Sydney is known as the Harbour City. It's the largest, oldest and most cosmopolitan city in Australia with an enviable reputation as one of the world's most beautiful and liveable cities.
Brimming with history, nature, culture, art, fashion, cuisine, design, Sydney's set next to miles of ocean coastline and sandy surf beaches. Longterm immigration has led to the cities reputation as one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse cities in Australia and the world. The city is also home to the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, two of the most iconic structures on this planet.
Some evidence suggests that humans inhabited the area of Australia that would later become Sydney almost 50,000 years before the first European settlers arrived. How those first people arrived in Sydney still remains an unsolved mystery. What is known is that in the late 1700's an English Lord named Thomas Townshend (aka Lord Sydney) thought it would be a great idea if England established a penal colony on the east coast of Australia, an area discovered by Captain James Cook about 16 years earlier.
On January 26, 1788, a fleet of 11 (known as the First Fleet) ships, bearing around 850 prisoners, arrived at Sydney Cove. The date became known as Australia Day. The European diseases the colonists brought with them rapidly decimated the native population. A shortage of food and lack of farming knowledge led to widespread starvation that almost wiped out the convicts and their guards. The arrival of the second fleet in 1790 was meant to bring relief in the form of supplies, but primarily brought more sick and dying convicts which only worsened the situation.
In 1810, Lachlan Macquarie became governor of Sydney and conditions began to improve. Macquarie wanted to build a city and build he did. Under his leadership, labor forces (made up primarily of convicts) erected public buildings such as banks and churches, constructed roads and bridges, and built wharves to accommodate the rapidly burgeoning maritime trade. He also allowed convicts who had served their term to enter society as free citizens. Macquarie's tenure as governor ended in 1821 when he was recalled to London for spending too much money and ruling autocratically.
Sydney continued to grow, despite Macquarie's absence. In 1842, Sydney was incorporated and became Australia's first official city. The practice of transporting convicts ended in 1850, by which time it had a population of 35,000 people.
Australia experienced an overall population depletion as citizens left the country to seek their fortune in the gold fields of California. Around 1852, though, gold was discovered in Australia and people came pouring back into the country. The Australian economy boomed. By 1871, Sydney's population had reached 200,000.
Despite a few setbacks, namely an outbreak of bubonic plague in 1900, the Great Depression and two world wars, Sydney continued to thrive. By the early 1950's, Sydney's population, boosted by a steady influx of immigrants, had jumped from 481,000 to over one and a half million. Employment rates were high and the economy strong. Skyscrapers began to dot Sydney's landscape and its iconic opera house opened in 1973. The 2000 Summer Olympic Games were held in Sydney, branding the city once and for all as a city worth noting.
Today, Sydney is home to over four million "Sydneysiders." It is considered one of the most diverse cities in the world, with more than 40% of the population originally hailing from outside Australia. Its comfortable climate, iconic structures, beautiful beaches and exotic wildlife have all combined to help make Sydney one of the world's most popular tourist destinations.
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