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New South Wales
AREA: 800,628 Sq Km
CAPITAL: Sydney (4,000,000)
POPULATION: 6,204,000 (1996)
New South Wales was the site of the first settlement in Australia and Sydney Cove in 1788.
In the little over 200 years since this tiny beginning it has grown into one of the world's
greatest agricultural producing areas with most of the eastern hinterland growing a variety
of crops and the more remote western areas farming cattle and sheep.
The Great Dividing Range runs the length of the state parallel to the sea and divides the
rich coastal farming flats from the more arid inland regions.
During early settlement these ranges proved an obstacle to land hungry settlers and it was not
until 1814 that
Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson found a way over them using a route which is now
roughly followed by the Great Western Highway through Katoomba and the Blue Mountains.
The Australian Capital Territory lies in the south-eastern quarter of the state some 300km.
south of Sydney.
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