New South Wales (Postal NSW), 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 New Zealand, 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, Queensland and New Zealand.
An inhabitant of New South Wales is referred to as a New South Welshman. New South Wales' largest city and capital is Sydney.
Universities:
Eleven universities primarily operate in New South Wales. Sydney is home to Australia's first university, the University of Sydney, founded in 1850, as well as the University of New South Wales, Macquarie University, the University of Technology, Sydney and the University of Western Sydney. The Australian Catholic University has two of its six campuses in Sydney, and the private University of Notre Dame Australia also operates a secondary campus in the city.
Outside Sydney, the leading universities are the University of Newcastle and the University of Wollongong. Armidale is home to the University of New England, and Charles Sturt University and Southern Cross University have campuses spread across cities in the state's south-west and north coast respectively.
The public universities are state government agencies, however they are largely regulated by the federal government, which also administers their public funding. Admission to NSW universities is arranged together with universities in the Australian Capital Territory by another government agency, the Universities Admission Centre.
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 1,000 metres (3,280 ft), with the highest Mount Kosciuszko at 2,229 metres (7,308 ft). 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.
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's three major cities are Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong which all lie along the coast. Other notable settlements include Albury, a large town which borders with Victoria; Broken Hill, the most Westerly large town; Dubbo; Orange, Bathurst, home of the Bathurst 1000; Port Macquarie, Tamworth, home to the country music festival; Armidale, Inverell, Lismore, Nowra, Gosford, Griffith, Queanbeyan, Leeton, Wagga Wagga, Goulburn, where a large proportion of the Australia's fruit is grown and Coffs Harbour, a popular tourist destination.
Tourism has also become important, with Sydney as its centre but also stimulating growth on the North Coast, around Coffs Harbour and Byron Bay. Tourism is worth over $23 billion to the New South Wales economy and employs over 8% of the workforce.
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 Ford Ranger Cup and Pura Cup cricket competitions, the NSW Waratahs in the Super 14 rugby union competition and The 'Blues' represent NSW in the annual Rugby League State of Origin series.
As well as the state of origin, the headquarters of the Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League (NRL) are in Sydney, which is home to 8 of the 16 National Rugby League (NRL) teams. (Sydney Roosters, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Parramatta Eels, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Wests Tigers, Penrith Panthers, Canterbury Bulldogs and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles), as well as being the northern home of the St George Illawarra Dragons, which is half-based in Wollongong. A tenth team, the Newcastle Knights are located in Newcastle. Rugby league football is the most popular sport by far in terms of spectators and television viewers.
The state is represented by three teams in the football (soccer) A-League: Sydney FC (the inaugural champions in 2005-06), the Central Coast Mariners, based at Gosford and the Newcastle United Jets. Football (soccer) has the highest number of registered players in New South Wales of any football code. Australian rules football has historically not been strong in New South Wales outside the Riverina region. However, the Sydney Swans relocated from South Melbourne in 1982 and their presence and success since the late 1990s has raised the profile of Australian rules football, especially after their AFL premiership in 2005. Other teams in national competitions include basketball's Sydney Kings, West Sydney Razorbacks and Sydney Uni Flames, and netball's Sydney Swifts.
The Sydney Cricket Ground traditionally hosts the 'New Year' cricket test match from 2-6 January each year, and is also one of the site for the finals of the one day international series. The annual Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race begins in Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day. The climax of Australia's touring car racing series is the Bathurst 1000, held near the city of Bathurst.
New South Wales is home to several artistic bodies including: the Sydney Symphony (Australia's busiest and largest orchestra) and Opera Australia (head office in Sydney) both of which perform a subscription series at the Sydney Opera House. The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), houses a significant collection of Australian art; other major spaces include the Sydney Jewish Museum, the Museum of Sydney and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Besides this Sydney is host to the Australian Ballet for its Sydney season (the ballet is headquartered in Melbourne). Sydney is home to five Arts teaching organisations which have all produced world famous students: The National Art School, The College of Fine Arts, the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), the Australian School of Film, Radio and Television and the Conservatorium of Music (now part of the University of Sydney). The world famous Australian Chamber Orchestra has its headquarters in Sydney, however, spends most of its time touring both the world and Australia.
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