Map titled Sydney et Port-Jackson, overall  size is approx. 37 x 27 cm, image size is approx. 28 x 17.5 cm, fold as issued. From La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes, 19 vol., 1875-94 (In English: The Earth and Its Inhabitants, 1878-94), great work of Elisee Reclus.

Sydney

city, capital of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Located  on Australia's southeastern coast, Sydney is the country's largest city and,  with its magnificent harbour and strategic position, is also one of the most  important ports in the South Pacific. In the early 19th century, when it was  still a small convict settlement and the first settlers had barely penetrated  the interior, it had already established trade with the Pacific Islands, India,  China, South Africa, and the Americas.

The first sight of Sydney, whether from the sea or the air, is always  spectacular. Built on low hills surrounding a huge harbour with innumerable bays  and inlets, the city is dominated by the bulk of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, one  of the longest steel-arch bridges in the world, and the Opera House, with its  glittering white shell-shaped roofs that seem to echo the sails of the many  yachts in the adjacent harbour. The intricate confusion of water and buildings  makes a striking impression either by day or by night.

Because of its history as a great port and its status as the site of the  country's main international air terminal, Sydney is perhaps the only city in  Australia with a genuinely international atmosphere. Yet it remains a very  Australian city, with a nice compromise between the Anglo-Saxon efficiency of  its British heritage and the South Seas attractions of its climate and  environment. Area City of Sydney, 2.4 square miles (6.2 square km); Sydney  Statistical Division, 4,790 square miles (12,406 square km). Pop. (1996) City of  Sydney, 24,883; Sydney Statistical Division, 3,741,290; (2001) City of Sydney,  47,204; Sydney Statistical Division, 3,997,321.

Port Jackson

also called Sydney Harbour

inlet of the Pacific, 12 miles (19 km) long with a total area of 21 square miles  (55 square km), which is one of the world's finest natural harbours and the  principal port of New South Wales, Australia. It has minimum and maximum depths  of 30 feet (9 metres) and 155 feet at low water, and its irregular foreshores  extend more than 150 miles, affording extensive docking facilities. Its  principal wharves are near Sydney's business district.

Its entrance (1.5 miles wide) is between North and South Heads, where naval and  military stations are located. The Parramatta River, Cockatoo Island  (shipyards), and Middle Harbour Creek form the inlet's western and northern  branches. Sydney Harbour Bridge (1932), one of the world's largest steel-arch  types, with a span of 1,650 feet, connects Sydney on the south shore with its  northern suburbs. The Sydney Opera House (1973), whose design suggests billowing  sails, is located on Bennelong Point east of the bridge; in 2007 it was  designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. The harbour was sighted in 1770 by  Capt. James Cook, who named it in honour of Sir George Jackson, an Admiralty  secretary.