Francais | English | Espanõl

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sydney, Australia is located in a coastal basin bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north and the Woronora Plateau to the south. Sydney lies on a submergent coastline, where the ocean level has risen to flood deep river valleys (rias) carved in the sandstone. One of these drowned valleys, Port Jackson, better known as Sydney Harbour, is the largest natural harbour in the world. There are more than 70 harbour and ocean beaches, including the famous Bondi Beach, in the urban area. Sydney's urban area covers 1687 km² (651 mi²) as at 2001<ref name="abs_2016_0">2016.0 Census of Population and Housing: Selected Characteristics for Urban Centres, Australia, Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003-03-26</ref>. The Sydney Statistical Division, used for census data, is the unofficial metropolitan area <ref>1217.0.55.001 - Glossary of Statistical Geography Terminology, 2003, Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003</ref> and covers 12,145 km² (4,689 mi²)<ref name="abs_2032_0">"2032.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Australia in Profile -- A Regional Analysis, 2001", Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004-01-16</ref>. This area includes the Central Coast and Blue Mountains as well as broad swathes of national park and other unurbanized land.

Geographically, Sydney sprawls over two major regions: the Cumberland Plain, a relatively flat region lying to the south and west of the harbour, and the Hornsby Plateau, a sandstone plateau lying mainly to the north of the harbour, dissected by steep valleys. The oldest parts of the city are located in the flat areas south of the harbour; the North Shore was slower to develop because of its hilly topography, and was mostly a quiet backwater until the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932, linking it to the rest of the city.

[edit] Climate

Sydney has an oceanic climate with warm summers and cool winters, with rainfall spread throughout the year. The weather is moderated by proximity to the ocean, and more extreme temperatures are recorded in the inland western suburbs. The warmest month is January, with an average air temperature range on the coast of 18.6 °C–25.8 °C and an average of 14.6 days a year over 30 °C. The maximum recorded temperature was 45.3 °C on January 14, 1939 at the end of a 4 day nationwide heat wave.<ref>Bureau of Meteorology. 2006. Climate summary for Sydney, January 2006</ref> The winter is mildly cool, with temperatures rarely dropping below 5 °C in coastal areas. The coldest month is July, with an average range of 8.0 °C–16.2 °C. The lowest recorded minimum was 2.1 °C. Rainfall is fairly evenly divided between summer and winter, but is slightly higher during the first half of the year, when easterly winds dominate. The average annual rainfall, with moderate to low variability, is 1217.0 mm, falling on an average 138.0 days a year.<ref>Australian Bureau of Meterology. 2005. Climate averages.</ref><ref>Ellyard, D. 1994. Droughts and Flooding Rains. Angus & Robertson ISBN 0-207-18557-3</ref>. Snowfall last occurred in the Sydney City area in the 1830's.<ref>MacDonnell, Freda. Thomas Nelson (Australia) Limited, 1967. Before King’s Cross</ref>

Although the city does not suffer from cyclones or significant earthquakes, the El Niño Southern Oscillation plays 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. Many areas of the city bordering bushland have experienced bushfires, notably in 1994 and 2002 – these tend to occur during the spring and summer. The city is also prone to severe hail storms and wind storms. One such storm occurred in Sydney's eastern and city suburbs on the evening of 14 April 1999, producing massive hailstones of at least 9cm in diameter and resulting in insurance losses of around $1.5 billion in less than one hour.

Recent research by a Macquarie University atmospheric scientist suggests that land clearing in western Sydney has contributed to major changes in the city's climate. <ref>Sydney Morning Herald, June 29 2004. Climate change link to clearing.</ref>

Climate Table

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum temperature (°C)	25.8	25.7	24.7	22.4	19.3	16.9	16.2	17.7	19.9	22.0	23.6	25.1	21.6
Mean daily minimum temperature (°C)	18.6	18.7	17.5	14.7	11.5	9.2	8.0	8.9	11.0	13.5	15.5	17.5	13.7
Mean total rainfall (mm)	103.3	117.4	131.2	127.2	123.3	128.1	98.1	81.5	68.7	76.9	83.1	78.1	1217.0
Mean number of rain days	12.1	12.3	13.3	12.0	12.0	11.4	10.3	9.9	10.3	11.5	11.4	11.5	138.0
Source: Bureau of Meteorology

Current Sydney Weather: current temperatures and four day outlook, Source: NSW Govt</small>

[edit] Urban structure

The extensive area covered by urban Sydney is formally divided into more than 300 suburbs (for addressing and postal purposes), and administered as 38 local government areas. There is no city-wide government, but the Government of New South Wales and its agencies have extensive responsibilities in providing metropolitan services.<ref>Department of Local Government. Local Council Boundaries Sydney Outer (SO)</ref> The City of Sydney itself covers a fairly small area comprising the central business district and its neighbouring inner-city suburbs. In addition, there are a number of regional descriptions which are used informally to conveniently describe large sections of the urban area. However it should be noted that there are many suburbs which are not conveniently covered by any of the following informal regional categories. The regions are Eastern Suburbs, Hills District, Inner West, Lower North Shore, Northern Beaches, North Shore, Southern Sydney, South-eastern Sydney, South-western Sydney, Sutherland Shire and Western Sydney. Image:Sydney(from air).jpg

Sydney's central business district (CBD) extends southwards for about 2 kilometres (1.25 mi) from Sydney Cove, the point of the first European settlement. Densely concentrated skyscrapers and other buildings including historic sandstone buildings such as the Sydney Town Hall and Queen Victoria Building are interspersed by several parks such as Wynyard and Hyde Park. The Sydney CBD is bounded on the east side by a chain of parkland that extends from Hyde Park through the Domain and Royal Botanic Gardens to Farm Cove on the harbour. The west side is bounded by Darling Harbour, a popular tourist and nightlife precinct while Central station marks the southern end of the CBD. George Street serves as the Sydney CBD's main north-south thoroughfare.

The oldest, inner suburbs are dominated by terrace housing. The original suburbs lay within walking distance of the CBD, and later urban development in the Inner West and Eastern Suburbs was served by trams. With a boom in passenger railway construction came rapid extension of the suburbs along the railway corridors to the west and south, and eventually to the North Shore, after the completion of the Harbour Bridge allowed trains to continue from North Sydney into the CBD. This radial-spoke pattern of development changed after World War II, when increasing car ownership encouraged infill development where the railways didn't run, and then further expansion around the perimeter of the city. These outer areas have mostly missed out on further rail expansion and are primarily car dependent to this day.

Although the CBD dominated the city's business and cultural life in the early days, other business/cultural districts have developed in a radial pattern since World War II. In 1945, two-thirds of all jobs in Sydney were located in the City of Sydney and surrounding inner city municipalities, but postwar suburbanisation meant that only a quarter of the workforce were located in the City, South Sydney, Leichhardt and Marrickville municipalities. <ref>Spearitt, Peter, 2000, Sydney's Century: A History p. 122, Sydney: UNSW Press</ref> Together with the commercial district of North Sydney, joined to the CBD by the Harbour Bridge, the most significant outer business districts are Parramatta in the central-west, Blacktown in the west, Bondi Junction in the east, Liverpool in the southwest, Chatswood to the north, and Hurstville to the south.

[edit] References

<references/>