Welcome to Australia's New South Wales

The state of New South Wales is where the first settlers in Australia came. Therefore it is the oldest and the fourth largest region on the continent. The state is situated in the south –eastern part of Australia and is bounded on the north by Queensland, on the east by the Pacific Ocean and on the south by Victoria. The largest city is Sydney which is also its capital. New South Wales has a total territory of 801, 600 square kilometres and population of about 6.5 million people. Most of these people live along the coastline with moderate climate or in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong. Nowadays the capital has turned into a real cosmopolitan with a huge variety of offers. New South Wales can be tempting with its world-famous harbour, sunny beaches, World Heritage national parks any many more.

New South Wales can be naturally divided into four zones by the kind of the landscape. It has a coastline and coastal lowlands with a total length of 1460 km, which are sometimes parted by inlets of different sizes. The Great Dividing Range forms a long series of high plateaus which can be from 50 to 160 km wide. These tablelands form the main watershed from where most of the rivers in Australia take their source. There you can also find the Snowy Mountains with the highest summit in Australia – Mount Kosciusko (2228 m). The third kind of landscape is the western slopes. This is where one can find fertile plains, rugged areas and beautiful river banks. The region is highly cultivated due to the regular and satisfying rainfall. The last kind of landscape is the western plains which is about two-thirds of New South Wales. Though there is fertile soil, the low rainfall, high temperatures and lack of nearby rivers prevent the region from cultivation.