Sydney

Sydney (/ˈ s ɪ d n i / ( listen ) SID -nee; Dharug: Gadi ;[5][6] Greater Sydney, Dharug: Eora [7]) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania.[8] Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Port Jackson and extends about 70 km (43.5 mi) on its periphery towards the Blue Mountains to the west, Hawkesbury to the north, the Royal National Park to the south and Macarthur to the south-west.[9] Sydney is made up of 658 suburbs, spread across 33 local government areas. Residents of the city are known as "Sydneysiders".[10] As of June 2020, Sydney's estimated metropolitan population was 5,367,206,[11] meaning the city is home to approximately 66% of the state's population.[12] Nicknames of the city include the 'Emerald City' and the 'Harbour City'.[13]

Indigenous Australians have inhabited the Sydney area for at least 30,000 years, and thousands of Aboriginal engravings remain throughout the region. During his first Pacific voyage in 1770, Lieutenant James Cook and his crew became the first Europeans to chart the eastern coast of Australia, making landfall at Botany Bay. In 1788, the First Fleet of convicts, led by Arthur Phillip, founded Sydney as a British penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia.[14] After World War II, it experienced mass migration and became one of the most multicultural cities in the world.[2] Furthermore, 45.4% of the population reported having been born overseas, and the city has the third-largest foreign-born population of any city in the world after London and New York City.[15][16]

Despite being one of the most expensive cities in the world,[17] Sydney frequently ranks in the top ten most liveable cities in the world.[18][19][20] It is classified as an Alpha global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world.[21][22] Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity,[23] Sydney has an advanced market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing and tourism.[24][25] Established in 1850, the University of Sydney was Australia's first university and is regarded as one of the world's leading universities.[26]

Sydney has hosted major international sporting events such as the 2000 Summer Olympics. The city is among the top fifteen most-visited cities in the world,[27] with millions of tourists coming each year to see the city's landmarks.[28] Boasting over 1,000,000 ha (2,500,000 acres) of nature reserves and parks,[29] its notable natural features include Sydney Harbour and Royal National Park. Built attractions such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the World Heritage-listed Sydney Opera House are also well known to international visitors. The main passenger airport serving the metropolitan area is Kingsford Smith Airport, one of the world's oldest continually operating airports.[30]

The first people to inhabit the area now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians who had migrated from northern Australia and before that from southeast Asia. Aboriginal stone tools found in Western Sydney's gravel sediments indicate there was human settlement from 45,000 to 50,000 years BP,[31] while radiocarbon dating has shown evidence of human activity in the Sydney area from around 30,000 years ago.[32] Prior to the arrival of the British, there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney, from as many as 29 different clans.[33]

The first meeting between the native people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed on the Kurnell peninsula in Botany Bay and encountered the Gweagal clan.[34][35][36] He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors.[34] Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned to start a settlement. He spent a short time collecting food and conducting scientific observations before continuing north along the east coast of Australia and claiming it for Britain.

The earliest British settlers called the natives Eora people. "Eora" is the term the indigenous population used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is "from this place".[37] Around 29 clan groups of the Eora Nation inhabited the region at the time of European contact.[38] Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan.[33] The principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The first Europeans to visit noted that the indigenous people were camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells, and cooking fish.[34]

Britain—before that, England—and Ireland had for a long time been sending their convicts across the Atlantic to the American colonies. That practice was ended with the Declaration of Independence by the United States in 1776. Britain decided in 1786 to found a new penal outpost in the territory discovered by Cook some 16 years earlier.[14]

Captain Phillip led the First Fleet of 11 ships and about 850 convicts into Botany Bay on 18 January 1788, though deemed the location unsuitable due to poor soil and a lack of fresh water. He travelled a short way further north and arrived at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788.[39][40] This was to become the location of the new colony. Phillip described Port Jackson as being "without exception the finest harbour in the world".[41] The colony was at first to be titled "New Albion" (after Albion, another name for Great Britain), but Phillip decided on "Sydney", whom he named after Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney. The official proclamation and naming of the colony happened on 7 February 1788. Lieutenant William Dawes produced a town plan in 1790, but it was ignored by the colony's leaders, and Sydney's layout today reflects this lack of planning.[42]

Between 1788 and 1792, 3,546 male and 766 female convicts were landed at Sydney, many of them "professional criminals" with few of the skills required for the establishment of a colony. The food situation reached crisis point in 1790. Early efforts at agriculture were fraught and supplies from overseas were scarce. From 1791 on, however, the more regular arrival of ships and the beginnings of trade lessened the feeling of isolation and improved supplies.[43]

The colony was not founded on the principles of freedom and prosperity. Maps from this time show no prison buildings; the punishment for convicts was transportation rather than incarceration, but serious offences were penalised by flogging and hanging.[44] Phillip sent exploratory missions in search of better soils and fixed on the Parramatta region as a promising area for expansion, and moved many of the convicts from late 1788 to establish a small township, which became the main centre of the colony's economic life, leaving Sydney Cove only as an important port and focus of social life. Poor equipment and unfamiliar soils and climate continued to hamper the expansion of farming from Farm Cove to Parramatta and Toongabbie, but a building programme, assisted by convict labour, advanced steadily.[45]

Officers and convicts alike faced starvation as supplies ran low and little could be cultivated from the land.[46] The region's indigenous population was also suffering. It is estimated that half the native people in Sydney died during the smallpox epidemic of 1789.[33][47] Enlightened for his time, Phillip's personal intent was to establish harmonious relations with local Aboriginal people and try to reform as well as discipline the convicts of the colony. Phillip and several of his officers – most notably Watkin Tench – left journals and accounts that tell of immense hardships during the first years of settlement.[48] Part of Macquarie's effort to transform the colony was his authorisation for convicts to re-enter society as free citizens.[48] Roads, bridges, wharves, and public buildings were constructed using convict labour and by 1822 the town had banks, markets, and well-established thoroughfares. Parramatta Road was opened in 1811, being one of Sydney's oldest roads and Australia's first highway between two cities – Sydney (present day city centre) and Parramatta.[49]

Conditions in the colony were not conducive to the development of a thriving metropolis, but the more regular arrival of ships and the beginnings of maritime trade (such as in wool) helped to lessen the burden of isolation.[44] Between 1788 and 1792, convicts and their jailers made up the majority of the population; in one generation, however, a population of emancipated convicts who could be granted land began to grow. These people pioneered Sydney's private sector economy and were later joined by soldiers whose military service had expired, and later still by free settlers who began arriving from Britain. Governor Phillip departed the colony for England on 11 December 1792, with the new settlement having survived near starvation and immense isolation for four years.[50]

Between 1790 and 1816, Sydney was one of the many sites of the Australian Frontier Wars, a series of conflicts between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the resisting Indigenous clans.[51] In 1790, when the British established farms along the Hawkesbury River, an Aboriginal leader Pemulwuy resisted the Europeans by waging a guerrilla-style warfare on the settlers in a series of wars known as the Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars, which took place in western Sydney. He raided farms until Governor Macquarie dispatched troops from the British Army 46th Regiment in 1816 and ended the conflict by killing 14 Indigenous Australians in a raid on their campsite.[52][53]

In 1804, Irish convicts led the Castle Hill Rebellion, a rebellion by convicts against colonial authority in the Castle Hill area of the British colony of New South Wales. The first and only major convict uprising in Australian history suppressed under martial law, the rebellion ended in a battle fought between convicts and the colonial forces of Australia at Rouse Hill.[54] The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australian history, where the Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, was ousted by the New South Wales Corps under the command of Major George Johnston, who led the rebellion. Conflicts arose between the governors and the officers of the Rum Corps, many of which were land owners such as John Macarthur.

Early Sydney was moulded by the hardship suffered by early settlers. In the early years, drought and disease caused widespread problems, but the situation soon improved. The military colonial government was reliant on the army, the New South Wales Corps. Macquarie served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social and economic development of Sydney which saw it transition from a penal colony to a budding free society. He established public works, a bank, churches, and charitable institutions and sought good relations with the Aborigines. A gold rush occurred in the colony in 1851, and over the next century, Sydney transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural and economic centre.

Over the course of the 19th-century Sydney established many of its major cultural institutions. Governor Lachlan Macquarie's vision for Sydney included the construction of grand public buildings and institutions fit for a colonial capital. Macquarie Street began to take shape as a ceremonial thoroughfare of grand buildings. The year 1840 was the final year of convict transportation to Sydney, which by this time had a population of 35,000.[39][44] Gold was discovered in the colony in 1851 and with it came thousands of people seeking their fortune.[39][55] Sydney's population reached 200,000 by 1871 and during this time the city entered a period of prosperity which was reflected in the construction of grand edifices. Temperance coffee palaces, hotels as well as other civic buildings such as libraries and museums were erected in the city.[56][57][58] Demand for infrastructure to support the growing population and subsequent economic activity led to massive improvements to the city's railway and port systems throughout the 1850s and 1860s.[59]

After a period of rapid growth, further discoveries of gold in Victoria began drawing new residents away from Sydney towards Melbourne in the 1850s, which created a historically strong rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne.[60][61][62] Nevertheless, Sydney exceeded Melbourne's population in the early twentieth century and remains Australia's largest city.[8][63] Following the depression of the 1890s, the six colonies agreed to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Sydney's beaches had become popular seaside holiday resorts, but daylight sea bathing was considered indecent until the early 20th century.[45]

Under the reign of Queen Victoria federation of the six colonies occurred on 1 January 1901. Sydney, with a population of 481,000, then became the state capital of New South Wales. The Great Depression of the 1930s had a severe effect on Sydney's economy, as it did with most cities throughout the industrial world. For much of the 1930s up to one in three breadwinners were unemployed.[64] Construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge served to alleviate some of the effects of the economic downturn by employing 1,400 men between 1924 and 1932.[65] The population continued to boom despite the Depression, having reached 1 million in 1925.[59] The city had one of the largest tram networks in the British Empire until it was dismantled in 1961.

When Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, Australia also entered. During the war, Sydney experienced a surge in industrial development to meet the needs of a wartime economy. Far from mass unemployment, there were now labour shortages and women becoming active in male roles. Sydney's harbour was attacked by the Japanese in May and June 1942 with a direct attack from Japanese submarines with some loss of life.[66] Households throughout the city had built air raid shelters and performed drills.

Consequently, Sydney experienced population growth and increased cultural diversification throughout the post-war period. The people of Sydney warmly welcomed Queen Elizabeth II in 1954 when the reigning monarch stepped onto Australian soil for the first time to commence her Australian Royal Tour.[67] Having arrived on the Royal Yacht Britannia through Sydney Heads, Her Majesty came ashore at Farm Cove. There were 1.7 million people living in Sydney in 1950 and almost 3 million by 1975. The Australian government launched a large scale multicultural immigration program.

New industries such as information technology, science, education, culture, financial services and the arts have risen. Sydney's iconic Opera House was opened in 1973 by Her Majesty. A new skyline of concrete and steel skyscrapers swept away much of the old lowrise and often sandstone skyline of the city in the 1960s and 1970s, with Australia Square being the tallest building in Sydney from its completion in 1967 until 1976 and is also notable for being the first skyscraper in Australia.[68] This prolific growth of contemporary high-rise architecture was put in check by heritage laws in the 1990s onwards, which prevent the demolition of any structure deemed historically significant. Since the 1970s Sydney has undergone a rapid economic and social transformation. As a result of immigration, the city has become a cosmopolitan melting pot.

To relieve congestion on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Sydney Harbour Tunnel opened in August 1992. The 2000 Summer Olympics were held in Sydney and became known as the "best Olympic Games ever" by the President of the International Olympic Committee.[69] Sydney has maintained extensive political, economic and cultural influence over Australia as well as international renown in recent decades. Following the Olympics, the city hosted the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the APEC Australia 2007 and Catholic World Youth Day 2008, led by Pope Benedict XVI.

Sydney is a coastal basin with the Tasman Sea to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north, and the Woronora Plateau to the south. The inner city measures 25 km2 (10 sq mi), the Greater Sydney region covers 12,367 km2 (4,775 sq mi), and the city's urban area is 1,687 km2 (651 sq mi) in size.[70][71][72] Greater Sydney's boundaries stretch 88 kilometres (55 mi) from Palm Beach in the north to Waterfall in the south, and 70 kilometres (43 mi) from Bondi Beach in the east to Emu Plains in the west.

Sydney spans two geographic regions. The Cumberland Plain lies to the south and west of the Harbour and is relatively flat. The Hornsby Plateau is located to the north and is dissected by steep valleys. The flat areas of the south were the first to be developed as the city grew. It was not until the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge that the northern reaches of the coast became more heavily populated. Seventy surf beaches can be found along its coastline with Bondi Beach being one of the most famous.

The Nepean River wraps around the western edge of the city and becomes the Hawkesbury River before reaching Broken Bay. Most of Sydney's water storages can be found on tributaries of the Nepean River. The Parramatta River is mostly industrial and drains a large area of Sydney's western suburbs into Port Jackson. The southern parts of the city are drained by the Georges River and the Cooks River into Botany Bay.

According to calculations by the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 25.9% of Sydney is covered by trees, making it the third largest city in the world with the most trees after Singapore and Oslo, respectively, tying with Vancouver.[73]

Sydney is made up of mostly Triassic rock with some recent igneous dykes and volcanic necks (typically found in the Prospect dolerite intrusion, west of Sydney).[74] The Sydney Basin was formed when the Earth's crust expanded, subsided, and filled with sediment in the early Triassic period.[75] The sand that was to become the sandstone of today was washed there by rivers from the south and northwest and laid down between 360 and 200 million years ago. The sandstone has shale lenses and fossil riverbeds.[75]

The Sydney Basin bioregion includes coastal features of cliffs, beaches, and estuaries. Deep river valleys known as rias were carved during the Triassic period in the Hawkesbury sandstone of the coastal region where Sydney now lies. The rising sea level between 18,000 and 6,000 years ago flooded the rias to form estuaries and deep harbours.[75] Port Jackson, better known as Sydney Harbour, is one such ria.[76] Sydney features two major soil types; sandy soils (which originate from the Hawkesbury sandstone) and clay (which are from shales and volcanic rocks), though some soils may be a mixture of the two.[77]

Directly overlying the older Hawkesbury sandstone is the Wianamatta shale, a geological feature found in western Sydney that was deposited in connection with a large river delta during the Middle Triassic period which shifted over time from west to east. The Wianamatta shale generally comprises fine grained sedimentary rocks such as shales, mudstones, ironstones, siltstones and laminites, with less common sandstone units.[78] The Wianamatta Group is made up of the following units (listed in stratigraphic order): Bringelly Shale, Minchinbury Sandstone and Ashfield Shale.[79]

The most prevalent plant communities in the Sydney region are open grassy woodlands[80] and some pockets of dry sclerophyll forests,[81] which consist of eucalyptus trees, casuarinas, melaleucas, corymbias and angophoras, with shrubs (typically wattles, callistemons, grevilleas and banksias), and a semi-continuous grass in the understory.[82] The plants in this community tend to have rough and spiky leaves, as they're grown in areas with low soil fertility. Sydney also features a few areas of wet sclerophyll forests which are found in the wetter, elevated areas in the north and the northeast. These forests are defined by straight, tall tree canopies with a moist understory of soft-leaved shrubs, tree ferns and herbs.[83]

Sydney is home to dozens of bird species,[84] which commonly include the Australian raven, Australian magpie, crested pigeon, noisy miner and the pied currawong, among others. Introduced bird species ubiquitously found in Sydney are the common myna, common starling, house sparrow and the spotted dove.[85] Reptile species are also numerous and predominantly include skinks.[86][87] Sydney has a few mammal and spider species, such as the grey-headed flying fox and the Sydney funnel-web, respectively,[88][89] and has a huge diversity of marine species inhabiting its harbour and many beaches.[90]

Under the classic system, Sydney has a temperate climate but under the Köppen–Geiger classification, Sydney has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa)[91] with "warm [and] sometimes hot" summers and "cool" winters, as described by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.[92] The El Niño–Southern Oscillation, the Indian Ocean Dipole and the Southern Annular Mode[93][94] play 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 in Australia.

At Sydney's primary weather station at Observatory Hill, extreme temperatures have ranged from 45.8 °C (114.4 °F) on 18 January 2013 to 2.1 °C (35.8 °F) on 22 June 1932.[95][96][97] An average of 14.9 days a year have temperatures at or above 30 °C (86 °F) in the central business district (CBD).[98] In contrast, the metropolitan area averages between 35 and 65 days, depending on the suburb.[99] The hottest day in the Sydney metropolitan area occurred in Penrith on 4 January 2020, where a high of 48.9 °C (120.0 °F) was recorded.[100] The average annual temperature of the sea ranges from 18.5 °C (65.3 °F) in September to 23.7 °C (74.7 °F) in February.[101] Sydney has an average of 7.2 hours of sunshine per day[102] and 109.5 clear days annually.[103]

The weather is moderated by proximity to the ocean, and more extreme temperatures are recorded in the inland western suburbs.[98] Sydney experiences an urban heat island effect.[104] This makes certain parts of the city more vulnerable to extreme heat, including coastal suburbs.[104][105] In late spring and summer, temperatures over 35 °C (95 °F) are not uncommon,[106] though hot, dry conditions are usually ended by a southerly buster,[107] a powerful southerly that brings gale winds and a rapid fall in temperature.[108] Since Sydney is downwind of the Great Dividing Range, it frequently experiences dry, westerly foehn winds usually in winter and spring (which are the reason for its warm maximum temperatures).[109][110][111] Due to the inland location, frost is recorded early in the morning in Western Sydney a few times in winter. Autumn and spring are the transitional seasons, with spring showing a larger temperature variation than autumn.[112]

Rainfall has a moderate to low variability and has historically been fairly uniform throughout the year, although in recent years it has been more summer-dominant and erratic.[113][114][115][116] Precipitation is usually higher in late summer through to early winter and lower in late winter to early spring.[93][117][98][118] In late autumn and winter, east coast lows may bring large amounts of rainfall, especially in the CBD.[119] In the warm season black nor'easters are usually the cause of heavy rain events, though other forms of low-pressure areas, including remnants of ex-cyclones, may also bring heavy deluge and afternoon thunderstorms, particularly in the western suburbs.[120][121] Snowfall was last reported in the Sydney City area in 1836, while a fall of graupel, or soft hail, was mistaken by many for snow, in July 2008.[122] In 2009, dry conditions brought a severe dust storm towards the city.[123][124]

The regions of Sydney include the CBD or City of Sydney (colloquially referred to as 'the City') and Inner West, the Eastern Suburbs, Southern Sydney (including St George and Sutherland Shire), Greater Western Sydney (including South Western Sydney, Hills District and the Macarthur Region), and Northern Sydney (including the North Shore and Northern Beaches). The Greater Sydney Commission divides Sydney into five districts based on the 33 LGAs in the metropolitan area; the Western City, the Central City, the Eastern City, the North District, and the South District.[128] The Australian Bureau of Statistics includes City of Central Coast (the former Gosford City and Wyong Shire) as part of Greater Sydney for population counts.[129] This adds another 330,000 people to the metropolitan area covered by Greater Sydney Commission.[130] Recent statements by the state government (on the topic of the COVID-19 pandemic) have included the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast, and Wollongong as parts of Greater Sydney.[131]

The CBD extends about 3 km (1.9 mi) south from Sydney Cove. It is bordered by Farm Cove within the Royal Botanic Garden to the east and Darling Harbour to the west. Suburbs surrounding the CBD include Woolloomooloo and Potts Point to the east, Surry Hills and Darlinghurst to the south, Pyrmont and Ultimo to the west, and Millers Point and The Rocks to the north. Most of these suburbs measure less than 1 km2 (0.4 sq mi) in area. The Sydney CBD is characterised by considerably narrow streets and thoroughfares, created in its convict beginnings in the 18th century.[132]

Several localities, distinct from suburbs, exist throughout Sydney's inner reaches. Central and Circular Quay are transport hubs with ferry, rail, and bus interchanges. Chinatown, Darling Harbour, and Kings Cross are important locations for culture, tourism, and recreation. The Strand Arcade, which is located between Pitt Street Mall and George Street, is a historical Victorian-style shopping arcade. Opened on 1 April 1892, its shop fronts are an exact replica of the original internal shopping facades.[133] Westfield Sydney, located beneath the Sydney Tower, is the largest shopping centre by area in Sydney.[134]

There is a long trend of gentrification amongst Sydney's inner suburbs. Pyrmont located on the harbour was redeveloped from a centre of shipping and international trade to an area of high density housing, tourist accommodation, and gambling.[135] Originally located well outside of the city, Darlinghurst is the location of the historic, former Darlinghurst Gaol, manufacturing, and mixed housing. It had a period when it was known as an area of prostitution. The terrace style housing has largely been retained and Darlinghurst has undergone significant gentrification since the 1980s.[136][137][138]

Green Square is a former industrial area of Waterloo which is undergoing urban renewal worth $8 billion. On the city harbour edge, the historic suburb and wharves of Millers Point are being built up as the new area of Barangaroo. The enforced rehousing of local residents due to the Millers Point/Barangaroo development has caused significant controversy despite the $6 billion worth of economic activity it is expected to generate.[139][140] The suburb of Paddington is a well known suburb for its streets of restored terrace houses, Victoria Barracks, and shopping including the weekly Oxford Street markets.[141]

The Inner West generally includes the Inner West Council, Municipality of Burwood, Municipality of Strathfield, and City of Canada Bay. These span up to about 11 km west of the CBD. Suburbs in the Inner West have historically housed working class industrial workers, but have undergone gentrification over the 20th century. The region now mainly features medium- and high-density housing. Major features in the area include the University of Sydney and the Parramatta River, as well as a large cosmopolitan community and the nightlife hub on King Street in Newtown. The Anzac Bridge spans Johnstons Bay and connects Rozelle to Pyrmont and the city, forming part of the Western Distributor.

The area is serviced by the T1, T2, and T3 railway lines, including the Main Suburban Line; which is the first to be constructed in New South Wales. Strathfield Railway Station is a secondary railway hub within Sydney, and major station on the Suburban and Northern lines. It was constructed in 1876,[142] and will be a future terminus of Parramatta Light Rail.[143] The area is also serviced by numerous bus routes and cycleways.[144] Other shopping centres in the area include Westfield Burwood and DFO in Homebush.

The Eastern Suburbs encompass the Municipality of Woollahra, the City of Randwick, the Waverley Municipal Council, and parts of the Bayside Council. The Greater Sydney Commission envisions a resident population of 1,338,250 people by 2036 in its Eastern City District (including the City and Inner West).[145]

They include some of the most affluent and advantaged areas in the country, with some streets being amongst the most expensive in the world. Wolseley Road, in Point Piper, has a top price of $20,900 per square metre, making it the ninth-most expensive street in the world.[146] More than 75% of neighbourhoods in the Electoral District of Wentworth fall under the top decile of SEIFA advantage, making it the least disadvantaged area in the country.[147]

Major landmarks include Bondi Beach, a major tourist site; which was added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2008;[148] and Bondi Junction, featuring a Westfield shopping centre and an estimated office work force of 6,400 by 2035,[149] as well as a train station on the T4 Eastern Suburbs Line. The suburb of Randwick contains the Randwick Racecourse, the Royal Hospital for Women, the Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney Children's Hospital, and the UNSW Kensington Campus. Randwick's 'Collaboration Area' has a baseline estimate of 32,000 jobs by 2036, according to the Greater Sydney Commission.[150]

Construction of the CBD and South East Light Rail was completed in April 2020.[151] Main construction was due to be completed in 2018 but was delayed until 2020.[152] The project aims to provide reliable and high-capacity tram services to residents in the City and South-East.

Major shopping centres in the area include Westfield Bondi Junction and Westfield Eastgardens.

Southern Sydney includes the suburbs in the local government areas of former Rockdale, Georges River Council (collectively known as the St George area), and broadly it also includes the suburbs in the local government area of Sutherland, south of the Georges River (colloquially known as 'The Shire').

The Kurnell peninsula, near Botany Bay, is the site of the first landfall on the eastern coastline made by Lt. (later Captain) James Cook in 1770. La Perouse, a historic suburb named after the French navigator Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse (1741–88), is notable for its old military outpost at Bare Island and the Botany Bay National Park.

The suburb of Cronulla in southern Sydney is close to Royal National Park, Australia's oldest national park. Hurstville, a large suburb with a multitude of commercial buildings and high-rise residential buildings dominating the skyline, has become a CBD for the southern suburbs.[153]

'Northern Sydney' may also include the suburbs in the Upper North Shore, Lower North Shore and the Northern Beaches.

The Northern Suburbs include several landmarks – Macquarie University, Gladesville Bridge, Ryde Bridge, Macquarie Centre and Curzon Hall in Marsfield. This area includes suburbs in the local government areas of Hornsby Shire, City of Ryde, the Municipality of Hunter's Hill and parts of the City of Parramatta.

The North Shore, an informal geographic term referring to the northern metropolitan area of Sydney, consists of Artarmon, Chatswood, Roseville, Lindfield, Killara, Gordon, Pymble, Hornsby and many others.

The Lower North Shore usually refers to the suburbs adjacent to the harbour such as Neutral Bay, Waverton, Mosman, Cremorne, Cremorne Point, Lavender Bay, Milsons Point, Cammeray, Northbridge, and North Sydney. Hunters Hill and Gladesville are often also considered as being part of the Lower North Shore.[154] The Lower North Shore's eastern boundary is Middle Harbour, or at the Roseville Bridge at Castle Cove and Roseville Chase. The Upper North Shore usually refers to the suburbs between Chatswood and Hornsby. It is made up of suburbs located within Ku-ring-gai and Hornsby Shire councils.

The North Shore includes the commercial centres of North Sydney and Chatswood. North Sydney itself consists of a large commercial centre, with its own business centre, which contains the second largest concentration of high-rise buildings in Sydney, after the CBD. North Sydney is dominated by advertising, marketing businesses and associated trades, with many large corporations holding office in the region.

The Northern Beaches area includes Manly, one of Sydney's most popular holiday destinations for much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The region also features Sydney Heads, a series of headlands which form the 2 km (1.2 mi) wide entrance to Sydney Harbour. The Northern Beaches area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the entrance of Broken Bay. The 2011 Australian census found the Northern Beaches to be the most white and mono-ethnic district in Australia, contrasting with its more-diverse neighbours, the North Shore and the Central Coast.[155]

The Hills district generally refers to the suburbs in north-western Sydney including the local government areas of The Hills Shire, parts of the City of Parramatta Council and Hornsby Shire. Actual suburbs and localities that are considered to be in the Hills District can be somewhat amorphous and variable. For example, the Hills District Historical Society restricts its definition to the Hills Shire local government area, yet its study area extends from Parramatta to the Hawkesbury. The region is so named for its characteristically comparatively hilly topography as the Cumberland Plain lifts up, joining the Hornsby Plateau.

Several of its suburbs also have "Hill" or "Hills" in their names, such as Baulkham Hills, Castle Hill, Seven Hills, Beaumont Hills, and Winston Hills, among others. Windsor and Old Windsor Roads are historic roads in Australia, as they are the second and third roads, respectively, laid in the colony.[156]

The greater western suburbs encompasses the areas of Parramatta, the sixth largest business district in Australia, settled the same year as the harbour-side colony,[157] Bankstown, Liverpool, Penrith, and Fairfield. Covering 5,800 km2 (2,200 sq mi) and having an estimated resident population as at 2017 of 2,288,554, western Sydney has the most multicultural suburbs in the country. The population is predominantly of a working class background, with major employment in the heavy industries and vocational trade.[158] Toongabbie is noted for being the third mainland settlement (after Sydney and Parramatta) set up after the British colonisation of Australia began in 1788, although the site of the settlement is actually in the separate suburb of Old Toongabbie.[159]

The western suburb of Prospect, in the City of Blacktown, is home to Raging Waters, a water park operated by Parques Reunidos.[160] Auburn Botanic Gardens, a botanical garden situated in Auburn, attracts thousands of visitors each year, including a significant number from outside Australia.[161] Another prominent park and garden in the west is Central Gardens Nature Reserve in Merrylands West.[162] The greater west also includes Sydney Olympic Park, a suburb created to host the 2000 Summer Olympics, and Sydney Motorsport Park, a motorsport circuit located in Eastern Creek.[163] The Boothtown Aqueduct in Greystanes is a 19th-century water bridge that is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register as a site of State significance.[164]

To the northwest, Featherdale Wildlife Park, an Australian zoo in Doonside, near Blacktown, is a major tourist attraction, not just for Western Sydney, but for NSW and Australia.[165] Westfield Parramatta in Parramatta is Australia's busiest Westfield shopping centre, having 28.7 million customer visits per annum.[166] Established in 1799, the Old Government House, a historic house museum and tourist spot in Parramatta, was included in the Australian National Heritage List on 1 August 2007 and World Heritage List in 2010 (as part of the 11 penal sites constituting the Australian Convict Sites), making it the only site in greater western Sydney to be featured in such lists.[167] Moreover, the house is Australia's oldest surviving public building.[168] Prospect Hill, a historically significant ridge in the west and the only area in Sydney with ancient volcanic activity,[169] is also listed on the NSW State Heritage Register.[170]

Further to the southwest is the region of Macarthur and the city of Campbelltown, a significant population centre until the 1990s considered a region separate to Sydney proper. Macarthur Square, a shopping complex in Campbelltown, has become one of the largest shopping complexes in Sydney.[171] The southwest also features Bankstown Reservoir, the oldest elevated reservoir constructed in reinforced concrete that is still in use and is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register.[172] The southwest is home to one of Sydney's oldest trees, the Bland Oak, which was planted in the 1840s by William Bland in the suburb of Carramar.[173]

The earliest structures in the colony were built to the bare minimum of standards. Upon his appointment, Governor Lachlan Macquarie set ambitious targets for the architectural design of new construction projects. The city now has a world heritage listed building, several national heritage listed buildings, and dozens of Commonwealth heritage listed buildings as evidence of the survival of Macquarie's ideals.[175][176][177]

In 1814 the Governor called on a convict named Francis Greenway to design Macquarie Lighthouse.[178] The lighthouse and its Classical design earned Greenway a pardon from Macquarie in 1818 and introduced a culture of refined architecture that remains to this day.[179] Greenway went on to design the Hyde Park Barracks in 1819 and the Georgian style St James's Church in 1824.[180][181] Gothic-inspired architecture became more popular from the 1830s. John Verge's Elizabeth Bay House and St Philip's Church of 1856 were built in Gothic Revival style along with Edward Blore's Government House of 1845.[182][183] Kirribilli House, completed in 1858, and St Andrew's Cathedral, Australia's oldest cathedral,[184] are rare examples of Victorian Gothic construction.[182][185]

From the late 1850s there was a shift towards Classical architecture. Mortimer Lewis designed the Australian Museum in 1857.[186] The General Post Office, completed in 1891 in Victorian Free Classical style, was designed by James Barnet.[187] Barnet also oversaw the 1883 reconstruction of Greenway's Macquarie Lighthouse.[178][179] Customs House was built in 1844 to the specifications of Lewis, with additions from Barnet in 1887 and W L Vernon in 1899.[188] The neo-Classical and French Second Empire style Town Hall was completed in 1889.[189][190] Romanesque designs gained favour amongst Sydney's architects from the early 1890s. Sydney Technical College was completed in 1893 using both Romanesque Revival and Queen Anne approaches.[191] The Queen Victoria Building was designed in Romanesque Revival fashion by George McRae and completed in 1898.[192] It was built on the site of the Sydney Central Markets and accommodates 200 shops across its three storeys.[193]

As the wealth of the settlement increased, and as Sydney developed into a metropolis after Federation in 1901, its buildings became taller. Sydney's first tower was Culwulla Chambers on the corner of King Street and Castlereagh Street which topped out at 50 m (160 ft) making 12 floors. The Commercial Traveller's Club, located in Martin Place and built in 1908, was of similar height at 10 floors. It was built in a brick stone veneer and demolished in 1972 to make way for Harry Seidler's MLC Centre.[194] This heralded a change in Sydney's cityscape and with the lifting of height restrictions in the 1960s there came a surge of high-rise construction.[195] Acclaimed architects such as Jean Nouvel, Harry Seidler, Richard Rogers, Renzo Piano, Norman Foster, and Frank Gehry have each made their own contribution to the city's skyline.

The Great Depression had a tangible influence on Sydney's architecture. New structures became more restrained with far less ornamentation than was common before the 1930s. The most notable architectural feat of this period is the Harbour Bridge. Its steel arch was designed by John Bradfield and completed in 1932. A total of 39,000 tonnes of structural steel span the 503 m (1,650 ft) between Milsons Point and Dawes Point.[65][196]

Modern and International architecture came to Sydney from the 1940s. Since its completion in 1973 the city's Opera House has become a World Heritage Site and one of the world's most renowned pieces of Modern design. It was conceived by Jørn Utzon with contributions from Peter Hall, Lionel Todd, and David Littlemore. Utzon was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2003 for his work on the Opera House.[197] Sydney is home to Australia's first building by renowned Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, the Dr Chau Chak Wing Building (2015), based on the design of a tree house. An entrance from The Goods Line–a pedestrian pathway and former railway line–is located on the eastern border of the site.

Contemporary buildings in the CBD include Citigroup Centre,[198] Aurora Place,[199] Chifley Tower,[200][201] the Reserve Bank building,[202] Deutsche Bank Place,[203] MLC Centre,[204] and Capita Centre.[205] The tallest structure is Sydney Tower, designed by Donald Crone and completed in 1981.[206] Regulations limited new buildings to a height of 235 m (771 ft) due to the proximity of Sydney Airport, although strict restrictions employed in the early 2000s have slowly been relaxed in the past ten years, with a maximum height restriction now sitting at 330 metres (1083 feet).[207] Green bans and heritage overlays have been in place since at least 1977 to protect Sydney's heritage after controversial demolitions in the 1970s led to an outcry from Sydneysiders to preserve the old and keep history intact, sufficiently balancing old and new architecture.[208]

Sydney surpasses both New York City and Paris real estate prices, having some of the most expensive in the world.[209][210] The city remains Australia's most expensive housing market, with the mean house price at $1,142,212 as of December 2019 (over 25% higher the national mean house price).[211]

There were 1.76 million dwellings in Sydney in 2016 including 925,000 (57%) detached houses, 227,000 (14%) semi-detached terrace houses and 456,000 (28%) units and apartments.[212] Whilst terrace houses are common in the inner city areas, it is detached houses that dominate the landscape in the outer suburbs.

Due to environmental and economic pressures, there has been a noted trend towards denser housing. There was a 30% increase in the number of apartments in Sydney between 1996 and 2006.[213] Public housing in Sydney is managed by the Government of New South Wales.[214] Suburbs with large concentrations of public housing include Claymore, Macquarie Fields, Waterloo, and Mount Druitt. The Government has announced plans to sell nearly 300 historic public housing properties in the harbourside neighbourhoods of Millers Point, Gloucester Street, and The Rocks.[215]

Sydney is one of the most expensive real estate markets globally. It is only second to Hong Kong with the average property costing 14 times the annual Sydney salary as of December 2016.[216] A range of heritage housing styles can be found throughout Sydney. Terrace houses are found in the inner suburbs such as Paddington, The Rocks, Potts Point and Balmain–many of which have been the subject of gentrification.[217][218] These terraces, particularly those in suburbs such as The Rocks, were historically home to Sydney's miners and labourers. In the present day, terrace houses now make up some of the most valuable real estate in the city.[219]

Federation homes, constructed around the time of Federation in 1901, are located in suburbs such as Penshurst, Turramurra, and in Haberfield. Haberfield is known as "The Federation Suburb"[by whom? ] due to the extensive number of Federation homes. Workers cottages are found in Surry Hills, Redfern, and Balmain. California bungalows are common in Ashfield, Concord, and Beecroft. Larger modern homes are predominantly found in the outer suburbs, such as Stanhope Gardens, Kellyville Ridge, Bella Vista to the northwest, Bossley Park, Abbotsbury, and Cecil Hills to the west, and Hoxton Park, Harrington Park, and Oran Park to the southwest.[220]

The Anzac War Memorial in Hyde Park is a public memorial dedicated to the achievement of the Australian Imperial Force of World War I.

The Royal Botanic Garden is the most iconic green space in the Sydney region, hosting both scientific and leisure activities.[221] There are 15 separate parks under the administration of the City of Sydney.[222] Parks within the city centre include Hyde Park, The Domain and Prince Alfred Park.

The Centennial Parklands is the largest park in the City of Sydney, comprising 189 ha (470 acres).

The inner suburbs include Centennial Park and Moore Park in the east (both within the City of Sydney local government area), while the outer suburbs contain Sydney Park and Royal National Park in the south, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park in the north, and Western Sydney Parklands in the west, which is one of the largest urban parks in the world. The Royal National Park was proclaimed on 26 April 1879 and with 13,200 ha (51 sq mi) is the second oldest national park in the world.[224]

Hyde Park is the oldest parkland in the country.[226] The largest park in the Sydney metropolitan area is Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, established in 1894 with an area of 15,400 ha (59 sq mi).[227] It is regarded for its well-preserved records of indigenous habitation and more than 800 rock engravings, cave drawings and middens have been located in the park.[228]

The area now known as The Domain was set aside by Governor Arthur Phillip in 1788 as his private reserve.[229] Under the orders of Macquarie the land to the immediate north of The Domain became the Royal Botanic Garden in 1816. This makes them the oldest botanic garden in Australia.[229] The Gardens are not just a place for exploration and relaxation, but also for scientific research with herbarium collections, a library and laboratories.[230] The two parks have a total area of 64 ha (0.2 sq mi) with 8,900 individual plant species and receive over 3.5 million annual visits.[231]

To the south of The Domain is Hyde Park, the oldest public parkland in Australia which measures 16.2 ha (0.1 sq mi) in area.[232] Its location was used for both relaxation and the grazing of animals from the earliest days of the colony.[233] Macquarie dedicated it in 1810 for the "recreation and amusement of the inhabitants of the town" and named it in honour of the original Hyde Park in London.

Researchers from Loughborough University have ranked Sydney amongst the top ten world cities that are highly integrated into the global economy.[235] The Global Economic Power Index ranks Sydney number eleven in the world.[236] The Global Cities Index recognises it as number fourteen in the world based on global engagement.[237] There is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as Australia's financial capital and one of Asia Pacific's leading financial hubs.[238][239]

The prevailing economic theory in effect during early colonial days was mercantilism, as it was throughout most of Western Europe.[240] The economy struggled at first due to difficulties in cultivating the land and the lack of a stable monetary system. Governor Lachlan Macquarie solved the second problem by creating two coins from every Spanish silver dollar in circulation.[240] The economy was clearly capitalist in nature by the 1840s as the proportion of free settlers increased, the maritime and wool industries flourished, and the powers of the East India Company were curtailed.[240]

Wheat, gold, and other minerals became additional export industries towards the end of the 1800s.[240] Significant capital began to flow into the city from the 1870s to finance roads, railways, bridges, docks, courthouses, schools and hospitals. Protectionist policies after federation allowed for the creation of a manufacturing industry which became the city's largest employer by the 1920s.[240] These same policies helped to relieve the effects of the Great Depression during which the unemployment rate in New South Wales reached as high as 32%.[240] From the 1960s onwards Parramatta gained recognition as the city's second CBD and finance and tourism became major industries and sources of employment.[240]

Sydney's nominal gross domestic product was AU$400.9 billion and AU$80,000 per capita[241] in 2015.[242][239] Its gross domestic product was AU$337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia.[242] The Financial and Insurance Services industry accounts for 18.1% of gross product and is ahead of Professional Services with 9% and Manufacturing with 7.2%. In addition to Financial Services and Tourism, the Creative and Technology sectors are focus industries for the City of Sydney and represented 9% and 11% of its economic output in 2012.[243][244]

There were 451,000 businesses based in Sydney in 2011, including 48% of the top 500 companies in Australia and two-thirds of the regional headquarters of multinational corporations.[245] Global companies are attracted to the city in part because its time zone spans the closing of business in North America and the opening of business in Europe. Most foreign companies in Sydney maintain significant sales and service functions but comparably less production, research, and development capabilities.[246] There are 283 multinational companies with regional offices in Sydney.[247]

Sydney has been ranked between the fifteenth and the fifth most expensive city in the world and is the most expensive city in Australia.[249] Of the 15 categories only measured by UBS in 2012, workers receive the seventh highest wage levels of 77 cities in the world.[249] Working residents of Sydney work an average of 1,846 hours per annum with 15 days of leave.[249]

The labour force of Greater Sydney Region in 2016 was 2,272,722 with a participation rate of 61.6%.[250] It was made up of 61.2% full-time workers, 30.9% part-time workers, and 6.0% unemployed individuals.[212][251] The largest reported occupations are professionals, clerical and administrative workers, managers, technicians and trades workers, and community and personal service workers.[212] The largest industries by employment across Greater Sydney are Health Care and Social Assistance with 11.6%, Professional Services with 9.8%, Retail Trade with 9.3%, Construction with 8.2%, Education and Training with 8.0%, Accommodation and Food Services 6.7%, and Financial and Insurance Services with 6.6%.[2] The Professional Services and Financial and Insurance Services industries account for 25.4% of employment within the City of Sydney.[252]

In 2016, 57.6% of working age residents had a total weekly income of less than $1,000 and 14.4% had a total weekly income of $1,750 or more.[253] The median weekly income for the same period was $719 for individuals, $1,988 for families, and $1,750 for household.[254]

Unemployment in the City of Sydney averaged 4.6% for the decade to 2013, much lower than the current rate of unemployment in Western Sydney of 7.3%.[239][255] Western Sydney continues to struggle to create jobs to meet its population growth despite the development of commercial centres like Parramatta. Each day about 200,000 commuters travel from Western Sydney to the CBD and suburbs in the east and north of the city.[255]

Home ownership in Sydney was less common than renting prior to the Second World War but this trend has since reversed.[213] Median house prices have increased by an average of 8.6% per annum since 1970.[256][257] The median house price in Sydney in March 2014 was $630,000.[258] The primary cause for rising prices is the increasing cost of land and scarcity[259] which made up 32% of house prices in 1977 compared to 60% in 2002.[213] 31.6% of dwellings in Sydney are rented, 30.4% are owned outright and 34.8% are owned with a mortgage.[212] 11.8% of mortgagees in 2011 had monthly loan repayments of less than $1,000 and 82.9% had monthly repayments of $1,000 or more.[2] 44.9% of renters for the same period had weekly rent of less than $350 whilst 51.7% had weekly rent of $350 or more. The median weekly rent in Sydney is $450.[2]

Macquarie gave a charter in 1817 to form the first bank in Australia, the Bank of New South Wales.[260] New private banks opened throughout the 1800s but the financial system was unstable. Bank collapses were a frequent occurrence and a crisis point was reached in 1893 when 12 banks failed.[260]

The Bank of New South Wales exists to this day as Westpac.[261] The Commonwealth Bank of Australia was formed in Sydney in 1911 and began to issue notes backed by the resources of the nation. It was replaced in this role in 1959 by the Reserve Bank of Australia which is also based in Sydney.[260] The Australian Securities Exchange began operating in 1987 and with a market capitalisation of $1.6 trillion is now one of the ten largest exchanges in the world.[262]

The Financial and Insurance Services industry now constitutes 43% of the economic product of the City of Sydney.[238] Sydney makes up half of Australia's finance sector and has been promoted by consecutive Commonwealth Governments as Asia Pacific's leading financial centre.[24][25][263] In the 2017 Global Financial Centres Index, Sydney was ranked as having the eighth most competitive financial centre in the world.[264]

In 1985 the Federal Government granted 16 banking licences to foreign banks and now 40 of the 43 foreign banks operating in Australia are based in Sydney, including the People's Bank of China, Bank of America, Citigroup, UBS, Mizuho Bank, Bank of China, Banco Santander, Credit Suisse, Standard Chartered, State Street, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Royal Bank of Canada, Société Générale, Royal Bank of Scotland, Sumitomo Mitsui, ING Group, BNP Paribas, and Investec.[238][260][265][266]

Sydney has been a manufacturing city since the protectionist policies of the 1920s. By 1961 the industry accounted for 39% of all employment and by 1970 over 30% of all Australian manufacturing jobs were in Sydney.[267] Its status has declined in more recent decades, making up 12.6% of employment in 2001 and 8.5% in 2011.[2][267] Between 1970 and 1985 there was a loss of 180,000 manufacturing jobs.[267] Despite this, Sydney still overtook Melbourne as the largest manufacturing centre in Australia in the 2010s.[268] Its manufacturing output of $21.7 billion in 2013 was greater than that of Melbourne with $18.9 billion.[269] Observers have noted Sydney's focus on the domestic market and high-tech manufacturing as reasons for its resilience against the high Australian dollar of the early 2010s.[269] The Smithfield-Wetherill Park Industrial Estate in Western Sydney is the largest industrial estate in the Southern Hemisphere and is the centre of manufacturing and distribution in the region.[270]

Sydney is a gateway to Australia for many international visitors. It has hosted over 2.8 million international visitors in 2013, or nearly half of all international visits to Australia. These visitors spent 59 million nights in the city and a total of $5.9 billion.[28] The countries of origin in descending order were China, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Germany, Hong Kong, and India.[271]

The city also received 8.3 million domestic overnight visitors in 2013 who spent a total of $6 billion.[271] 26,700 workers in the City of Sydney were directly employed by tourism in 2011.[272] There were 480,000 visitors and 27,500 people staying overnight each day in 2012.[272] On average, the tourism industry contributes $36 million to the city's economy per day.[272]

Popular destinations include the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Watsons Bay, The Rocks, Sydney Tower, Darling Harbour, the State Library of New South Wales, the Royal Botanic Garden, the Australian Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Queen Victoria Building, Sea Life Sydney Aquarium, Taronga Zoo, Bondi Beach, and Sydney Olympic Park.[273]

Major developmental projects designed to increase Sydney's tourism sector include a casino and hotel at Barangaroo and the redevelopment of East Darling Harbour, which involves a new exhibition and convention centre, now Australia's largest.[274][275][276]

Sydney is the highest-ranking city in the world for international students. More than 50,000 international students study at the city's universities and a further 50,000 study at its vocational and English language schools.[237][277] International education contributes $1.6 billion to the local economy and creates demand for 4,000 local jobs each year.[278]

The population of Sydney in 1788 was less than 1,000.[280] With convict transportation it almost tripled in ten years to 2,953.[281] For each decade since 1961 the population has increased by more than 250,000.[282] Sydney's population at the time of the 2016 census was 5,005,400.[283] It has been forecast that the population will grow to between 8 and 8.9 million by 2061.[284] Despite this increase, the Australian Bureau of Statistics predicts that Melbourne will replace Sydney as Australia's most populous city by 2026.[285][286] The four most densely populated suburbs in Australia are located in Sydney with each having more than 13,000 residents per square kilometre (33,700 residents per square mile).[287] Between 1971 and 2018, Sydney lost a net number of 716,832 people to the rest of Australia[288] but its population has continued to grow, largely due to immigration.

The median age of Sydney residents is 36 and 12.9% of people are 65 or older.[212] The married population accounts for 49.7% of Sydney whilst 34.7% of people have never been married.[212] 48.9% of families are couples with children, 33.5% are couples without children, and 15.7% are single-parent families.[212]

Most immigrants to Sydney between 1840 and 1930 were British, Irish or Chinese. At the 2016 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:[N 2][289][290]

At the 2016 census, there were 2,071,872 people living in Sydney that were born outside the country, accounting for 42.9% of the population,[293] below Miami (58.3%) and Toronto (47.0%), but above Vancouver (42.5%), Los Angeles (37.7%), New York City (37.5%), Chicago (20.7%), Paris (14.6%) and Berlin (13%). Only 33.1% of the population had both parents born in Australia.[293] Sydney has the eighth-largest immigrant population among world metropolitan areas. Foreign countries of birth with the greatest representation are Mainland China, England, India, New Zealand, Vietnam and the Philippines.[293]

1.5% of the population, or 70,135 people, identified as Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders) in 2016.[N 4][289][290]

38.2% of people in Sydney speak a language other than English at home with Mandarin (4.7%), Arabic (4.0%), Cantonese (2.9%), Vietnamese (2.1%) and Greek (1.6%) the most widely spoken.[293] At the time of the 2011 census, more than 250 different languages were spoken in Sydney.[294] In the 2016 Census, about 35.8% of residents spoke a language other than English at home.[295]

The indigenous people of Sydney held totemic beliefs known as "dreamings". Governor Lachlan Macquarie made an effort to found a culture of formal religion throughout the early settlement and ordered the construction of churches such as St Matthew's, St Luke's, St James's, and St Andrew's.[296] In 2011, 28.3% of Sydney residents identified themselves as Catholic, whilst 17.6% practised no religion. Additionally, 16.1% were Anglican, 4.7% were Muslim, 4.2% were Eastern Orthodox, 4.1% were Buddhist, 2.6% were Hindu, and 0.9% were Jewish.[2][212] However, according to the 2016 census, 1,082,448 (25%) residents of Sydney's Urban Centre describe themselves as Catholic, while another 1,053,500 (24.4%) people consider themselves non-religious.[297] A further 10.9% of residents identified themselves as Anglicans and an additional 5.8% as Muslim. These and other religious institutions have significantly contributed to the education and health of Sydney's residents over time, particularly through the building and management of schools and hospitals.

Crime in Sydney is low, with The Independent ranking S