Geography of New South Wales

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New South Wales (NSW) is Australia's most populous state, located in the east coast of the continent. It is in the southern hemisphere between latitudes 28 and 38 degrees south of the equator and longitudes 143 and 154 degrees east of the Universal Prime Meridian (formerly known as the Greenwich meridian). The state is in the warm temperate climatic zone.

The area of New South Wales is 801 600 square kilometres. The coastline is 1900 kilometres in length.

Cape Byron in the north-east of the state, is Australia's most easterly point.

The state is bordered on the north by Queensland, on the west by South Australia, and on the south by Victoria. Its coast faces the Tasman Sea. New South Wales contains two Federal enclaves: the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and the Jervis Bay Territory.

New South Wales can be divided physically into four sections:

• A thin coastal strip, with climates warming from cool temperate on the far south coast to subtropical near the Queensland border, including the regions south of Sydney such as the Illawarra and Shoalhaven near Nowra. North of Sydney is Newcastle and the Central Coast and the North Coast, North of The Hunter, as well as others.
• The mountainous areas of the Great Dividing Range and the high country surrounding them. Whilst not particularly steep, many peaks rise above 1000 m, with the highest Mount Kosciuszko at 2229 m (7308 ft). This includes the Southern Highlands, Central Tablelands and the New England regions.
• The agricultural plains that fill a significant portion of the state's area, with a much sparser population than the coast, includes The Riverina area around Wagga Wagga.
• The arid plains in the far north-west of the state, which are unsuitable for settlements of any notable size.

Its four main cities from north to south are Newcastle, Gosford, Sydney, and Wollongong which all lie along the coast. Other towns include Albury, Broken Hill, Dubbo, Tamworth, Armidale, Lismore, Nowra, Griffith, Leeton, Wagga Wagga, Goulburn and Coffs Harbour.

The steep escarpment of the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney prevented European exploration beyond the coastal strip for several years until explorer Gregory Blaxland found a way through in 1813, 25 years after the first settlement in Sydney.