New South Wales
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| Capital | Sydney | ||||
| Governor | HE Professor Marie Bashir | ||||
| Premier | Hon Bob Carr | ||||
| Area — Land — Marine — Total | 800,642 kmē 8,802 kmē 809,444 kmē | ||||
| Population Density | 6,657,400 (2002) 8.32/kmē | ||||
| Time zone | UTC+10 (except during daylight saving time—UTC+11) | ||||
| Highest point | Mount Kosciuszko (2,229m) | ||||
| ISO 3166-2 code: | AU-NS | ||||
New South Wales (NSW) is Australia's most populous and oldest state, located in the southeast, north of Victoria. It was founded in 1788 and originally comprised much of the Australian mainland. During the 19th century large areas were successively separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania (1825), Victoria (1851), Queensland (1859), and South Australia (which at that time included what is now the Northern Territory). In 1901 these colonies plus Western Australia voted to form an independent nation called the "Commonwealth of Australia".
New South Wales is known the world over for the picturesque harbour of its capital, Sydney. Sydney combines one of the twin hearts of the Australian financial sector with a population that loves the outdoor life from beaches and caving, to riding or sailing.
Geography
Its three main cities from north to south are Newcastle, Sydney, and Wollongong which all lie along the coast. Other cities and towns include Albury, Broken Hill, Dubbo, Tamworth, Armidale, Lismore, Nowra, and Coffs Harbour.
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 enclaves: the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and the Jervis Bay Territory.
New South Wales can be divided physically into four sections:
- A thin coastal strip, with climates warming from cool temperate on the far south coast to subtropical near the Queensland border, including the regions of the Illawarra near Wollongong, the Shoalhaven near Nowra, and others.
- The mountainous areas of the Great Dividing Range and the high country surrounding them. Whilst not particularly steep, many peaks rise above 1,000 m, with the highest Mount Kosciuszko at 2,229 m (7,308 feet). This includes the Southern Highlands, Central Tablelands and the New England regions.
- The agricultural plains that fill a significant portion of the state's area, with a much sparser poulation than the coast.
- The dry arid plains in the far north-west of the state, which is unsuitable for settlements of any noticeable size.
Government and economy
New South Wales is a constitutional monarchy, with the Queen of Australia as its head of state; the Queen is represented in the state by a Governor. The State Parliament is composed of two houses, the Legislative Assembly (lower house), and the Legislative Council (upper house). The head of the State government is the Premier, currently Bob Carr.
New South Wales has a Gross Domestic Product of AU$265,966,000, which equals AU$39,950 per capita, in 2003. This is equal to US$26,000, just below the major European Union economies.
External links
- NSW State Law (http://www.austlii.edu.au/databases.html#nsw).
- Official state website (http://www.nsw.gov.au).
- New South Wales Parliament (http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au)
See also
- Australian States and Territories
- Local Government Areas of New South Wales
- National Parks in New South Wales
- Stamps and postal history of New South Wales
- List of New South Wales highways
de:New South Wales fr:Nouvelle-Galles du Sud it:Nuovo Galles del Sud nl:Nieuw-Zuid-Wales ja:ニューサウスウェールズ州 sv:New South Wales zh-tw:新南威爾士州