Geography of Sydney

Geography Of Sydney

Sydney, Australia is located in a coastal basin bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north and the Woronora Plateau to the south. Sydney lies on a submergent coastline, where the ocean level has risen to flood deep river valleys (rias) carved in the sandstone. There are more than 70 harbour and ocean beaches, including the famous Bondi Beach, in the urban area. Sydney's urban area covers 1788 km² (690 mi²) as at 2006. This area had 3,641,421 people, giving an urban population density of 2037 people per square kilometer. The Sydney Statistical Division, used for census data, is the unofficial metropolitan area and covers 12,145 km² (4,689 mi²). This area includes the Central Coast and Blue Mountains as well as broad swathes of national park and other non-urban land. At the 2006 census this area had 4,119,190 people.

Geographically, Sydney sprawls over two major regions: the Cumberland Plain, a relatively flat region lying to the south and west of Port Jackson, and the Hornsby Plateau, a sandstone plateau lying mainly to the north of the harbour, rising to 200 metres above sea level within the urban area and dissected by steep valleys such as the Lane Cove River valley. The oldest parts of the city are located in the flat areas south of the harbour; the North Shore was slower to develop because of its hilly topography, and was mostly a quiet backwater until the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932, linking it to the rest of the city, with the suburbs surrounding the northern entrance to said bridge effectively developing North Sydney into a second Central Business District.

Read more about Geography Of Sydney:  Rivers, Climate, Urban Structure, Density

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