Australia

New South Wales

The Colony of New South Wales was established in 1786, the first of six in Australia.  It is located in the south eastern part of Australia, between Victoria to its south, and Queensland to its north.  Its western border abuts South Australia, and its coastline is on the Tasman Sea.  Not only does it have the distinction of being the oldest established State, it also is the most populated.  The first settlers there originally named the colony New Holland.  It was not until later that it was changed. 

The capital city is Sydney.  While having begun, rather inauspiciously, as a British penal colony in 1788, Sydney has grown and flourished as a major center of international finance.  This beautiful city was the host of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games.  It is also the home of the magnificent and unique Sydney Opera House, one of the most recognizable buildings in the world.

The government of New South Wales consists of the Constitutional Monarchy (the Queen of England), a Governor, and a Premier.  Its Constitution dates back to 1856.  When the Colony became a State in 1901, it ceded some of its legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth under the Australian Constitution.  But, it retained total independence in other areas.  It has 50 House of Representative seats and 12 Senate seats in Federal representation. 

The State has two Federal enclaves: the Australian Capital Territory (home of the country's capital city, Canberra), and the Jervis Bay Territory - which was purchased by the Commonwealth Government in 1915 so that the Federal Capital at Canberra would have access to the sea.  <pThe total area of New South Wales is 809,444 sq.  km.  (312,648 sq.  mi.).  It is the fifth of six states in size, in Australia.  The population at the end of 2005 was 6,764,600, placing it in the number one spot for populace in the country. 

Queensland

In 1797, Matthew Flinders explored Moreton Bay and landed at what is now known as Woody Point in Redcliffe.  The territory remained unsettled, however, until 1824 when a convict colony was begun there.  Toward the end of 1825, the settlement was moved to Brisbane.  When that settlement was closed in 1839, preparations began to sell the land to immigrants for permanent settlement. 

A public meeting was assembled in 1850 to decide whether or not the residents wished to separate Queensland from New South Wales.  The citizens petitioned Queen Victoria, and she issued the Letters Patent in 1859 to establish Queensland as a separate colony. 

Modern Queensland covers 1,722,000 sq.  km.  (665,121sq.  mi.).  Its capital city is Brisbane.  It is the second largest State in Australia, and the third most populated with over 3.6 million residents.  It occupies almost 23% of the continent on the northeast side and borders with New South Wales, South Australia, and the Northern Territory.  The total coastline is 7400km.  (4625 mi,) and the Great Barrier Reef fringes the eastern coastline for 2000 km.  (1250 mi.). 

One of the outstanding landmarks, and a popular place for tourists to visit, is the Story Bridge in Brisbane.  It was constructed between 1935 and 1940.  The reason for its notoriety is two-fold.  It gave a tremendous boost to the local economy, both during its construction and after its completion, and it was the first bridge designed, fabricated, and constructed in Australia solely by Australians.