Geography of New South Wales

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Map of Australia showing location of New South Wales

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 809,444 km² (312,528 sq mi).^[1] The coastline is 2,137 km (1,328 mi) in length.^[2]

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 Region, 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 1,000 m, with the highest Mount Kosciuszko at 2,229 m (7,308 ft). This includes the Southern Highlands, Central Tablelands and the Northern Tablelands.
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 Western Plains covering almost two-thirds of the state. The production of this area may be limited by the availablity of water in some years.

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.