Neptune's Needle

City (1991 pop. 3,097,956), (cap.) N.S.W., SE Australia, surrounding Port Jackson inlet on the Pacific Ocean; 33º53'S 151º12'E. Sydney is Australia’s largest city, chief port, and main financial and industrial center, and a major tourist center. The city serves as a center for retail and wholesale trade as well as public administration and finance. Its main exports are wool, wheat, flour, sheepskins, and meat; the chief imports are petroleum, coal, timber, and sugar. Sydney has shipyards, oil refineries, textile mills, brass foundries, and automobile, electronics, and chemical plants. The city was founded in 1788 as the 1st penal settlement of Australia. Its name was taken from a cave named for Captain Cook’s patron, Viscount Sydney. In World War II, the city was an Allied military base, and Jap. submarines attacked the harbor. Sydney has experienced tremendous growth since World War II and there has been extensive urban redevelopment since the 1970s. Two notable bridges cross Port Jackson inlet; the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1932) and the Gladesville Bridge (1964). In the city are the Univ. of Sydney (1850), Macquarie Univ. (1964), the Univ. of N.S.W. (1949), the Univ. of Western Sydney, and the Sydney Univ. of Technology. Among its museums are the Natl. Gallery of Art and the Australian Mus. (natural history). The modernistic Sydney Opera House complex was largely designed by Joern Utzon, the Dan. winner of an internatl. competition; it opened in 1974. Site of Summer Olympics in 2000.

Sources

Compiler

Peter Richards