Hotels in Sydney - Australia | living, study, Travel vacation or Business at sydney

University of Sydney - Study In Australia

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Sat, 29 May 2010 06:22:00 +0000

Going to Australia and looking the best University in Sidney

University of Sydney (Sydney University, USyd/Sydney) is the oldest university in Australia. It was established in Sydney in 1850. In 2009, the university had 47,775 students making it the second largest in Australia.
The university has a number of small special-purpose satellite campuses obtained from other organisations over the past 20 years, however the main campus is centred on the large Oxbridge-inspired grounds which spread across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the south-western outskirts of the Sydney CBD.

The University of Sydney is a member of Australia's Group of Eight, Academic Consortium 21, the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) and the Worldwide Universities Network.

... In 2001, University of Sydney Chancellor Dame Leonie Kramer was forced to resign by the university's governing body. In 2003, Nick Greiner, a former premier of New South Wales, resigned from his position as chair of the university's Graduate School of Management because of academic protests against his simultaneous chairmanship of British American Tobacco (Australia). Subsequently, his wife, Kathryn Greiner, resigned in protest from the two positions she held at the university as chair of the Sydney Peace Foundation and a member of the executive council of the Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific. In 2005, the Public Service Association of NSW and the Community and Public Sector Union were in dispute with the university over a proposal to privatise security at the main campus (and the Cumberland campus.

In February 2007, the university agreed to acquire a portion of the land granted to St John's College to develop the Sydney Institute of Health and Medical Research. As a Roman Catholic institution, in handing over the land St John's placed limitations on the type of medical research that could be conducted on the premises, seeking to preserve the essence of the College mission. This has caused concern among some groups, who argue that this could interfere with scientific medical research. However, this is rejected by the university administration because the building is not intended for this purpose and there are many other facilities in close proximity where such research can take place.

Facilities and services University of Sydney Australia
University of Sydney Library
Museums and galleries
Residential colleges
Student organisations

List Universities in Sydney - Study In Australia

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Sat, 29 May 2010 06:11:00 +0000

Stay for Study in Australia
Sydney is home to some of Australia's most prestigious universities, Colleges, technical institutions and schools.
University in Sydney
University of Sydney Founded in 1850
University of Technology, Founded in Sydney 1988
University of New South Wales Founded in 1949
Macquarie University, Founded in1964
University of Western Sydney, Founded in 1989
Australian Catholic University in 1991
University of Notre Dame Australia 1989 (campus in 2006)
University of Wollongong, Founded 1951 Secondary

Sydney is home to some of Australia's most prominent Universities, and is also the site of Australia's first university, the University of Sydney, established in 1850. There are five other public universities operating primarily in Sydney; the University of New South Wales, Macquarie University, the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of Western Sydney, and the Australian Catholic University (two out of six campuses). Other universities which operate secondary campuses in Sydney include the University of Notre Dame Australia and the University of Wollongong.

STUDY in SYDNEY Australia

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Sat, 29 May 2010 06:06:00 +0000

Schools & universities in Australia (Sydney)
Sydney City is home to some of Australia's most prestigious universities, technical institutions and schools. Entry to tertiary education for most students is via the New South Wales secondary school system where students are ranked by a University Admission Index.

Sydney is home to some of Australia's most prominent educational institutions. The University of Sydney, established in 1850, is Australia's oldest university and the largest in Sydney. Other public universities located in Sydney include the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of New South Wales, Macquarie University, the University of Western Sydney and the Australian Catholic University (two out of six campuses). Other universities which operate secondary campuses in Sydney include the University of Notre Dame Australia and the University of Wollongong.

There are four multi-campus government-funded Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes in Sydney, which provide vocational training at a tertiary level: the Sydney Institute of Technology, Northern Sydney Institute of TAFE, Western Sydney Institute of TAFE and South Western Sydney Institute of TAFE.

Schools
State schools, including pre-schools, primary and secondary schools, and special schools are administered by the New South Wales Department of Education and Training. There are four state administered education areas in the Sydney metropolitan area, that together coordinate 913 schools. Selective schools are high schools that admit students on the basis of certain criteria, usually academic testing.

City of Sydney - NSW Australlia

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:11:00 +0000

Sydney Vacations, Tourism and Sydney, Australia Travel ...
Sydney City, with a population of almost 4 million, and covering almost 1120 square kilometres (700 square miles), is a remarkably easy city to move around in. The City of Sydney is the Local Government Area (LGA) covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia. The leader of the City of Sydney holds the title of the Lord Mayor of Sydney.
Sydney City An excellent train, bus and ferry service covers all points of the greater metropolitan area. Roadways, although congested in peak hour times, are generally well planned and driving is not too harrowing an experience.
Suburbs within the boundaries of the City of Sydney before the merger include the actual downtown or central business district of Sydney itself, Pyrmont and Ultimo to the west, Haymarket to the south and Woolloomooloo to the east and other suburbs. On 6 February 2004, the former LGA of the City of South Sydney was formally merged into the City of Sydney.

The CBD is roughly bounded by Circular Quay and the Harbour to the north, Macquarie Street to the east, the Western Distributor to the west and Liverpool Street to the south. Suburbs within the City of South Sydney before the merger included Alexandria, Darlington (now mostly occupied by the University of Sydney), Erskineville, Newtown, Redfern, Glebe, Waterloo, Paddington.
" Sydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales".

SYDNEY CITY

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:02:00 +0000

The City of Sydney is a great place to visit. Find out more about the tremendous range of things to see and do around the city.
The name Sydney comes from "Sydney Cove" which is where the English admiral Arthur Phillip established the first settlement, after arriving with the First Fleet. On 22 January 1788, he named it after Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, who was the home secretary at the time, and the man responsible for the plan for the convict colony in Australia.

The "City of Sydney" was established on 20 July 1842 by the Corporation Act which encompasses present-day Woolloomooloo, Surry Hills, Chippendale and Pyrmont, an area of 11.65 km². There were six wards established by boundary posts. A boundary post still exists in front of Sydney Square.

The boundaries of the City of Sydney have changed fairly regularly since 1900. The Municipality of Camperdown was merged with the city in 1909. Added in 1949 were Alexandria, Darlington, Erskineville, Newtown, Redfern, Glebe, Waterloo, and Paddington. In 1968 the boundaries were changed and many of these suburbs moved to be part of a new municipality of South Sydney. South Sydney was brought back into the city in 1982, but became separate again under the City of Sydney Act of 1988 and then became smaller than its original size at 6.19 km². It grew again in February, 2004 with the merger of the two council areas, and now has a population of approximately 170,000 people.

SYDNEY - Australia

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:20:00 +0000

Sydney, NSW, Australia vacations

Sydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres.
Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City". It is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, reflecting its role as a major destination for immigrants to Australia.
The site of the first British colony in Australia, Sydney was established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, commodore of the First Fleet. The city is built on hills surrounding Sydney Harbour – an inlet of the Tasman Sea on Australia's south-east coast. It is home to the iconic Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge and its beaches. The metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and contains many bays, rivers and inlets.
The city is home to many prominent parks, such as Hyde Park, Royal Botanical Gardens and national parks. This is a major factor, along with Sydney Harbour that has led to the city’s reputation as one of the most beautiful in the world.

Sydney is a significant international financial centre and has been ranked 14th within the top 50 global financial cities as surveyed by the Mastercard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index (2007),and 1st within Australia. Sydney is also an international fashion and creative industry hub and is Australia's fashion capital.

Sydney has hosted major international sporting events, including the 1938 British Empire Games, 2000 Summer Olympics and the final of the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The main airport serving Sydney is Sydney Airport.

Sydney is considered an alpha+ world city, as listed by the Loughborough University group's 2008 inventory and is ranked 16th among global cities by Foreign Policy's 2008 Global Cities Index. According to the Mercer cost of living survey, Sydney is Australia’s most expensive city, and the 66th most expensive in the world. Sydney also ranks among the top 10 most livable cities in the world according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting and The Economist.
Sydney tourism and travel information such as accommodation, festivals, transport, maps, activities and attractions in Sydney, Australia

SYDNEY - Airport

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:49:00 +0000

Flight to Sydney Australia
Sydney Airport - Kingsford Smith Airport
Sydney Airport is one of the oldest continually operated airports in the world, and the busiest airport in Australia, handling 31.9 million passengers and 290,346 aircraft movements in 2007. The airport is managed by Sydney Airport Corporation Limited (SACL) and the current CEO is Russell Balding.
Sydney Airport (also known as Kingsford Smith Airport) (IATA: SYD, ICAO: YSSY) is located in the suburb of Mascot in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the major airport serving Sydney, and is a major hub for Qantas.

The airport is accessible by road and via the Airport Link underground rail line. The International Terminal and Domestic Terminal railway stations are situated below the respective terminals, and are part of the Cityrail network. However the train stations are privately owned and operated by the Airport Link consortium. Regular suburban trains service the airport, without special provisions for customers with luggage.

Sydney Buses run Route 400 (Burwood,Bondi Junction), which connects the eastern suburbs, Inner West and St George areas to the airport, with stops at International and Domestic terminals. Once again, these buses are regular suburban buses.

Sydney has sought a second airport since 1964. Between 1987 and 2000 domestic flights though Sydney have more than doubled to nearly 27 million, and international passengers served increased from 8 million to 15 million. Close to half of all scheduled flights in Australia take off or land at Kingsford Smith. In 1998 the airport handled 45% of international passengers in Australia.

Second airport proposals
The Commonwealth has bought most of the required land in a proposed site at Badgery's Creek, west of Sydney. This site would be accessible by the Westlink M7 motorway. There are currently three proposals for the airport layout, featuring different arrangement of terminals in the centre of the proposed three runways.

The issue of a second airport for Sydney arose again after the Rudd government was elected in 2007. Convinced that capacity at the current airport will be exhausted, it sought a new site. It is believed that various options, including a freight-only airport operation, will be considered. Camden, converting part or all of Richmond and Canberra will be investigated for feasibility, while Bankstown and Badgerys Creek, according to sources, will not.

Sydney - Regions

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:18:00 +0000

Sydney - New South Wales Australia.

Like many major cities, Sydney's residents, known throughout Australia as 'Sydneysiders', refer to different regions of the City by different names. These areas don't always correspond directly to official boundaries of suburbs, or local government authorities, but instead refer to broader, and occasionally less well defined areas. This is a brief description of the regions of Sydney.
City
Composed of the local government area of the City of Sydney.
Suburbs include Glebe, Potts Point and The Rocks.
Eastern Suburbs
Composed of the local government areas of the City of Randwick, Waverley Council, City of Botany Bay and the Municipality of Woollahra.
Suburbs include Bronte, Bellevue Hill and Point Piper.
Northern Beaches
Composed of the local government areas of Manly Council, Warringah Council, and the Pittwater Council.
Suburbs include Manly, Palm Beach and Seaforth.
Lower North Shore
Composed of the local government areas of the City of Willoughby, North Sydney Council, Municipality of Mosman and Municipality of Lane Cove.
Suburbs include Mosman and Cremorne Point.
Upper North Shore
Composed of the local government areas of the Ku-ring-gai Council and the Hornsby Shire.
Suburbs include Killara, Cheltenham and Pymble.
Northern Suburbs
This area includes suburbs in the local government areas of Hornsby Shire, City of Ryde, City of Parramatta and Municipality of Hunters Hill.
The Hills
These suburbs are generally located within the local government area of Baulkham Hills Shire but parts of the City of Parramatta, City of Blacktown, and Hornsby Shire are also included in the area.
The Forest
These suburbs are located within the local government area of Warringah Council but are also often included in the Northern Beaches or Upper North Shore regions.
Inner West
Composed of the local government areas of the Marrickville Council, City of Canterbury, Municipality of Ashfield, Burwood Council, Municipality of Strathfield, City of Canada Bay and the Municipality of Leichhardt.
Suburbs include Balmain, Strathfield and Cabarita.
Canterbury-Bankstown
The suburbs of Canterbury-Bankstown region are not specific to the LGAs of Canterbury and Bankstown but are approximately north-west of southern Canterbury, south-west of Lidcombe and north-east of Bankstown.
Southern Sydney
Composed of the local government areas of the City of Rockdale, City of Hurstville, Municipality of Kogarah and the Sutherland Shire.
Suburbs include Kyle Bay, Kangaroo Point and Cronulla.
St George
The area includes all the suburbs in the local government areas of the City of Hurstville, the City of Rockdale and the Municipality of Kogarah.
South-eastern Sydney
Includes suburbs within the Local Government Areas of City of Sydney, City of Botany Bay and Randwick and falls approximately within the Federal Division of Kingsford Smith.
South-western Sydney
South-western Sydney can be used to describe the suburbs found in the local government areas of the City of Canterbury, City of Bankstown, City of Liverpool, City of Fairfield, City of Campbelltown and Camden Council.
Western Sydney
Composed of the councils which are members of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils and comprising the local government areas of Auburn Council, City of Bankstown, City of Blacktown, Blue Mountains City Council, City of Fairfield, City of Hawkesbury, The Hills Shire, City of Holroyd, City of Liverpool, City of Parramatta and the City of Penrith.
Macarthur
Macarthur is a region to the south-west of Sydney that includes the city of Campbelltown, as well as the town of Camden and Wollondilly Shire.
Greater Western Sydney
Greater Western Sydney includes the 14 local government areas covered by the New South Wales government's Office of the Minister for Western Sydney and the Greater Western Sydney Economic Development Board. These are Auburn, Bankstown, Baulkham Hills, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Camden, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Hawkesbury, Holroyd, Liverpool, Parramatta, Penrith and Wollondilly. It therefore is made up of the Western Sydney and Macarthur regions as defined above.

Sydney Architecture& Buildings

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:07:00 +0000

The Architecture and Buildings of Sydney are not characterised by any one architectural style, having accumulated and developed over its 200 year history.
Under early nineteenth-century the tenure of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, the works of Francis Greenway were the first substantial buildings for the fledgling colony. Later prominent styles were the Victorian buildings of the city centre created out of local Hawkesbury sandstone, and the turn of the century Federation style in the new garden suburbs of the time. With the lifting of height restrictions in the post-World War II years, much of central Sydney's older stock of architecture was demolished to make way for modernist high rise buildings; a number of the most notable new buildings were designed by Harry Seidler.
Listed below are examples of prominent architectural styles in the Sydney Central Business district and the surrounding suburbs.
Gothic revival
* Government House, Bennelong Point
* St Philip's Church, Clarence Street
* Bishopscourt, Greenoaks Avenue, Darling Point
* The Abbey, Johnston Street, Annandale
* Gladeswood House, 11 Gladeswood Gardens, Double Bay
* St John's Church, Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst
Georgian
* Durham Hall, Albion Street, Surry Hills
* Cleveland House, Bedford Street, Surry Hills
* Waimea, Waimea Avenue, Woollahra
* Judge's House, 531 Kent Street
* Juniper Hall, Oxford Street and Ormond Street, Paddingto
Classical
* Customs House, Alfred Street, Circular Quay
* General Post Office, Martin Place
* Lands Department, Bridge Street
* Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain
* Library of New South Wales, Macquarie Street
* Australian Museum, College Street
* Darlinghurst Court House, Taylor Square
Romanesque
* Queen Victoria Building, George Street
* Church of St John, Bishopthorpe, St John's Road, Glebe
* Societe Generale House, 348 George Street
* Burns Philp and Company building, Bridge Street
* St Andrew's Church, 56 Raglan Street, Manly
Federation/Edwardian
* Pyrmont Fire Station, Gipps Street and Pyrmont Bridge Road, Pyrmont
* YMCA, 325 Pitt Street
* Former ANZ Bank, 52 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst
* Former hotel, 2-4 Riley Street, Woolloomooloo
* Hotel building, 225 George Street
* Commercial Building, 161 Sussex Street
* Post Office, King Street and Erskineville Road, Newtown
* Homes, Appian Way, Burwood
* Homes, 388-396 Edgecliff Road, Woollahra
* Commercial building, 469 Oxford Street, Paddington
Second Empire
* Sydney Town Hall, George Street
* Downing Centre (former Mark Foy building), Liverpool Street
Queen Anne
* Westmaling, Penshurst Avenue, Penshurst
* Caerleon, Ginahgulla Road, Bellevue Hill
* Homes, Appian Way, Burwood
Contemporary Architecture
Internationally, the Sydney Opera House is the most recognised symbol of Sydney and one of the most distinctive pieces of Sydney architecture.

History of Sydney

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:46:00 +0000

Visit the Sydney city for vacation This Year?
The History of Sydney stretches back to prehistoric times, Radio carbon dating suggests that the Sydney region has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years. The area surrounding Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) was home to many Aboriginal tribes for 40,000 years or more. Although urbanisation has destroyed most evidence of these settlements, there are still hundreds of rock carvings in several locations. Sydney is thought to have the finest collection of rock carvings in the world because it is made up predominantly of sandstone, which is a suitable surface for rock carvings.

In the late 1800s, excavations for a canal in Alexandria (south-east of the city) uncovered evidence of Aboriginal settlement in that area estimated to date back at least 7000 years; more recent evidence discovered in caves near Glenbrook in the lower Blue Mountains, west of the city, indicates Aboriginal occupation of that region dating back at least 20,000 years.

While estimates of the population numbers prior to the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 remains contentious, approximately 4,000–8,000 Aboriginal people lived in the Sydney region prior to contact with British settlers. The British called the Indigenous people the "Eora", because being asked where they came from, these people would answer: "Eora", meaning "here", or "from this place" in their language. There were three language groups in the Sydney region, which were divided into dialects spoken by smaller clans.
The principal languages were Darug (the Cadigal, original inhabitants of the City of Sydney, spoke a coastal dialect of Darug), Dharawal and Guringai. Each clan had a territory, the location of that territory determined the resources available. Although urbanisation has destroyed much evidence of these settlements (such as shell middens), a number of Sydney rock engravings, carvings and rock art remain visible in the Hawkesbury sandstone of the Sydney basin.

In 1770, British sea Captain Lieutenant James Cook landed in Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula. It is here that Cook made first contact with an Aboriginal community known as the Gweagal. Under instruction from the British government, a convict settlement was founded by Arthur Phillip, who arrived at Botany Bay with a fleet of 11 ships on 18 January 1788. This site was soon determined to be unsuitable for habitation, owing to poor soil and a lack of reliable fresh water. Phillip subsequently founded the colony one inlet further up the coast, at Sydney Cove on Port Jackson on 26 January 1788. He named it after the British Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney, in recognition of Sydney's role in issuing the charter authorising Phillip to establish a colony. The original name was intended to be Albion until Phillip decided upon Sydney.

In April 1789 a disease, thought to be smallpox, killed an estimated 500 to 1000 Aboriginal people between Broken Bay and Botany Bay. There was violent resistance to British settlement, notably by the warrior Pemulwuy in the area around Botany Bay, and conflicts were common in the area surrounding the Hawkesbury River. By 1820 there were only a few hundred Aborigines and Governor Macquarie had begun initiatives to 'civilise, Christianise and educate' the Aborigines by removing them from their clans. Macquarie's tenure as Governor of New South Wales was a period when Sydney was improved from its basic beginnings.

Roads, bridges, wharves and public buildings were constructed by British and Irish convicts, and by 1822 the town had banks, markets, well-established thoroughfares and an organised constabulary. The 1830s and 1840s were periods of urban development, including the development of the first suburbs, as the town grew rapidly when ships began arriving from Britain and Ireland with immigrants looking to start a new life in a new country. On 20 July 1842 the municipal council of Sydney was incorporated and the town was declared the first city in Australia, with John Hosking the first elected mayor. The first of several Australian gold rushes started in 1851, and the port of Sydney has since seen many waves of people arriving from around the world.

Rapid suburban development began in the last quarter of the 19th century with the advent of steam powered tramways and railways. With industrialisation Sydney expanded rapidly, and by the early 20th century it had a population well of more than a million. The Great Depression hit Sydney badly. One of the highlights of the Depression era, however, was the completion of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932. There has traditionally been a rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne since the gold rushes of the 1850s made the capital of Victoria Australia's largest and richest city.
Sydney overtook Melbourne in population in the early years of the 20th century, and has remained the largest city in Australia since this time. During the 1970s and 1980s Sydney's CBD with the Reserve Bank and Australian Stock Exchange clearly surpassed Melbourne as the nation's financial capital. Throughout the 20th century, especially in the decades immediately following World War II, Sydney continued to expand as large numbers of European and later Asian immigrants populated the metropolitan area.

Climate of Sydney

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:38:00 +0000

The Sydney city (New South Wales) Australia has a temperate climate with warm summers and cool winters, and rainfall spread throughout the year. The weather is moderated by proximity to the ocean, and more extreme temperatures are recorded in the inland western suburbs. The warmest month is January, with an average air temperature range at Observatory Hill of 18.6–25.8 °C (65–78 °F). An average of 14.6 days a year have temperatures of more than 30 °C (86.0 °F). The maximum recorded temperature was 45.3 °C (113.5 °F) on 14 January 1939 at the end of a four-day heatwave across Australia.

Sydney in winter, temperatures rarely drop below 5 °C (41 °F) in coastal areas. The coldest month is July, with an average range of 8.0–16.2 °C (46–61 °F). The lowest recorded minimum at Observatory Hill was 2.1 °C (35.8 °F).
The average annual rainfall, with moderate to low variability, is 1,217 mm (48 in), falling on an average 138 days a year. Snowfall was last reported in the Sydney City area in 1836. However, a July 2008 fall of graupel, or soft hail, mistaken by many for snow, has raised the possibility that the 1836 event was not snow, either.

The city is not affected by cyclones. The El Nino Southern Oscillation plays an important role in determining Sydney's weather patterns: drought and bushfire on the one hand, and storms and flooding on the other, associated with the opposite phases of the oscillation.
The city is prone to flash flooding from rain caused by East Coast Lows (a low pressure depression which deepens off the state usually in winter and early spring which can bring significant damage by heavy rain, cyclonic winds and huge swells).

Economy of Sydney - Australia

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:14:00 +0000

Sydney City received 7.8 million domestic visitors and 2.5 million international visitors in 2004. In 2007, the (then) Premier of New South Wales, Morris Iemma established Events New South Wales to "market Sydney and NSW as a leading global events destination". Fox Studios Australia has large film studios in the city.
The largest economic sectors in Sydney, as measured by the number of people employed, include property and business services, retail, manufacturing, and health and community services. Since the 1980s, jobs have moved from manufacturing to the services and information sectors. Sydney provides approximately 25 percent of the country's total GDP.
The Australian Securities Exchange and the Reserve Bank of Australia are located in Sydney, as are the headquarters of 90 banks and more than half of Australia's top companies, and the regional headquarters for around 500 multinational corporations.
Shopping locations in the central business district include the Queen Victoria Building, the pedestrian mall on Pitt Street, and international luxury boutiques in the quieter, northern end of Castlereagh St. Oxford Street in Paddington and Crown Street, Woollahra are home to boutiques selling more niche products, and the main streets of Newtown and Enmore cater more towards students and alternative lifestyles.

The Sydney city has the highest median household income of any major city in Australia (US$42,559 PPP). As of 2004, the unemployment rate in Sydney was 4.9 percent. According to The Economist Intelligence Unit's Worldwide cost of living survey, Sydney is the sixteenth most expensive city in the world, while a UBS survey ranks Sydney as 15th in the world in terms of net earnings. As of 20 September 2007, Sydney has the highest median house price of any Australian capital city at $9,000. Sydney also has the highest median rent prices of any Australian city at $450 a week.

Sydney Culture

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:39:00 +0000

Sydney, Australia Vacations, Tourism & Attractions
Sydney hosts many different festivals and some of Australia's largest social and cultural events. These include the Sydney Festival, Australia's largest arts festival which is a celebration involving both indoor and free outdoor performances throughout January; the Biennale of Sydney, established in 1973; the Big Day Out, a travelling rock-music festival which originated in Sydney; the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras along Oxford Street; the Sydney Film Festival and many other smaller film festivals such as the short film Tropfest and Flickerfest.
Australia's premier prize for portraiture, the Archibald Prize is organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The Sydney Royal Easter Show is held every year at Sydney Olympic Park, the final of Australian Idol takes place on the steps of the Opera House, and Australian Fashion Week takes place in April/May and September. Sydney's New Year's Eve and Australia Day celebrations are the largest in Australia.

A survey based on tracking the frequency of words and phrases in the media, cited Sydney as number 9 on a list of the world's top fashion cities in 2009. The city is the site of the world renowned Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, which occurs biannually, and is home to many of Australia's premier fashion houses. Most international designers have a major presence in Sydney City.

Sydney Entertainment and performing arts

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:23:00 +0000

Travel tour to Sydney- Australia
Sydney City has a wide variety of cultural institutions. Sydney's iconic Opera House has five halls, including a large concert hall and opera and drama theatres; it is the home of Opera Australia—the third-busiest opera company in the world, and the Sydney Symphony. Other venues include the Sydney Town Hall, City Recital Hall, the State Theatre, the Theatre Royal, Sydney, the Sydney Theatre and the Wharf Theatre.
The Sydney Dance Company was under the leadership of Graeme Murphy during the late 20th century. The Sydney Theatre Company has a regular roster of local plays, such as noted playwright David Williamson, classics and international playwrights.
New Theatre (Newtown) celebrated 75 years (2007) of continuous production in Sydney . Other important theatre companies in Sydney include Company B and Griffin Theatre Company. From the 1940s through to the 1970s the Sydney Push, a group of authors and political activists whose members included Germaine Greer, influenced the city's cultural life.
The National Institute of Dramatic Art, based in Kensington, boasts internationally famous alumni such as Mel Gibson, Judy Davis, Baz Luhrmann and Cate Blanchett. Sydney's role in the film industry has increased since the opening of Fox Studios Australia in 1998.

Prominent films which have been filmed in the city include Moulin Rouge!, Mission: Impossible II, Star Wars episodes II and III, Superman Returns, Dark City, Son of the Mask, Stealth, Dil Chahta Hai, Happy Feet, Australia and The Matrix. Films using Sydney as a setting include Finding Nemo, Strictly Ballroom, Muriel's Wedding, Our Lips Are Sealed, Independence Day and Dirty Deeds. Many Bollywood movies have also been filmed in Sydney including Singh Is Kinng, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Chak De India, Heyy Babyy. As of 2006, over 229 films have been set in, or featured Sydney.

Sydney's most popular nightspots include Kings Cross, Oxford Street, Darling Harbour, Circular Quay and The Rocks, which all contain various bars, nightclubs and restaurants. Star City Casino, is Sydney's only casino and is situated around Darling Harbour. There are many traditional pubs, cafes and restaurants in inner-city areas such as Newtown, Balmain and Leichhardt. Sydney's main live music hubs include areas such as Newtown and Annandale, which nurtured acts such as AC/DC, Bliss n Eso, Midnight Oil and INXS. Other popular nightspots tend to be spread throughout the city in areas such as Bondi, Manly, Cronulla and Parramatta.

Sydney : Sport and outdoor activities

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:14:00 +0000

Sport is an important part of Sydney's culture. The most popular sport in Sydney is rugby league. The NSWRFL (the NRL) began in Sydney in the 1908 season and is the largest and most prestigious domestic rugby league competition in the Southern Hemisphere. The city is home to nine of the sixteen teams currently in the National Rugby League competition: the Canterbury Bulldogs, Cronulla Sharks, Manly Sea Eagles, Penrith Panthers, Parramatta Eels, South Sydney Rabbitohs, St George Illawarra Dragons, Sydney Roosters and Wests Tigers.
Cricket is the most popular summer sport in Sydney. The Ashes Series between Australia and England is widely popular among the people. As the state capital, Sydney is the home of the NSW Blues cricket team in the Sheffield Shield cricket competition. Sydney Cricket Ground and ANZ Stadium here host cricket matches. This city has also hosted 1992 Cricket World Cup and will also host the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Sydney Cricket Ground is at present the only test venue in the city. Plans are going on to accommodate ANZ Stadium as an international cricket venue for Australia.

Sydney is the only city other than Brisbane to have an elite presence in the 4 major football codes of Australia - rugby league, football (soccer), rugby union and AFL. Football is represented by Sydney FC in the A-League, whilst the second tier competitions NSWPL and NSW Super League provide many players to the A-League.
Rugby Union is represented by the NSW Waratahs in the elite Southern Hemisphere Super 14 competition. The Suburban rugby competition is the Shute Shield which provides many Super 14 players.

Sydney also has an Australian Football League (AFL) team called the Sydney Swans, a woman's netball team (Swifts), a baseball team (Patriots), a field hockey team (Waratahs), two ice hockey teams (Penrith Bears & Sydney Ice Dogs) and a WNBL team (Sydney Uni Flames).

The NSW Blues rugby league team in the annual Rugby League State of Origin series. Large sporting events such as the NRL Grand Final and Bledisloe Cup games are regularly held at the ANZ Stadium, the main stadium for the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Other events in Sydney include the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, the Golden Slipper horse race, and the City to Surf race. Prominent sporting venues in Sydney include the Sydney Cricket Ground or SCG, ANZ Stadium, The Sydney Football Stadium, Eastern Creek Raceway, Royal Randwick and Rosehill Gardens Racecourse.

Sydney Australia is well-endowed with open spaces and access to waterways, and has many natural areas, even in the city centre. Within the CBD are the Chinese Garden of Friendship, Hyde Park, The Domain and the Royal Botanic Gardens. The metropolitan area contains several national parks, including the Royal National Park, the second oldest national park in the world and several parks in Sydney's far west which are part of the World Heritage listed Greater Blue Mountains Area

Transport in Sydney

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:04:00 +0000

Most Sydney residents travel by car through the system of roads and motorways. The most important trunk routes in the urban area are the nine Metroads, which include the 110 km Sydney Orbital Network. Sydney is also served by extensive train, taxi, bus and ferry networks.
Sydney trains are run by CityRail, a state-run corporation. Trains run as suburban commuter rail services in the outer suburbs, then converge in an underground city loop service in the central business district. In the years following the 2000 Olympics, CityRail's performance declined significantly. In 2005, CityRail introduced a revised timetable and employed more drivers. A large infrastructure project, the Clearways project, is scheduled to be completed by 2010. In 2007 a report found Cityrail performed poorly compared to many metro services from other world cities.
Sydney has one privately operated light rail line, Metro Light Rail, running from Central Station to Lilyfield along a former goods train line. The Metro Monorail runs in a loop around the main shopping district and Darling Harbour.
Most parts of the metropolitan area are served by buses, many of which follow the pre-1961 tram routes.
In the city and inner suburbs the state-owned Sydney Buses has a monopoly. In the outer suburbs, service is contracted to many private bus companies. Construction of a network of rapid bus transitways in areas not previously well served by public transport began in 1999, and the first of these, the Liverpool–Parramatta Rapid Bus Transitway, opened in February 2003. State government-owned Sydney Ferries runs numerous commuter and tourist ferry services on Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River.

Sydney Airport, in the suburb of Mascot, is Sydney's main airport, and is one of the oldest continually operated airports in the world. The smaller Bankstown Airport mainly serves private and general aviation. There is a light aviation airfield at Camden. RAAF Base Richmond lies to the north-west of the city.
The question of the need for a Second Sydney Airport has raised much controversy. A 2003 study found that Sydney Airport can manage as Sydney's sole international airport for 20 years, with a significant increase in airport traffic predicted.
The resulting expansion of the airport would have a substantial impact on the community, including additional aircraft noise affecting residents. Land has been acquired at Badgerys Creek for a second airport, the site acting as a focal point of political argument.

Sydney Utilities

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:59:00 +0000

Utilities
Water storage and supply for Sydney is managed by the Sydney Catchment Authority, which is an agency of the NSW Government that sells bulk water to Sydney Water and other agencies. Water in the Sydney catchment is chiefly stored in dams in the Upper Nepean Scheme, the Blue Mountains, Woronora Dam, Warragamba Dam and the Shoalhaven Scheme.
Historically low water levels in the catchment have led to water use restrictions and the NSW government is investigating alternative water supply options, including grey water recycling and the construction of a seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant at Kurnell. As of May 2009, the plant was 80% completed, and was due to start suppling fresh water to Sydney at the end of the year. Sydney Water also collects the wastewater and sewage produced by the city.

Four companies supply natural gas and electricity to Sydney: Energy Australia, AGL, Integral Energy and Origin Energy. The natural gas supply for the city is sourced from the cooper basin in South Australia. Numerous telecommunications companies operate in Sydney providing terrestrial and mobile telecommunications services.

Australia :

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:48:00 +0000

The Name Australia is derived from the Latin australis, meaning "southern". Legends of an "unknown land of the south" (terra australis incognita) date back to Roman times and were commonplace in medieval geography but were not based on any documented knowledge of the continent. The first recorded use of the word Australia in English was in 1625, in "A note of Australia del Espíritu Santo, written by Master Hakluyt", published by Samuel Purchas in Hakluytus Posthumus.
Australia officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland ,the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
For some 40,000 years before European settlement commenced in the late 18th century, the Australian mainland and Tasmania were inhabited by around 250 individual nations of indigenous Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north, and European discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, the eastern half of Australia was claimed by the British in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales, founded on 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in the following years; the continent was explored, and during the 19th century another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were established.

On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a federation, and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a Commonwealth realm. The population is 22.0 million, with approximately 60% concentrated in and around the mainland state capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide. The nation's capital city is Canberra, located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

Australia is a developed country, with a prosperous multicultural society and has excellent results in many international comparisons of national performance such as health care, life expectancy, quality of life, human development, public education, economic freedom, and the protection of civil liberties and political rights. Australian cities routinely rank among the world's highest in terms of cultural offerings and quality of life. It is a member of the United Nations, G-20 major economies, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, OECD, and the WTO.

Study in Australia

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:25:00 +0000

Study in Australia, collage and university get : MBA, degree, masters or doctorate
List of universities in Australia

National
* Australian Catholic University ACU, NSW (both in Sydney): North Sydney (MacKillop), Strathfield (Mount St. Mary); Qld: Brisbane (McAuley); ACT: Canberra (Signadou); Vic: Ballarat (Aquinas); Melbourne (St Patrick's).
* University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, Broome and Sydney.

Australian Capital Territory
* University of Canberra, Canberra
* Australian National University, Canberra
* Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra

New South Wales
* Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Wagga Wagga, Albury, Dubbo, Manly, Orange, Canberra
* Macquarie University, Sydney
* University of New England, Armidale
* University of New South Wales, Sydney, Canberra, Singapore
* University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Callaghan, Ourimbah, Port Macquarie, Singapore
* Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, Lismore, Tweed Heads
* University of Sydney, Sydney
* University of Technology, Sydney
* University of Western Sydney
* University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Shoalhaven, Batemans Bay, Loftus, Moss Vale, Dubai

Victoria
* University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Parkville,
* Monash University, Melbourne (Clayton, Caulfield, Berwick, Peninsula, Parkville), Churchill (Gippsland) , Malaysia, South Africa
* Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne (CBD, Brunswick, Bundoora), Vietnam (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City)
* Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne (Hawthorn, Lilydale, Prahran, Wantirna, Croydon), Malaysia (Sarawak)
* La Trobe University, Melbourne, Albury-Wodonga, Bendigo, Beechworth, Shepparton, Mildura, Mt Buller
* Deakin University, Geelong, Melbourne, Warrnambool
* University of Ballarat, Ballarat, Ararat, Horsham, Stawell
* Victoria University, Melbourne

Queensland
* Bond University, Gold Coast
* Griffith University, Brisbane, Logan and Gold Coast
* Central Queensland University, Bundaberg, Gladstone, Mackay, Rockhampton and Brisbane.
* James Cook University, Townsville, Brisbane, Singapore and Cairns
* University of Queensland, Brisbane, Ipswich and Gatton
* Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
* University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba
* University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast
* Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Brisbane, Goldcoast, Melbourne, Mackay, Bundaberg, Emerald, Noosa, Sunshine Coast and Sydney

Western Australia
* Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Kalgoorlie, Sydney and Malaysia (Sarawak).
* Edith Cowan University, Perth and Bunbury
* Murdoch University, Perth
* University of Western Australia, Perth and Albany.
* University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, Broome and Sydney.

South Australia
* University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Waite and Roseworthy
* Cranfield University, Defence College of Management and Technology, Adelaide
* Flinders University, Adelaide
* University of South Australia, Adelaide and Whyalla
* Carnegie Mellon University, Heinz School Australia, Adelaide

Tasmania
* University of Tasmania, Hobart and Launceston

Northern Territory
* Charles Darwin University, Darwin and Alice Springs(formerly Northern Territory University).

Specialist
* Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne (associated with the University of Melbourne)
* National Art School, Sydney
* National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney
* Australian Film, Television and Radio School, Sydney
General
* Box Hill Institute of TAFE, Melbourne
* Canberra Institute of Technology, Canberra
* Gordon Institute of TAFE, Geelong
* Monash College, Melbourne (associated with Monash University)
* Northern Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne
* TAFE South Australia

Australia cities

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:03:00 +0000

Largest City Centres (by population)

1 Sydney New South Wales
2 Melbourne Victoria
3 Brisbane Queensland
4 Perth Western Australia
5 Adelaide South Australia
6 Gold Coast-Tweed Queensland/New South Wales
7 Newcastle New South Wales
8 Canberra-Queanbeyan Canberra Australian Capital Territory
9 Wollongong New South Wales
10 Sunshine Coast Queensland
11 Greater Hobart Tasmania
12 Geelong Victoria
13 Townsville Queensland
14 Cairns Queensland
15 Toowoomba Queensland
16 Darwin Northern Territory
17 Launceston Tasmania
18 Albury-Wodonga New South Wales/Victoria
19 Ballarat Victoria
20 Bendigo Victoria
21 Mackay Queensland
22 Burnie-Devonport Tasmania
23 Mandurah Western Australia
24 La Trobe Valley Victoria
25 Rockhampton Queensland
26 Bundaberg Queensland
27 Bunbury Western Australia
28 Wagga Wagga New South Wales
29 Hervey Bay Queensland
30 Coffs Harbour New South Wales
31 Mildura Victoria
32 Gladstone Queensland
33 Shepparton Victoria
34 Tamworth New South Wales
35 Port Macquarie New South Wales
36 Orange New South Wales
37 Dubbo New South Wales
38 Geraldton Western Australia
39 Nowra-Bomaderry New South Wales40 Bathurst New South Wales
41 Warrnambool Victoria
42 Lismore New South Wales
43 Kalgoorlie/Boulder Western Australia

Australia - Australia

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:56:00 +0000

Holiday and vacation ...
Australia has six states - New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia—and two major mainland territories—the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

Each state and major mainland territory has its own legislature or parliament: unicameral in the Northern Territory, the ACT, and Queensland, and bicameral in the remaining states. The states are sovereign, though subject to certain powers of the Commonwealth as defined by the Constitution. The lower house is known as the Legislative Assembly (House of Assembly in South Australia and Tasmania) and the upper house is known as the Legislative Council. The head of the government in each state is the Premier, and in each territory the Chief Minister.
The federal government directly administers the following territories:
* Jervis Bay Territory, a naval base and sea port for the national capital in land that was formerly part of New South Wales
* Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands
* Ashmore and Cartier Islands
* Coral Sea Islands
* Heard Island and McDonald Islands
* Australian Antarctic Territory

Norfolk Island is also technically an external territory; however, under the Norfolk Island Act 1979 it has been granted more autonomy and is governed locally by its own legislative assembly. The Queen is represented by an Administrator, currently Owen Walsh.

History of Australia

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:43:00 +0000

Visit and vacation to Australia
Human habitation of Australia is estimated to have begun between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago. These first Australians may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians; they may have arrived via land bridges and short sea-crossings from what is now Southeast Asia. Most of these people were hunter-gatherers, with a complex oral culture and spiritual values based on reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturalists & hunter-gatherers.
The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland was made by the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon, who sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in 1606. During the 17th century, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines of what they called New Holland, but they made no attempt at settlement. In 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast of Australia, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. Cook's discoveries prepared the way for establishment of a new penal colony.
The British Crown Colony of New South Wales began a settlement at Port Jackson by Captain Arthur Phillip on 26 January 1788. This date was later to become Australia's national day, Australia Day. Van Diemen's Land, now known as Tasmania, was settled in 1803 and became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the western part of Australia in 1829.
Separate colonies were created from parts of New South Wales: South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859. The Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia. South Australia was founded as a "free province"—that is, it was never a penal colony. Victoria and Western Australia were also founded "free" but later accepted transported convicts. The transportation of convicts to the colony of New South Wales ceased in 1848 after a campaign by the settlers.
The Indigenous Australian population, estimated at 350,000 at the time of European settlement, declined steeply for 150 years following settlement, mainly because of infectious disease. The "Stolen Generations" (removal of Aboriginal children from their families), which historians such as Henry Reynolds have argued could be considered genocide by some definitions, may have contributed to the decline in the indigenous population. Such interpretations of Aboriginal history are disputed by some conservative commentators, such as former Prime Minister Howard, as being exaggerated or fabricated for political or ideological reasons. This debate is known within Australia as the History Wars.

A gold rush began in Australia in the early 1850s, and the Eureka Stockade rebellion against mining licence fees in 1854 was an early expression of civil disobedience. Between 1855 and 1890, the six colonies individually gained responsible government, managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire. The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, notably foreign affairs, defence, and international shipping. On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies was achieved after a decade of planning, consultation, and voting.
The Commonwealth of Australia was born and it became a dominion of the British Empire in 1907. The Federal Capital Territory (later renamed the Australian Capital Territory) was formed from a part of New South Wales in 1911 to provide a location for the proposed new federal capital of Canberra. (Melbourne was the temporary seat of government from 1901 to 1927 while Canberra was being constructed.) The Northern Territory was transferred from the control of the South Australian government to the Commonwealth in 1911.
In 1914 Australia joined Britain in fighting World War I, with support from both the outgoing Liberal Party and the incoming Labor Party. The Australians took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front. Many Australians regard the defeat of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) at Gallipoli as the birth of the nation—its first major military action. The Kokoda Track campaign is regarded by many as an analogous nation-defining event during World War II.
Britain's Statute of Westminster 1931 formally ended most of the constitutional links between Australia and the UK. Australia adopted it in 1942, but backdated it to the beginning of World War II to confirm the validity of legislation passed by the Australian Parliament during the war.
The shock of the UK's defeat in Asia in 1942 and the threat of Japanese invasion caused Australia to turn to the United States as a new ally and protector.
Since 1951, Australia has been a formal military ally of the US, under the ANZUS treaty. After World War II, Australia encouraged immigration from Europe; since the 1970s and the abolition of the White Australia policy, immigration from Asia and elsewhere was also encouraged. As a result, Australia's demography, culture, and self-image have been transformed. The final constitutional ties between Australia and the UK were severed with the passing of the Australia Act 1986, ending any British role in the government of the Australian States, and ending judicial appeals to the UK Privy Council.
At the 1999 referendum, 54% of Australian voters rejected a proposal to become a republic with a president appointed by two-thirds vote of both houses of the Australian Parliament. Since the election of the Whitlam Government in 1972, there has been an increasing focus on the expansion of ties with other Pacific Rim nations while maintaining close ties with Australia's traditional allies and trading partners.

Language

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:32:00 +0000

Learn English in Australia
English is the national language. Australian English is a major variety of the language, with its own distinctive accent and vocabulary (some of which has found its way into other varieties of English), but less internal dialectal variation (apart from small regional pronunciation and lexical variations) than either British or American English. Grammar and spelling are largely based on those of British English. According to the 2001 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for around 80% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Chinese (2.1%), Italian (1.9%), and Greek (1.4%).
A considerable proportion of first- and second-generation migrants are bilingual. It is believed that there were between 200 and 300 Indigenous Australian languages at the time of first European contact. Only about 70 of these languages have survived, and many are only spoken by older people; only 18 Indigenous languages are still spoken by all age groups. An indigenous language remains the main language for about 50,000 (0.25%) people. Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 6,500 deaf people.

Visit To Australia

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:07:00 +0000

Environment of Australia
Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, it includes a diverse range of habitats from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests, and is recognised as a megadiverse country. Because of the continent's great age, its extremely variable weather patterns, and its long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia's biota is unique and diverse. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic. Australia has the greatest number of reptiles of any country, with 755 species.

Many of Australia's ecoregions, and the species within those regions, are threatened by human activities and introduced plant and animal species. The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is a legal framework for the protection of threatened species. Numerous protected areas have been created under the national Biodiversity Action Plan to protect and preserve unique ecosystems; 64 wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention, and 15 natural World Heritage Sites have been established. Australia was ranked 46th of 149 countries in the world on the 2008 Environmental Performance Index. Australian forests often contain a wide variety of eucalyptus trees and are mostly located in higher rainfall regions.

Most Australian woody plant species are evergreen and many are adapted to fire and drought, including many eucalypts and acacias. Australia has a rich variety of endemic legume species that thrive in nutrient-poor soils because of their symbiosis with rhizobia bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi. Among well-known Australian fauna are the monotremes (the platypus and the echidna); a host of marsupials, including the kangaroo, the koala, and the wombat; the saltwater and freshwater crocodiles; and birds such as the emu and the kookaburra. Australia is home to many dangerous animals including some of the most venomous snakes in the world. The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people who traded with Indigenous Australians around 3000 BCE. Many plant and animal species became extinct soon after first human settlement, including the Australian megafauna; others have become extinct since European settlement, among them the thylacine.

Climate change has become an increasing concern in Australia in recent years, with many Australians considering protection of the environment to be the most important issue facing the country. The first Rudd Ministry has initiated several emission reduction activities; Rudd's first official act, on his first day in office, was to sign the instrument of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Nevertheless Australia's carbon dioxide emissions per capita are one of the highest in the world, lower than only a few other industrialized nations including the United States and Canada. Rainfall in Australia has slightly increased over the past century, both nationwide and for two quadrants of the nation, while annual mean temperatures increased significantly over the past decades. Water restrictions are currently in place in many regions and cities of Australia in response to chronic shortages due to urban population increases and localised drought.

Australian - Economy

noreply@blogger.com (popularz) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:55:00 +0000

The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu. After the 2006 merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange is now the 9th largest in the World.
An emphasis on exporting commodities rather than manufactures has underpinned a significant increase in Australia's terms of trade during the rise in commodity prices since the start of the century. Australia has a balance of payments that is more than 7% of GDP negative, and has had persistently large current account deficits for more than 50 years. Australia has grown at an average annual rate of 3.6% for over 15 years, a period in which the OECD annual average was 2.5%. Australia did not fall into a technical recession during the late 2000s recession that affected most other Western countries.
Australia is one of the most laissez-faire free market economies, according to indices of economic freedom. Australia's per capita GDP is slightly higher than that of the United States, UK, Germany, and France. The country was ranked second in the United Nations 2009 Human Development Index, first in Legatum's 2008 Prosperity Index, and sixth in The Economist worldwide Quality-of-Life Index for 2005. All of Australia's major cities fare well in global comparative liveability surveys; Melbourne reached 2nd place on The Economist's 2008 World's Most Livable Cities list, followed by Perth at 4th, Adelaide at 7th, and Sydney at 9th.