With over 5 million inhabitants, Sydney, Australia the biggest city in Australia. The land that Sydney stands on today has been populated by indigenous Australians for more than 30,000 years – probably much longer in fact. Universal English College stands on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation and we proudly acknowledge the traditional owners of the land.
Today, Sydney is a very multicultural city with more than 30% of the population of Sydney born overseas. If your only image of Australia is surfers with blonde hair like Chris Hemsworth (the actor who plays Thor in the Marvel movies!), then you need to know – Australian’s come in every shape, colour, and creed. While Australia’s English heritage is well known, there were nearly as many Irish and Scottish at some points. Just as important is to know that Italian, Greek, and Chinese immigrants were helping build the country we’ve become since well before 1900. Throughout the second half of the 1900s Germans, Pilipinos, Turkish, Lebanese and Vietnamese immigrants amongst so many others have been a huge part of making Australia what it is today. You definitely can’t tell an Aussie by their ‘ethnicity’!
Modern city
Sydney is a very modern city. While Sydney is generally in the top 20 most expensive cities in the world, it’s also very consistently in the top 10 most liveable cities. In part, this is because salaries are quite high in Sydney, there is so much to do that doesn’t cost anything – like go to the beach or for a bushwalk – and because Sydney is also one of the safest cities in Australia. In fact, as you’ll read below, it has consistently rated in the top 5 safest cities in the world and the top 10 friendliest!
Sydney is also quite a large city geographically – it’s over 1,500 square kilometres, which is more than double the size of New York in the USA. The population is much lower than New York though – Sydney is spread out.
Lot of beaches
Sydney has a lot of beaches. Some people say there are over 100 of them, ranging in size from a few feet to several kilometres long. George Street is the main street that goes right down the middle of Sydney city centre and it’s the oldest street in Australia. Universal English College campus is on the street parallel to George Street called Pitt Street – about 50 meters away.
