1850s made the capital of Victoria (Australia)|Victoria Australia's largest and richest city.Farrelly, Elizabeth Sydney Morning Herald , 4 November 2006 Sydney overtook Melbourne in population in the early years of the 20th century, and continues to be the largest city in Australia. During the 1970s and 1980s, Sydney's CBD, with a great number of financial institutions including the headquarters of the Reserve Bank of Australia|Reserve Bank , surpassed Melbourne as the nation's financial capital.Elias, David . Sydney Morning Herald , 31 December 2003 Throughout the 20th century, especially in the decades immediately following World War II, Sydney continued to expand as large numbers of European and later Asian immigrants took up residence in the metropolitan area.

Geography

Topography

Sydney's urban area is in a coastal basin, which is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Blue Mountains (New South Wales)|Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north and the Royal National Park to the south. It lies on a submergent coastline , where the ocean level has risen to flood deep river valleys ( ria ) carved in the Hawkesbury sandstone. Port Jackson, better known as Sydney Harbour, is one such ria. The Sydney area is not affected by significant earthquakes.

The urban area has around 70 harbour and ocean beaches, including the famous Bondi Beach, New South Wales|Bondi Beach . Sydney's urban area covers as of 2001. The Sydney Statistical Division, used for census data, is the unofficial metropolitan area and covers . This area includes the Central Coast (New South Wales)|Central Coast , the Blue Mountains (New South Wales)|Blue Mountains , and national parks and other unurbanised land.

Geographically, Sydney lies over two 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 and dissected by steep valleys. The parts of the city with the oldest European development are located in the flat areas south of the harbour. The North Shore (Sydney)|North Shore was slower to develop because of its hilly topography and lack of access across the harbour. The Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932 and linked the North Shore to the rest of the city.

Geology

Sydney is mostly Triassic rock, with a some recent igneous dykes and the volcanic neck. The Hawkesbury sandstone is some thick, with shale lenses and fossil riverbeds dotted throughout it. Almost all of the rocks exposed around Sydney will be sandstone. The sand that was to become this sandstone was washed from Broken Hill and laid down in the Triassic period, about two hundred million years ago, a time when plants were ferns, reptiles were becoming dinosaurs, and mammals did not exist yet. The Sydney Basin sits on the east coast of Australia, which is made up of a Sedimentary basin|basin filled with near horizontal sandstones and shales of Permian to Triassic age that overlie older basement rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt. The sedimentary rocks have been subject to uplift with gentle folding and minor faulting during the formation of the Great Dividing Range . Erosion by coastal streams have created a landscape of deep-cliffed gorges and remains of plateaus across. The Sydney Basin bioregion includes coastal landscapes of cliffs, beaches and estuaries .

Sydney is situated on low, rolling hills with wide valleys , situated in a Rain shadow|rain-shadow zone below the Blue Mountains (New South Wales)|Blue Mountains .

Climate

Sydney has a temperate climate with warm summers and mild winters. Rainfall is 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 Sydney Observatory|Observatory Hill of . An average of 14.6 days a year have temperatures of more than .

In winter, temperatures rarely drop below in coastal areas. The coldest month is July, with an average range of . Rainfall is fairly evenly spread through the year, 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 , falling on an average 138 days a year.Australian Bureau of Meteorology (Australia)|Bureau of Meteorology . 2005. ; Ellyard, D. 1994. Droughts and Flooding Rains. Angus & Robertson ISBN 0-207-18557-3 Snowfall was last reported in the Sydney City area in 1836.MacDonnell, Freda. Thomas Nelson (Australia) Limited, 1967. Before King’s Cross However, a July 2008 fall of graupel , or soft hail, mistaken by many for snow, has raised the possibility that the 1836 event was not snow, either. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 14 January 1939 at the end of a four-day heatwave across Australia and , the lowest recorded minimum at Observatory Hill.Bureau of Meteorology. 2006.

The city is not affected by tropical cyclone|cyclones . 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, these tend to occur during the spring and summer. The city is also prone to severe hail storms and wind storms. One such storm was the 1999 Sydney hailstorm|1999 hailstorm , which severely damaged Sydney's eastern and city suburbs. The storm produced massive hailstones of at least in diameter and resulting in insurance losses of around Australian dollar|A $1.7& nbsp;billion in less than five hours. The next notable event was in the first weeks of February 2010 when Sydney received some of the highest rainfalls in 25 years, which caused flash flooding and traffic chaos.

The Bureau of Meteorology (Australia)|Bureau of Meteorology has reported that 2002 through 2005 were the warmest summers in Sydney since records began in 1859. in Sydney Monthly Climate Summary& nbsp;— NSW Regional Office , Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 21 October 2007. The summer of 2007–08, however, proved to be one of the coolest summers on record. Warmer and drier conditions came back in 2009 and 2010 that recorded above average temperatures. 2011 recorded above average rainfall. In 2009 the dry conditions brought a severe 2009 Australian dust storm|dust storm towards eastern Australia .

Average annual temperature of the sea is above , from in July to in January.

Urban structure

Sydney's Sydney Central Business District|Central Business District (CBD) extends southwards for about from Sydney Cove to the area around Central railway station, Sydney|Central station . The Sydney CBD is bounded on the east side by a chain of parkland, and the west by Darling Harbour , a tourist and nightlife precinct. 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, New South Wales|North Sydney , joined to the Sydney CBD|CBD by the Sydney Harbour Bridge|Harbour Bridge , the most significant outer business districts are Parramatta, New South Wales|Parramatta in the central-west, Penrith, New South Wales|Penrith in the west, Bondi Junction, New South Wales|Bondi Junction in the east, Liverpool, New South Wales|Liverpool in the southwest, Chatswood, New South Wales|Chatswood to the north, and Hurstville, New South Wales|Hurstville to the south.

The extensive area covered by urban Sydney is formally divided into 649 Suburbs and localities (Australia)|suburbs (for addressing and postal purposes), and administered as 40 local government areas. There is no metropolitan-wide government, but the government of New South Wales and its agencies have extensive responsibilities in providing metropolitan services.Department of Local Government. Local Council Boundaries 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 (Sydney)|Eastern Suburbs ,
Hills District (Sydney)|Hills District ,
Inner West (Sydney)|Inner West ,
Canterbury-Bankstown ,
Greater Western Sydney ,
Northern Beaches (Sydney)|Northern Beaches ,
Northern Suburbs (Sydney)|Northern Suburbs ,
North Shore (Sydney)|North Shore ,
St George, New South Wales|St George ,
Southern Sydney ,
South-western Sydney ,
Sutherland Shire and
Western Sydney .

Parks and open spaces

Sydney is well-endowed with open spaces and access to waterways, and has many natural areas, even in the city centre. Within the CBD are the Chinese Garden of Friendship , Sydney Park , Hyde Park, Sydney|Hyde Park , The Domain and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney|Royal Botanic Gardens . The metropolitan area contains several national parks, including the Royal National Park , the second oldest national park in the world, and several parks in Sydney's far west which are part of the World Heritage listed Greater Blue Mountains Area .NPWS website,

The Domain was established by Governor Arthur Phillip , just six months after the arrival of the first fleet. Originally established as being exclusive to Governors, it was opened to the public in the 1830s. Hyde Park, Sydney|Hyde Park was dedicated on 13 October 1810 by Governor Macquarie for the "recreation and amusement of the inhabitants of the town and a field of exercises for the troops". To celebrate the first 100 years of European settlement, Centennial Park, New South Wales|Centennial Park was dedicated by Sir Henry Parkes in January 1888. Similarly, Bicentennial Park, Homebush Bay|Bicentennial Park was opened on 1 January 1988 to commemorate 200 years since European settlement. 1988's Bicentennial celebrations also saw the opening of the Chinese Garden of Friendship , designed by the City of Sydney|City of Sydney's Chinese sister city Guangzhou .

Architecture

Sydney has various heritage listed buildings, including Sydney Town Hall , The Queen Victoria Building , Parliament House, Sydney|Parliament House , and the Australian Museum . There is no architecture style that entirely characterises the whole of Sydney. Prominent styles include Gothic Revival , Georgian Architecture|Georgian , Classical Architecture|Classical , Romanesque architecture|Romanesque , Italianate , Federation architecture|Federation , Edwardian architecture|Edwardian , Second Empire (architecture)|Second Empire , Queen Anne Style architecture|Queen Anne , as well as more contemporary styles. The first substantial buildings designed for Sydney were by transported convict Francis Greenway , who designed such buildings and structures as the Macquarie Lighthouse , Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney|Hyde Park Barracks , St James' Church, Sydney|St James' King Street and Government House, Sydney|Government House . The Heritage of Australia , Macmillan Company, 1981
Other prominent architects were James Barnet , who designed the General Post Office (Sydney)|General Post Office , The Customs House, Sydney|Customs House , and various court houses; and Edmund Blacket , who designed St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney|St. Andrew's Cathedral and St Philip's Church, Sydney|St Philip's Church .

More contemporary architecture includes the Sydney Opera House , designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon . ; . Retrieved 24 July 2006. Described as an "artistic monument", it is one of the most recognisable landmarks in both Sydney and Australia and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site .

Harry Seidler built modernist homes and skyscrapers in Sydney, and designed prominent buildings such as the MLC Centre , the Capita Centre , and Australia Square . Seidler's designs contrasted with the Sydney school of the 1950s and 1960s, who favoured more natural and organic designs, often hidden from view in bushland. This style of architecture often utilised natural local materials as structural elements. These views were shared by Glen Murcutt , who believed that a building should blend in with its environment. Sydney has the largest skyline in Australia. Current height restrictions limit future buildings to the height of 235 metres, in part due to the close proximity of Sydney Airport .

Economy

As the financial and economic hub of Australia, Sydney has grown to become a wealthy and prosperous city. The largest economic sectors in Sydney, as measured by the number of people employed, include property and business services, retail, manufacturing, and health and community services.Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2002. Since the 1980s, jobs have moved from manufacturing to the services and information sectors. Sydney provides approximately 25 percent of the country's total GDP. – City of Sydney Media Centre. Retrieved 21 July 2006. The Australian Securities 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. Of the ten largest corporations in Australia by revenue,/ four have headquarters in Sydney: Caltex Australia Limited|Caltex Australia , the Commonwealth Bank , Westpac , and Woolworths Limited|Woolworths . Of the 54 authorised deposit-taking banks in Australia, 44 are based in Sydney including nine of the 11 foreign subsidiary banks in Australia and all of the 29 local branches of foreign banks. Major authorised foreign banks in Sydney include Citigroup , UBS Australia, Mizuho Corporate Bank, HSBC Bank Australia and Deutsche Bank . Shopping locations in Sydney include Pitt Street , George Street, Sydney|George Street , King Street , Market Street, Sydney|Market Street , and Castlereagh Street, shopping complexes such as the Queen Victoria Building and Westfield Sydney , arcades such as The Strand Arcade and Mid City Centre , and department stores such as Myer and David Jones Limited|David Jones , all of which are in the shopping district in the city centre, a place to find major international brand name labels. Also in the city centre is Chinatown, which includes Paddys Markets, which is Sydney's city markets, a place for bargain hunting.

Outside the city centre there are number of other shopping destinations of interest. Inner eastern suburbs such as Potts Point, New South Wales|Potts Point , Darlinghurst, New South Wales|Darlinghurst and Surry Hills, New South Wales|Surry Hills provide a diverse range of shops for the culturally creative and alternative lifestyle groups that live there, whilst other inner eastern areas like Paddington, New South Wales|Paddington and Woollahra, New South Wales|Woollahra are home to boutiques selling more niche products. Inner western suburbs like Newtown, New South Wales|Newtown and Glebe, New South Wales|Glebe cater more towards students and alternative lifestyles. Double Bay, New South Wales|Double Bay in Sydney's harbourside eastern suburbs is un upmarket area known for its expensive boutiques. Seaside areas, including Bondi Beach, New South Wales|Bondi Beach in the eastern beaches area and Manly, New South Wales|Manly in the northern beaches area, have a retail scene based upon their beach locations, with many surfing and surfer style clothing shops. Sydney received 7.8& nbsp;million domestic visitors and 2.5& nbsp;million international visitors in 2004.Tourism NSW. 2004 In 2007, the (then) Premier of New South Wales, Morris Iemma established Events New South Wales to "market Sydney and NSW as a leading global events destination". Fox Studios Australia has large film studios in the city.

As of 2004, the unemployment rate in Sydney was 4.9 percent.Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2005.. 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 15th in the world in terms of net earnings. As of September 2009, Sydney has the highest median Real estate pricing|house price of any Australian capital city at $636,822,, APM House Price Series – December 20011 Quarter and a median unit price of $500,000.realestate.com.au. , Sydney also has the highest median rent prices of any Australian city at $450 a week. The Sydney Region accounts for 12 percent (approximately $1& nbsp;billion per annum) of the total agricultural production, by value, of NSW. Sydney provides 55% of NSW's flower production and 58% of its turf production, as well as 44% of state's nurseries.
In 1994–1995 Sydney produced 44% of New South Wales' poultry meat and 48% of the state's eggs.

Demographics

Population (2006)
The ten largest overseas born populations Census 2006 AUS
United Kingdom
People's Republic of China
New Zealand
Vietnam
Lebanon
India
Philippines
Italy
Hong Kong
South Korea

Sydney population by year
1800
1820
1851
1871
1901
1925
1962
2001
2006
2011
2026
2056

The 2006 census reported 4,119,190 residents in the Census in Australia|Sydney Statistical Division , of which 3,641,422 lived in Sydney's Urban Centre. Inner Sydney was the most densely populated place in Australia with .Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2005. In the 2006 census, the most common self-described ancestries identified for Sydney residents were Australian, English Australian|English , Irish Australian|Irish , Scottish Australian|Scottish , and Chinese Australian|Chinese . The Census also recorded that 1.1% of Sydney's population identified as being of Aboriginal Australian|indigenous origin , and 31.7% were born overseas. Asian Australian s made up 18.8% of the population in Sydney's Urban Centre and 16.9% of the wider Statistical Division. The three major sources of Immigration to Australia|immigrants are the United Kingdom, China and New Zealand, followed by Vietnam, Lebanon, India, Italy, and the Philippines. Many residents are native speakers of Australian English|English ; many have a second language, the most common being Arabic (predominantly Lebanese Arabic ), Cantonese language|Cantonese , Mandarin language|Mandarin , Greek and Vietnamese language|Vietnamese . Sydney has the seventh-largest percentage of foreign-born individuals in the world. Immigrants account for 75% of Sydney's annual population growth.. Christian Science Monitor 29 January 2003.

The median age of Sydney residents is 34; 12% of the population is over 65 years old. 15.2% of residents have educational attainment equal to at least a bachelor's degree ,The City of Sydney Community Profile& nbsp;— Sydney Statistical Division. 2006. , profile.id In the 2006 census, 64% of the residents identified themselves as Christianity in Australia|Christians , 14.1% had Irreligion|no religion , 10.4% left the question blank, 4.4% were Islam in Australia|Muslims , 3.7% were Buddhism in Australia|Buddhists , 1.7% were Hinduism in Australia|Hindus , 0.9% were Judaism in Australia|Jewish and 0.4 were Bahá'í Faith in Australia|Bahai . http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/LocationSearch? locationLastSearchTerm=sydney+& locationSearchTerm=sydney+& newarea=UCL171400& submitbutton=View+QuickStats+>& mapdisplay=on& collection=C

Culture

As a dynamic cultural hub, Sydney has many fine and internationally known museums and galleries, such as the Art Gallery of New South Wales , the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney|Museum of Contemporary Art , the White Rabbit Gallery , Brett Whiteley Studio , Museum of Sydney and the Powerhouse Museum , in addition to a thriving commercial gallery scene of contemporary art, mainly in the inner-city areas of Waterloo, New South Wales|Waterloo , Surry Hills, New South Wales|Surry Hills , Darlinghurst, New South Wales|Darlinghurst , Paddington, New South Wales|Paddington , Chippendale, New South Wales|Chippendale , Newtown, New South Wales|Newtown and Woollahra, New South Wales|Woollahra .

Sydney hosts many different festivals and some of Australia's largest social and cultural events. These include the Sydney Festival , Australia's largest arts festival which is a celebration involving both indoor and free outdoor performances throughout January; the Biennale of Sydney dedicated to international and Australian contemporary art; the Big Day Out , a travelling rock-music festival which originated in Sydney; the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras|Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras along Oxford Street, Sydney|Oxford Street ; the Sydney Film Festival and many other smaller film festivals such as the short film Tropfest and Flickerfest. Sculpture by the Sea , Australia's largest outdoor sculpture exhibit, began at Bondi Beach in 1996.

Australia's premier prize for portraiture, the Archibald Prize is organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The Sydney Royal Easter Show is held every year at Sydney Olympic Park, the final of Australian Idol takes place on the steps of the Opera House, and Australian Fashion Week takes place in April/May and September. Sydney's New Year's Eve and Australia Day celebrations are the largest in Australia.

A survey based on tracking the frequency of words and phrases in the media, cited Sydney as number 9 on a list of the world's top fashion cities in 2009. The city is the site of the world renowned Rosemount Australian Fashion Week , which occurs biannually, and is home to many of Australia's premier fashion houses. Most international designers have a major presence in Sydney and Australia's Next Top Model is one of the most watched shows on national television.

Entertainment and performing arts

Sydney's cultural institutions include the Sydney's famous Opera House. It has five halls, including a large concert hall and opera and drama theatres; it is the home of Opera Australia —the third-busiest opera company in the world, and the Sydney Symphony under the leadership of Vladimir Ashkenazy . Other venues include the Sydney Town Hall , City Recital Hall , the State Theatre (Sydney)|State Theatre , the Theatre Royal, Sydney , the Sydney Theatre and the Wharf Theatre , the Capitol Theatre, Sydney|Capitol Theatre and the Lyric and Star Theatres at The Star. The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is located adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens and serves the Australian music community through music education and biannual Australian Music Examination Board exams. The Sydney Dance Company was under the leadership of Graeme Murphy during the late 20th century. The Sydney Theatre Company has a regular roster of local plays, such as noted playwright David Williamson , classics and international playwrights. In 2007, The New Theatre (Newtown)|New Theatre celebrated 75 years of continuous production in Sydney. Other important theatre companies in Sydney include Company B (theatre)|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. The National Institute of Dramatic Art , based in Kensington, New South Wales|Kensington , boasts internationally famous alumni such as Mel Gibson , Judy Davis , Baz Luhrmann and Cate Blanchett . Sydney's role in the film industry has increased since the opening of Fox Studios Australia in 1998.

Prominent films that have been filmed in the city include Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie , Moulin Rouge! , Mission: Impossible II , Star Wars episodes Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones|II and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith|III , Superman Returns , Dark City (1998 film)|Dark City , Son of the Mask , Stealth (film)|Stealth , Dil Chahta Hai , Happy Feet , Australia (2008 film)|Australia and The Matrix . Films using Sydney as a setting include Finding Nemo , Strictly Ballroom , '' Muriel's Wedding , Our Lips Are Sealed , and Dirty Deeds (2002 film)|Dirty Deeds ''. Many Bollywood movies have also been filmed in Sydney including Singh Is Kinng , Bachna Ae Haseeno , Chak De India , Heyy Babyy . As of 2006, over 229 films have been set in, or featured Sydney. Sydney's most popular nightspots include Kings Cross, New South Wales|Kings Cross , Oxford Street, Sydney|Oxford Street , Darling Harbour , Circular Quay and The Rocks, New South Wales|The Rocks , which all contain various bars, nightclubs and restaurants. The Star (casino)|The Star is Sydney's only casino and is situated around Darling Harbour. There are many traditional pubs, cafes and restaurants in inner-city areas such as Newtown, New South Wales|Newtown , Balmain, New South Wales|Balmain , Leichhardt, New South Wales|Leichhardt and Surry Hills . Sydney's main live music hubs include areas such as Newtown and Annandale, New South Wales|Annandale , which nurtured acts such as AC/DC , Bliss n Eso , Sparkadia , Midnight Oil and INXS . Other popular nightspots tend to be spread throughout the city in areas such as Bondi, New South Wales|Bondi , Manly, New South Wales|Manly , Cronulla, New South Wales|Cronulla and Parramatta, New South Wales|Parramatta .

Tourism

In the year ending March 2008, Sydney received 2.7& nbsp;million international visitors. The most well-known attractions include the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Other attractions include Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney|Royal Botanical Gardens , Luna Park Sydney|Luna Park , List of beaches in Sydney|some 40 beaches and Sydney Tower .

Sydney also has several popular museums, such as 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, Sydney|Museum of Contemporary Art and the Australian National Maritime Museum .

Sport and outdoor activities

Sport is an important part of Sport in Sydney|Sydney's culture . The most popular sport in Sydney is rugby league . The NSWRFL (today known as the National Rugby League|NRL ) began in Sydney in New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1908|the 1908 season and is the largest and most prestigious domestic rugby league competition in the Southern Hemisphere . The city is home to nine of the sixteen teams currently in the National Rugby League competition: the Canterbury Bulldogs , Cronulla Sharks , Manly Sea Eagles , Penrith Panthers , Parramatta Eels , South Sydney Rabbitohs , St George Illawarra Dragons , Sydney Roosters and Wests Tigers .

Cricket is the most popular summer sport in Sydney. The Ashes Series between Australia and England is widely popular among the people. As the state capital, Sydney is also the home of the NSW Blues|NSW Blues cricket team in the Sheffield Shield|Sheffield Shield cricket competition . Sydney Cricket Ground and ANZ Stadium host cricket matches. This city has also hosted 1992 Cricket World Cup and will also host the 2015 Cricket World Cup . Sydney Cricket Ground is at present the only test venue in the city. Plans are going on to accommodate ANZ Stadium as an international cricket venue for Australia national cricket team|Australia .

Sydney is the only city other than Brisbane and Melbourne to have an elite presence in the 4 major football codes of Australia – rugby league , soccer, rugby union and Australian rules football . Soccer is represented by Sydney FC in the A-League , whilst the second tier competitions NSWPL and NSW Super League provide many players to the A-League. Sydney also hosts major soccer events of the national team, the Socceroos , most notably the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL-OFC play-off)|World Cup Qualifier against Uruguay in 2005. Rugby Union is represented by the NSW Waratahs in the elite Southern Hemisphere Super Rugby competition. The Suburban rugby competition is the Shute Shield which provides many Super 15 players. High profile Australia national rugby union team|Wallabies games are held in Sydney such as the Bledisloe Cup , Tri Nations (rugby union)|Tri Nations matches, British and Irish Lions games, and most notably the final of the 2003 Rugby World Cup against England national rugby union team|England .

Sydney also has an Australian Football League (AFL) team called the Sydney Swans , with a second team Greater Western Sydney Football Club|Greater Western Sydney forming to enter the AFL in 2012, a woman's netball team ( New South Wales Swifts|Swifts ),a ABL baseball team ( Sydney Blue Sox ), a field hockey team ( New South Wales Waratahs (field hockey)|Waratahs ), two ice hockey teams ( Penrith Bears & Sydney Ice Dogs ) a Women's National Basketball League|WNBL team (Sydney Uni Flames) and the Sydney Kings competing in the National Basketball League (Australia)|NBL .

The New South Wales rugby league team contests the annual State of Origin series against the Queensland Maroons . Large sporting events such as the NRL Grand Final and Bledisloe Cup games are regularly held at the Stadium Australia|ANZ Stadium , the main stadium for the 2000 Summer Olympics .

Other events in Sydney include the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race , the Golden Slipper horse race, and the City to Surf (Sydney)|City to Surf race. Prominent sporting venues in Sydney include the Sydney Cricket Ground or SCG, Stadium Australia|ANZ Stadium , The Sydney Football Stadium , Eastern Creek Raceway , Randwick Racecourse|Royal Randwick and Rosehill Gardens Racecourse .

Media

Sydney has two main daily newspapers. The Sydney Morning Herald is the oldest extant newspaper in Australia, having been published regularly since 1831. The Herald's competitor, The Daily Telegraph (Australia)|The Daily Telegraph , is a News Corporation -owned tabloid. Both papers have tabloid counterparts published on Sunday, The Sun-Herald and the Sunday Telegraph , respectively.

The three commercial television networks ( Seven Network|Seven , Nine Network|Nine , Network Ten|Ten ), as well as the government national broadcast services ( Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC and Special Broadcasting Service|SBS ) are headquartered in Sydney. Also a community television station, Television Sydney|TVS , broadcasts in the Sydney area. Historically, the networks have been based in the northern suburbs, but the last decade has seen several move to the inner city. Nine has kept its headquarters north of the harbour, in Willoughby, New South Wales|Willoughby . Ten has its studios in a redeveloped section of the inner-city suburb of Pyrmont, New South Wales|Pyrmont , and Seven also has headquarters in Pyrmont, production studios at Epping, New South Wales|Epping as well as a purpose-built news studio in Martin Place in the CBD.

The ABC has a large headquarters and production facility in the inner-city suburb of Ultimo, New South Wales|Ultimo and SBS has its studios at Artarmon, New South Wales|Artarmon . Foxtel and Optus Television|Optus both supply pay-TV over their cable services to most parts of the urban area, and both have their national headquarters in the Northern suburb of North Ryde, New South Wales|North Ryde .

The five free-to-air networks have provided digital television transmissions in Sydney since January 2000. There are also nine additional Freeview (Australia)|Freeview Digital Services. These include ABC2 , ABC3 , ABC News 24 , SBS Two , 7TWO , 7mate , Go& #33; (Australian TV channel)|GO! , GEM HD , ONE HD and Eleven (TV channel)|Eleven .

Many Amplitude modulation|AM and Frequency modulation|FM government, commercial and community radio services broadcast in the Sydney area. The local ABC Local Radio|ABC radio station is 702 ABC Sydney (formerly 2BL). The talkback radio genre is dominated by the perennial rivals 2GB and 2UE . Popular Music radio stations include Triple M , 2Day FM and Nova 96.9 , which generally target people under 40. In the older end of the music radio market, Classic Rock 95.3 and Mix 106.5 target the 25–54 age group, while 2WS|WS-FM targets the 40–54 age group with their Classic hits|Classic Hits format mostly focusing on the 70s and 80s. Triple J (ABC), 2SER and FBi Radio provide a more independent, local and alternative sound. There are also a number of community stations broadcasting to a particular language group or local area.

On 1 July 2009, Digital radio in Australia|DAB+ Digital Radio officially started. ABC and commercial radios provide full programming.

Government

Apart from the limited role of the Cumberland County, New South Wales|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 in Australia|local government areas (LGAs) which are comparable to boroughs in cities such as London. These areas have elected councils which are responsible for functions delegated to them by the Government of New South Wales|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.

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 the 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.Golder, Hilary, Sacked: Removing and Remaking the Sydney City Council , Sydney, 2004.

The 38 LGAs commonly described as making up Sydney are:

Municipality of Ashfield|Ashfield

Auburn Council|Auburn

City of Bankstown|Bankstown

City of Blacktown|Blacktown

City of Botany Bay|Botany Bay

Burwood Council|Burwood

Camden Council (New South Wales)|Camden

City of Campbelltown, New South Wales|Campbelltown

City of Canada Bay|Canada Bay

City of Canterbury, New South Wales|Canterbury

City of Fairfield|Fairfield

The Hills Shire|The Hills

City of Holroyd|Holroyd

Hornsby Shire|Hornsby

Municipality of Hunter's Hill|Hunter's Hill

City of Hurstville|Hurstville

Municipality of Kogarah|Kogarah

Ku-ring-gai Council|Ku-ring-gai

Municipality of Lane Cove|Lane Cove

Municipality of Leichhardt|Leichhardt

City of Liverpool, New South Wales|Liverpool

Manly Council|Manly

Marrickville Council|Marrickville

Municipality of Mosman|Mosman

North Sydney Council|North Sydney

City of Parramatta|Parramatta

City of Penrith|Penrith

Pittwater Council|Pittwater

City of Randwick|Randwick

City of Rockdale|Rockdale

City of Ryde|Ryde

Municipality of Strathfield|Strathfield

Sutherland Shire|Sutherland

City of Sydney|Sydney

Warringah Council|Warringah

Waverley Council|Waverley

City of Willoughby|Willoughby

Municipality of Woollahra|Woollahra

The classification of which councils make up Sydney varies. The Local Government Association of New South Wales considers all LGAs lying entirely in Cumberland County, New South Wales|Cumberland County as part of its 'Metro' group, which excludes Camden (classed in its 'Country' group). The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines a Sydney Statistical Division (the population figures of which are used in this article) that includes all of the above councils as well as Wollondilly Shire|Wollondilly , City of the Blue Mountains|the Blue Mountains , Hawkesbury Shire|Hawkesbury , City of Gosford|Gosford and Wyong Shire|Wyong .

Education

Sydney is home to some of Australia's most prominent educational institutions. The University of Sydney , established in 1850, is Australia's oldest university and the largest in Sydney. Other Public university|public universities located in Sydney include the University of Technology, Sydney , the University of New South Wales , Macquarie University , 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 , the University of Wollongong and Curtin University of Technology .

There are four multi-campus government-funded Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes in Sydney, which provide Vocational education|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 State school|public , Parochial school|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 List of school education areas in New South Wales|education areas in Sydney, that together co-ordinate 919 schools. Of the 30 Selective school (New South Wales)|selective high schools in the state, 25 are in Sydney.

Infrastructure

Health systems

Health services are delivered through a mix of public and private systems, funded by government (from tax revenue) and private health insurance. The government of New South Wales operates several large public hospitals in the Sydney metropolitan region. Management of these hospitals and other specialist health facilities is coordinated by the eight metropolitan (LHDs). These eight LHDs cover the Sydney metropolitan region, and seven more cover rural and regional NSW. In addition, two specialist networks focus on Children's and Paediatric Services, and Forensic Mental Health. A third network operates across the public health services provided in three Sydney facilities operated by St Vincent's Health: these include St Vincent's Hospital and the Sacred Heart Hospice at Darlinghurst and St Joseph’s at Auburn.

The largest teaching hospitals are: the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital , The Prince of Wales Hospital and the Royal North Shore Hospital .

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 are the nine Metroad s, which include the Sydney Orbital Network . Sydney is also served by train, taxi, bus and ferry networks.

Railways in Sydney|Trains in Sydney are run by CityRail , a state-run corporation. Trains run as suburban commuter rail services in the outer suburbs, then converge in an underground city loop service in the central business district. In the years following the 2000 Olympics, CityRail's performance declined significantly. In 2005, CityRail introduced a revised timetable and employed more drivers.CityRail (2005). A large infrastructure project, the CityRail Clearways Project|Clearways project, is scheduled to be completed by 2010.CityRail (2002).
In 2007 a report found Cityrail performed poorly compared to many metro services from other world cities.
Figures released by RailCorp show that during the period of 2011/2012, 95.4% of trains arrived on time and 99.6% of services ran as scheduled. However, a survey conducted in September 2011 revealed that 6 of the 13 lines had a maximum load that exceeded 135% (of the seated capacity) during the peak morning commute.

Sydney has one privately operated light rail line, Metro Light Rail , running from Central railway station, Sydney|Central Station to Lilyfield along a former goods train line. The Metro Monorail runs in a loop around the main shopping district and Darling Harbour . Sydney was once served by an extensive Trams in Sydney|tram network , which was progressively closed in the 1950s and 1960s.Improve Sydney Public Transport.

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 and localities (Australia)|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 bus rapid transit|rapid bus transitways in areas not previously well served by public transport began in 1999, and the first of these, the Liverpool-Parramatta Rapid Bus Transitway|Liverpool–Parramatta Rapid Bus Transitway , opened in February 2003. State government-owned Sydney Ferries runs numerous commuter and tourist ferry services on Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River .

Sydney Airport , in the suburb of Mascot, New South Wales|Mascot , is Sydney's main airport, and is one of the oldest continually operated airports in the world. The smaller Bankstown Airport mainly serves private and general aviation . There is a light aviation airfield at Camden, New South Wales|Camden . RAAF Base Richmond lies to the north-west of the city.

The question of the need for a Second Sydney Airport has raised much controversy. A 2003 study found that Sydney Airport can manage as Sydney's sole international airport for 20 years, with a significant increase in airport traffic predicted.Finding of "The Sydney Airport Master Plan (2003)" referred to in: The resulting expansion of the airport would have a substantial impact on the community, including additional aircraft noise affecting residents. Land has been acquired at Badgerys Creek, New South Wales|Badgerys Creek for a second airport, the site acting as a focal point of political argument.

Sydney's notably low population density can be traced in part to its public transport network. The city, founded in 1788 acquired its public transport system relatively early on in its life – rail services began in 1855. Working-class suburbs could thus be built far from the city centre, whereas in older cities the need to maintain walking distance between residential and employment centres kept sprawl to a minimum.Forster, Clive 1996 Australian Cities: Continuity and Change . Oxford University Press

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 Dams|Blue Mountains , Woronora Dam , Warragamba Dam and the Shoalhaven Scheme .Sydney Catchment Authority. Historically low water levels in the catchment have led to water use Water restrictions in Australia|restrictions and the NSW government is investigating alternative water supply options, including Greywater|grey water recycling and the construction of a seawater reverse osmosis Kurnell Desalination Plant|desalination plant at Kurnell .Sydney Water. As of May 2009, the plant was 80% completed, and was due to start supplying fresh water to Sydney at the end of the year.. The Age . Retrieved 20 June 2009. In late January 2010, the NSW government announced that desalination plant was operating and people in different regions were being supplied with desalinated water. Sydney Water also collects the wastewater and sewage produced by the city.

Two distributors supply electricity to Sydney: Ausgrid (previously Energy Australia), and Endeavour Energy (previously Integral Energy). There are several retailers including TRUenergy, Origin Energy, AGL Energy, and others. Several companies supply natural gas to Sydney through retailers: AGL Energy|AGL , TRUenergy , Origin Energy and others. The natural gas supply for the city is sourced from the Cooper Basin in South Australia. Numerous telecommunications companies operate in Sydney providing terrestrial and mobile telecommunications services.

Copyright Citations

This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: Sydney


1. 30 Odd Foot of Grunts 2. All-4-One 3. Marian Anderson 4. Richard Ashcroft 5. Winifred Atwell 6. Avalon 7. Baby Animals 8. Burt Bacharach 9. Backsliders 10. Jimmy Barnes 11. The Barra MacNeils 12. Beasts of Bourbon 13. Sidney Bechet 14. Peter Bellamy 15. Idil Biret 16. Bond 17. Bonzo Dog Band 18. Al Bowlly 19. Daryl Braithwaite 20. Brassy 21. Dennis Brown 22. Troy Cassar-Daley 23. Julian Cheung 24. Jarvis Cocker 25. Cold Chisel

Undetermined Music Artists