New South Wales

New South Wales


State flag (In detail)	Coat of Arms (In detail) Motto: "Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites" (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine)

Capital

Sydney

Governor

HE Professor Marie Bashir

Premier

Hon Bob Carr

Area
— Land
— Marine
— Total

800,642 km²
8,802 km²
809,444 km²

Population
Density

6,657,400 (2002)
8.32/km²

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.

Contents

1 Geography

2 Government and economy

3 External links

4 See also

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 semi-arid plains that fill a significant portion of the states area, this area is sparsely populated.
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)