Geographic feature and history of New South Wales

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For the full article, see <a href="/place/New-South-Wales">New South Wales</a>. </div> <div class="collection-content topic-paragraph"> <article class="content"><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="100220" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/47/94447-050-3AB6EB7F/Sydney-Austl.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/412057/100220"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/47/94447-050-3AB6EB7F/Sydney-Austl.jpg?w=740&h=416&c=crop"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/47/94447-050-3AB6EB7F/Sydney-Austl.jpg?w=740&h=416&c=crop" alt="Sydney" data-width="1600" data-height="1056" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/47/94447-050-3AB6EB7F/Sydney-Austl.jpg" data-href="/media/1/412057/100220">Sydney</a><span>Sydney, Australia.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong>New South Wales</strong>, State, southeastern Australia. Area: 309,130 sq mi (800,642 sq km). Population: (2021) 8,072,163. Capital: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/summary/Sydney-New-South-Wales" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sydney</a>. It is bounded by Queensland, the Pacific Ocean, Victoria, and South Australia. The dominant geographic feature is the Great Dividing Range. Inhabited from prehistoric times, New South Wales was claimed for Britain by Capt. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/summary/James-Cook" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">James Cook</a> in 1770. The colony included the entire continent except for Western Australia. The interior was explored throughout the 19th century, and colonies were set up there, separate from New South Wales. In 1901 it became part of the Commonwealth of Australia. The state ceded the area of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/summary/Australian-Capital-Territory" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Australian Capital Territory</a> in 1911. New South Wales is the centre of commercial farming, industry, and culture in Australia.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span></section> </article></div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal mb-20" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/summary/Darling-River"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/115893-050-1CDE5F9F/Darling-River-Bourke-NSW-Austl.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="Bourke" width="100" height="75" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/summary/Darling-River" >Darling River Summary</a> <div class="font-weight-light font-serif font-14 line-clamp clamp-2 ilf-description">Darling River, river, longest member of the Murray鈥揇arling river system in Australia; it rises in several headstreams in the Great Dividing Range (Eastern Highlands), near the New South Wales鈥換ueensland border, not far from the east coast, and flows generally southwest across New South Wales for</div> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal mb-20" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/summary/Sydney-Opera-House"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/96/100196-050-C92064E0/Sydney-Opera-House-Port-Jackson.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="Sydney Opera House" width="100" height="75" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/summary/Sydney-Opera-House" >Sydney Opera House Summary</a> <div class="font-weight-light font-serif font-14 line-clamp clamp-2 ilf-description">Sydney Opera House, opera house located on Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), New South Wales, Australia. Its unique use of a series of gleaming white sail-shaped shells as its roof structure makes it one of the most-photographed buildings in the world. The Sydney Opera House is situated on Bennelong</div> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal mb-20" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/summary/Sydney-New-South-Wales"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/86/156586-050-EFB37140/Harbour-Bridge-Sydney.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="Sydney: Harbour Bridge" width="100" height="75" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/summary/Sydney-New-South-Wales" >Sydney Summary</a> <div class="font-weight-light font-serif font-14 line-clamp clamp-2 ilf-description">Sydney, city, capital of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Located on Australia鈥檚 southeastern coast, Sydney is the country鈥檚 largest city and, with its magnificent harbour and strategic position, is one of the most important ports in the South Pacific. In the early 19th century, when it was</div> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal mb-20" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/summary/Australia"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/78/6078-050-18D5DEFE/Flag-Australia.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="Australia" width="100" height="75" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/summary/Australia" >Australia Summary</a> <div class="font-weight-light font-serif font-14 line-clamp clamp-2 ilf-description">Australia, the smallest continent and one of the largest countries on Earth, lying between the Pacific and Indian oceans in the Southern Hemisphere. Australia鈥檚 capital is Canberra, located in the southeast between the larger and more important economic and cultural centres of Sydney and Melbourne.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"TopicCollectionPage","templateName":"CONCISE","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":6,"pageId":null,"pageLength":null,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-collection-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"D","adLeg":"D","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"TopicCollectionPage","pageSubtype":"CONCISE","articleTemplateType":null,"gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Geographic feature and history of New South Wales | Britannica