Overview

The capital of New South Wales, Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.3 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres, the largest city geographically in Australia. Often is called the “Harbour City”, is situated on the South East coast of Australia and is home to some of Australia’s world renowned icons such as the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and Bondi Beach. The metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and contains many bays, rivers and inlets.

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. Sydney provides approximately 25 percent of the country's total GDP. Sydney is the financial and business services hub of Australia.  The financial services workforce of Sydney is nearly half the size of London’s and New York City’s. The Mastercard Index of Commerce ranks Sydney as the 12th most significant Worldwide Center of Commerce. Sydney is the headquarters of 90 banks and more than half of Australia's top companies, and the regional headquarters for around 500 multinational corporations. Sydney is also an international fashion and creative industry hub and is Australia's fashion capital.

Sydney is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, a major destination for immigrants moving to Australia.  Around 40,000 new people move to Sydney each year and around 15,000 new homes are built to accommodate them. According to the Bureau of Statistics, almost forty percent of Sydney’s residents were born overseas. People from the UK are Sydney’s biggest migrant group, making up 5 percent of the population. The next biggest groups are Chinese (2%) and New Zealanders (2%).

Getting Around

The main way for people to travel in Sydney is by car. The public transportation network in Sydney Australia consists of trains, buses, and ferries. Trains are operated by both Sydney government and private sector. Trains are the most convenient for of Sydney transport helping tourists and locales to reach various areas of the city.

Sydney’s main airport is Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, located in the suburb of Mascot. It services all of Sydney’s national and international flights. Smaller regional airports are located at Bankstown, Camden and Hoxton Park. This rail service runs from approximately 5am until Midnight seven days a week, to and from the Domestic and International Terminals and all City Circle railway stations. For more information, please visit www.airportlink.com.au.

Sydney Buses operates an extensive network of bus services throughout the city. The main bus terminals are located at Circular Quay, Wynyard, Town Hall and Central Station. For information about Sydney Bus services, please visit www.sydneybuses.info.

CityRail has a large range of leisure and tourist tickets to get you where you want to go. You can travel around the City centre on the City Circle Line (Circular Quay, Wynyard, Town Hall, Central, Museum and St James Stations). There is also a station at Martin Place. Ticket vending machines are open 24 hours. For information about CityRail services, please visit www.cityrail.info

Central Railway Station is the main junction for interstate and intrastate rail services. For information about these services, please visit www.countrylink.info.

One of the most delightful ways to make your way to and from the City is to take a ferry on Sydney Harbour.  For information about ferry services, please visit www.sydneyferries.info.

Metro Light Rail is Sydney's newest transport system. Modern trams run from historic Central Station through vibrant Chinatown and Darling Harbour to the Star City Casino, the Sydney Fish Markets and Wentworth Park 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For information about services, please visit www.metrolightrail.com.au.

The monorail has a fabulous city loop with eight stops throughout the CBD. The monorail leaves every 3-5 minutes and takes approximately 15 minutes to do the circuit. Single trips or day passes can be purchased at every station. For information about services, please visit www.metromonorail.com.au.

The 27 stop 'red' Sydney Explorer and 19 stop 'blue' Bondi Explorer offer the most comprehensive hop-on hop-off sightseeing tours available. One and two day tickets are available for travel on both the Sydney and Bondi Explorer. Purchase your ticket on board the bus. For more information, please visit www.sydneyexplorer.info.

For all your transport information needs, including timetables, trip planning and fares on buses, train and ferries within the Greater Sydney area, please visit website www.131500.info or mobile website mobile.131500.info.

Climate

Sydney’s climate is pleasantly moderate with warm summers and cools winters. Sydney’s annual average of sunshine is almost seven hours a day. Its temperature ranges from a moderate average winter of 18-16C (46F-61F). The warmest month is Jaunary, with an average temperaturae of 18-26C (65-78F). Rainfall is fairly evenly divided between summer and winter, but is slightly higher during the first half of the year. Sydney’s rainfall averages 1213 mm a year, with an average of 11 wet days per month. More than 40% of this falls between March and June. Annual rainfall in 2008 was 1083mm.

Health Service

Health care services in Sydney are provided by both public and private hospitals. Among the public hospitals, Prince Henry Hospital, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney hospital and Sydney Eye Hospital, New Children's Hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Sydney Children's Hospital top the list. Among the private service providers of health care at Sydney, Hornsby Day Surgery Centre, Calvary Health Care Sydney, St John of God Hospital, Mater Misericordiae Hospital, St Vincent's Private Hospital, Macarthur Private Hospital and St George Private Hospital and Medical Centre top the list.

Attractions

Sydney Harbor Bridge, the famous Sydney Opera House, Darling Harbour, the Sydney Olympic Park, Luna Park, Sydney Tower, Parramatta, Taronga Zoo, Sydney Wildlife world, and the beaches are few of the many Sydney Tourist Destinations. Sydney offers endless options of things to do from the surfing at the sandy beaches along the east coast to having a picnic at any of the grassy open parklands and gardens through the region. Major shopping centres are never too far away and there plenty of cultural activities to attend. Popular museums include the Powerhouse museum, The Maritime Museum, the Art Gallery of NSW, Museum of Contemporary Art and the Australian Museum to name a few. You can walk through a number of open gardens throughout the Sydney city or visit the world famous Taronga Zoo.

Many sporting events are held in Sydney every year. Sydney is also host to a number of events throughout the year which include the Sydney Festival, Tropfest, The Sydney Royal Easter Show, The Archibald Prize, Australian Fashion Week, Mardi Gras, Sydney Film Festival, Big Day out as well as many more. Other events which Sydney has held in the past include The Sydney Olympics (2000) and the Rugby World Cup (2003).

Popular nightspots in Sydney include the CBD, Kings Cross, Darling Harbour, The Rocks, Oxford Street and Circular Quay. Star City is Sydney’s only casino and is located in Darling Harbour. There are plenty of other popular night spots scattered through Sydney including Bondi Beach, Manly, Newtown, Leichardt, Parramatta, Cronulla and Balmain.

For a list of things to do in Sydney, please visit Australia’s official tourism website:
www.australia.com/destinations/cities/sydney.aspx
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