Hurstville Boys' High School

Where in the World are we?

The Globe

Copyright © 1998 M Stanton

Hurstville Boys' High School is in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. For those of you who don't know where in the world Australia is, take a look at the spinning globe. Coming around in the southern hemisphere on the Tropic of Capricorn is our large island continent. (Hint: It is coloured in bronze).

Australia is completely surrounded by water and three of the worlds great oceans - the Pacific Ocean to the north and east, the Southern Ocean to the south and the Indian Ocean to the west.


Australia is frequently called an island continent, but as our map shows, it actually consists of two land masses. The larger is referred to as Mainland Australia and the smaller island is called Tasmania. Having a total land mass of 7,682,300 square kilometres, Australia is easily the smallest continent. It is considerably smaller than Canada (9,976,139) and the United States of America (9,369,885). By way of comparison, it is roughly equal in size to the USA with Alaska (1,518,800) removed, being 7,851,085 square kilometres.

Australia consists of the six states and two territories shown on the map and a number of external territories and smaller islands. Originally British colonies, the states joined to form a federation on January 1, 1901. Among Australia's external territories are:

Map of Australia


The following map of New South Wales (NSW) shows some of the major centres in our state. From the north and clockwise, they are:

Map of New South Wales


Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, is Australia's oldest and largest city. Founded in 1778 as a British penal colony, Sydney has grown to become a truly international city. Covering an area of about 1120 square kilometres or 700 square miles and a population of around 4,000,000, Sydney has a diverse ethnic population represented by over 160 nationalities. It is this combination of cultures which no doubt contributes to giving its residents their rich and colourful lifestyle.

Built on probably the world's most superb natural harbour (known officially as Port Jackson), Sydney's residents and visitors can marvel its beauty by boarding a ferry, hydrofoil, cruise boat, sailing boat, water taxi, dinghy ... you name it. The outstanding Sydney Opera House, built on Bennelong Point near Circular Quay, has its elegant roof fashioned in the shape of the sails of sailing craft, reflecting the everyday scene out on the harbour.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge, one of the largest arch bridges in the world, is another way of seeing the harbour, and you can take a guided tour up to the top of the south-eastern pylon for a spectacular panoramic view.

Sydney is a city of beaches and its most famous, Bondi Beach, is just 15 minutes away from the CBD. Sydney's climate is such that swimmers in numbers can be found in the water even in June, the first winter month in Australia. Indeed, the "Bondi Icebergs" as they are known, need no excuse to jump in the surf and do so every single day of the year. The following map shows just a few of the popular costal beaches.

Homebush Bay, the site of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Park, is shown on the map, as is Hurstville, where our school is. Hurstville is roughly a 10 minute drive from the Sydney International Airport on the northern shores of Botany Bay and around 12 kilometres south west of the Sydney CBD.

Map of Sydney


Acknowledgements: Facts and figures taken from The Macquarie Illustrated World Atlas and Encylclopaedia Britannica.

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