New South Wales | |||||
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Slogan or nickname | The First State The Premier State | ||||
Motto(s) | Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine) | ||||
Other Australian states and territories | |||||
Capital city | Sydney | ||||
Government | Constitutional monarchy | ||||
• Governor | Margaret Beazley | ||||
• Premier | Chris Minns (Labor) | ||||
Australian state | |||||
• Established as Colony | 26 January 1788 | ||||
• Responsible government | 6 June 1856 | ||||
• Became Australian state | 1 January 1901 | ||||
• Australia Act | 3 March 1986 | ||||
Area | |||||
• Total | 809,444 km² (5th) 312,528 sq mi | ||||
• Land | 800,642 km² 309,130 sq mi | ||||
• Water | 8,802 km² (1.09%) 3,398 sq mi | ||||
Population (March 2019)[1] | |||||
• Population | 8,071,071 (1st) | ||||
• Density | 10.08/km² (3rd) 26.1 /sq mi | ||||
Elevation | |||||
• Highest point | Mount Kosciuszko 2,228 m (7,310 ft) | ||||
Gross state product (2017–18) | |||||
• Product ($m) | $593,275[2] (1st) | ||||
• Product per capita | $74,955 (3rd) | ||||
Time zone(s) | UTC+10 (AEST) UTC+11 (AEDT) UTC+9:30 (ACST) (Broken Hill) UTC+10:30 (ACDT) (Broken Hill) UTC+10:30 (LHST) (Lord Howe Island) UTC+11:00 (LHDT) (Lord Howe Island) | ||||
Federal representation | |||||
• House seats | 48/150 | ||||
• Senate seats | 12/76 | ||||
Abbreviations | |||||
• Postal | NSW | ||||
• ISO 3166-2 | AU-NSW | ||||
Emblems | |||||
• Floral | Waratah (Telopea speciosissima)[3] | ||||
• Animal | Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) | ||||
• Bird | Kookaburra (Dacelo gigas) | ||||
• Fish | Blue groper (Achoerodus viridis) | ||||
• Mineral or gemstone | Black Opal | ||||
• Fossil | Mandageria fairfaxi | ||||
• Colours | Sky blue (Pantone 291)[4] | ||||
Website | www | ||||
Footnotes | Coordinates[5] Emblems[6] |
New South Wales is one of the states of Australia. It is the oldest state in Australia and is sometimes called the "Premier State". Of all Australian states, New South Wales has the most people. The capital city of New South Wales is Sydney. Sydney is the biggest city in Australia.
New South Wales was named by Lieutenant James Cook (later Captain Cook), who sailed up the east coast of Australia in 1770.
New South Wales was founded (begun) in 1788, by the British who set up a small penal colony on the land of various Aboriginal tribes who had been there for tens of thousands of years. The British colony of New South Wales originally included more than half of the Australian mainland, as well as New Zealand, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century large areas were separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand.
New South Wales has four main geographical areas:
The state is bordered on the north by Queensland, on the west by South Australia, and on the south by Victoria. Its coast faces the Tasman Sea. New South Wales contains two Federal Territories: the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and the Jervis Bay Territory.
New South Wales' three big cities are Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong which all lie along the coast. Other big towns include Albury which borders with Victoria; Broken Hill, the most westerly large town; Dubbo; Orange, Bowral, Bathurst, home of the Bathurst 1000; Port Macquarie, Tamworth, home to the country music festival; Armidale, Inverell, Lismore, Nowra, Gosford, Griffith, Queanbeyan, Leeton, Wagga Wagga, Goulburn, where a lot of Australia's fruit is grown and Coffs Harbour, a popular tourist destination.
The population of New South Wales at the end of June 2007 was 6.89 million people. Population grew by 1.1% over the preceding year,[7] lower than the national rate of 1.5%.
62.9% of NSW's population is based in Sydney.[8]
Rank | Statistical division/district | June 2007 population[9] |
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1 | Sydney | 4,336,374 |
2 | Newcastle | 523,662 |
3 | Wollongong | 280,159 |
4 | Wagga Wagga | 56,147 |
5 | Tweed Heads | 50,726 |
6 | Coffs Harbour | 50,726 |
7 | Tamworth | 44,970 |
8 | Albury | 44,787 |
9 | Port Macquarie | 42,042 |
10 | Orange | 37,333 |
11 | Queanbeyan | 36,331 |
12 | Dubbo | 36,150 |
13 | Nowra-Bomaderry | 32,556 |
14 | Bathurst | 32,385 |
15 | Lismore | 31,865 |
States and territories of Australia |
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States |
New South Wales • Queensland • South Australia • Tasmania • Victoria • Western Australia |
Territories |
Mainland: Australian Capital Territory • Jervis Bay Territory • Northern Territory |
Overseas: Ashmore and Cartier Islands • Australian Antarctic Territory • Norfolk Island • Christmas Island • Cocos (Keeling) Islands • Coral Sea Islands • Heard and McDonald Islands |
States | |||||||||
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Territories |
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(1) Sovereignty recognised only by France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom. (2) Co-mandate with New Zealand and the United Kingdom. |
International | |
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National | |
Geographic |