Sydney
History
Sydney's first European settlers arrived in 1788, when English navigator Captain Arthur Phillip's First Fleet arrived in Botany Bay to the south. Finding the bay too exposed, Phillips and his men traveled northward to Port Jackson, proclaiming the colony of New South Wales and establishing a settlement on a cove they named for Britain's Home Secretary, Lord Thomas Townshend, First Viscount Sydney (1733–1800). Of the more than 1,000 people aboard the fleet's ships, most were British convicts transported to the new land to relieve prison overcrowding now that the British colonies in North America had won their independence and could no longer be used for this purpose. The first free settlers arrived in 1793.
Under the leadership of Governor Lachlan Macquarie (1761–1824; governor, 1810–1821), the new settlement prospered. Many convicts, pardoned and given parcels of land, became useful members of society. Free settlers continued to pour in, lured by promises of free land and convict labor and by Sydney's growing reputation as a thriving port city. Between 1831 and 1850, some 200,000 immigrants arrived from Britain, fleeing the social ills of the Industrial Revolution. Exploration of the interior led to the discovery of a route over the Blue Mountains, providing access to the rich pastureland beyond. Sydney was incorporated in 1842. The discovery of gold west of Sydney, at Bathurst, in 1851 spurred a decade-long gold rush that helped bring the city's population to 300,000. Rail service from Sydney to Parramatta was launched in 1855.
As Sydney became a bustling commercial center, its original central district acquired some of the same problems that settlers had fled Britain to escape—overcrowding, poverty, crime, and unsanitary conditions. In the second half of the century, overcrowding spurred the growth of densely populated suburbs around the city, creating the greatest population explosion
The Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Project, begun after World War II (1939–45), brought important changes to Sydney. Most notably, the resulting demand for manpower sparked immigration policy changes that led to growth in immigration from southern Europe, permanently changing the ethnic makeup of the city. Further changes came with the rise in immigration from Southeast Asia in the 1970s and 1980s.
During this period, Sydney, along with the rest of Australia, grew increasingly cosmopolitan, becoming a financial center for the Asia/Pacific region. Sydney's most famous landmark, the harbor-front Sydney Opera House, was completed in 1973.
In 1988 the city staged a spectacular celebration of Australia's bicentennial. Landmark events of the 1990s included the 1993 announcement that the city would be the site of the 2000 Olympic Games and the opening of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel in 1994. Preparations for the Games spurred further municipal development and civic pride throughout the decade as Sydney prepared for the most extensive display of pageantry and celebration in its history.
