New South Wales
New South Wales is
Australia's most populous
state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria and south of
Queensland. It was founded in 1788 and originally comprised much of the Australian mainland, as well as
Lord Howe Island and
Norfolk Island. During the 19th century large areas were successively separated to form the
British colonies of
Tasmania South Australia , Victoria , and
Queensland . In 1901 these colonies plus
Western Australia federated to form
Commonwealth of Australia.
Encyclopedia
New South Wales is
Australia's most populous
state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria and south of
Queensland. It was founded in 1788 and originally comprised much of the Australian mainland, as well as
Lord Howe Island and
Norfolk Island. During the 19th century large areas were successively separated to form the
British colonies of
Tasmania South Australia , Victoria , and
Queensland . In 1901 these colonies plus
Western Australia federated to form
Commonwealth of Australia.
New South Wales is known the world over for the picturesque
harbour of its capital,
Sydney, Australia's oldest and largest city and a centre of international finance. Two-thirds of NSW's population lives in Sydney. Sydney was the host city of the
2000 Olympic Summer Games.
An inhabitant of New South Wales is referred to as a
New South Welshman or, in gender-neutral language, as a
New South Welsh person.
When
James Cook named the area on the east coast of
Australia, New South Wales it is unknown whether or not he was referring to a new area that resembled
South Wales, or a new southern version of
Wales.
Timeline
...
and William Lawson, lead an expedition which finds a route across the
Blue Mountains west of Sydney, opening up the grazing lands of inland New South Wales.
Geography
New South Wales' three main cities from north to south are
Newcastle,
Sydney, and
Wollongong, which all lie along the coast. Other notable settlements include
Albury,
Broken Hill,
Dubbo,
Orange,
Bathurst,
Port Macquarie,
Tamworth,
Armidale, Inverell,
Lismore,
Nowra,
Griffith,
Queanbeyan,
Leeton,
Wagga Wagga,
Goulburn 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 , and the
Jervis Bay Territory.
New South Wales can be divided geographically into four sections:
- A coastal strip, with climates warming from cool temperate on the far south coast to subtropical near the Queensland border, including the regions south of Sydney such as the Illawarra , the Shoalhaven near Nowra, Newcastle, the Central Coast and the North Coast.
- The mountainous areas of the Great Dividing Range and the high country surrounding them. Whilst not particularly steep, many peaks rise above 1000 m, with the highest Mount Kosciuszko at 2229 m . 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 population than the coast, includes the Riverina area around Wagga Wagga.
- The arid plains in the far north-west of the state, which feature few small settlements.
Highest maximum temperature: 50.0C ,
Wilcannia, 11 January 1939
Lowest minimum temperature: -23.0C , Charlotte Pass, 29 June 1994
Government
The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. Since 1901 New South Wales has been a state of the
Commonwealth of Australia, and the Australian Constitution regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth.
Under the Australian Constitution, New South Wales ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained independence in all other areas. The New South Wales Constitution says: "The Legislature shall, subject to the provisions of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, have power to make laws for the peace, welfare, and good government of New South Wales in all cases whatsoever." In practice, however, the independence of the Australian states has been greatly eroded by the increasing financial domination of the Commonwealth.
The State Parliament is composed of two houses, the
Legislative Assembly , and the
Legislative Council . Elections are held every four years on the fourth Saturday of March, the
next being on 24 March 2007. At each election one member is elected to the Legislative Assembly from each of 99 electoral districts and half of the 42 members of the Legislative Council are elected by a statewide electorate.
New South Wales is a
Constitutional Monarchy.
Queen Elizabeth II is the Sovereign, represented by the
Governor of New South Wales. The current governor is Marie Bashir. The Governor commissions as Premier the Member of Parliament who can command a simple majority of votes in the Legislative Assembly. The Premier then recommends the appointment of other Members of the two Houses to the Ministry, under the principle of responsible or Westminster government. It should be noted, however, that there is no legal requirement in NSW for the Government to be formed from the Parliament - merely convention. The current Premier is
Morris Iemma of the
Australian Labor Party.
Economy
New South Wales has a
Gross Domestic Product of
AU$265,966,000,000, which equalled AU$39,950 per capita, in
2003. This was equal to
US$30,277, above most major
European Union economies.
Sport
Throughout Australian history, NSW sporting teams have been very successful in both winning domestic competitions and providing players to the Australian national team. The NSW Blues play in the ING and Pura Cup cricket competitions, the
NSW Waratahs in the
Super 14 rugby competition and
The 'Blues' represent NSW in the annual
Rugby League State of Origin series.
External links
See also
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