Location : Mid East Australian Mainland.

Capital City : Sydney.

Size : 802,000 Square Kilometres. (310,000 Square Miles)  Fourth largest State. (Not including Northern Territory)

Length Of Coastline : 1,900 Kilometres (1,181 Miles)

Highest Point : Mount Kosciusko (2,228 Metres or 7,310 Feet)

Average Annual Temperatures - Sydney :

January:- Maximum - 25.8 Degrees Celsius or  78.4 Degrees Fahrenheit.
July:- Maximum - 16.1 Degrees Celsius or 61.0 Degrees Fahrenheit

Average Annual Rainfall - Sydney : 1,224 Millimetres or 48.96 Inches

Sydney is Australia's largest city and boasts one of the finest natural harbours in the world.  Sydney is also well known for its Harbour Bridge (the longest single span bridge in the world) and the uniquely designed Opera House.  The City of Sydney was also host to the Olympic Games in 2000, only the second time they have been held in the Southern Hemisphere.  (The first was Melbourne in 1956)

New South Wales supports heavy industry especially to the North and South of Sydney, at Newcastle, Illawarra and Wollongong.  Some areas of coal mining within the State, but many have closed over the years.  Some of the world's finest opals have been found at Lightning Ridge, (famous for its "Black Opals" ) in Northern New South Wales.

New South Wales has vast tracts of farming land, and grows many varieties of grain crops and also cotton in the North.   Sheep farming is also a mainstay of rural New South Wales.

Tourism is a rapidly growing industry, especially to the Coastal resorts on the Mid New South Wales coast, and the areas along the coast near the Queensland border.  Many people are also attracted to the Australian Alps, which New South Wales shares with the State of Victoria.