Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour,

Middle Harbour Middle Harbour (or ''Warrin ga''), a semi–mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary, is the northern arm of Port Jackson, an inlet of the Tasman Sea located north of Sydney central business district on the coast of New South Wales, Austr ...

, North Harbour and the

Lane Cove Lane Cove is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lane Cove is nine kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governmen ...

and

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

Rivers, is the

ria A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...

natural harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...

(part of the

South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

). It is the location of the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

and

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

. The location of the first European settlement and colony on the Australian mainland, Port Jackson has continued to play a key role in the history and development of Sydney. Port Jackson, in the early days of the colony, was also used as a shorthand for Sydney and its environs. Thus, many botanists, see, e.g, Robert Brown's ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a flora of Australia written by botanist Robert Brown and published in 1810. Often referred to as ''Prodromus Flora Novae ...

'', described their specimens as having been collected at Port Jackson. Many recreational events are based on or around the harbour itself, particularly

Sydney New Year's Eve Sydney New Year's Eve is an annual New Year's Eve fireworks event in Sydney, Australia. The event currently consists of two fireworks shows, with an evening display known as the "Family Fireworks" held at 9:00 p.m. AEST, and the main "Midnight ...

celebrations. The harbour is also the starting point of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. The waterways of Port Jackson are managed by

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an agency of the New South Wales Government established on 1 November 2011, and is the leading transport and roads agency in New South Wales, ...

. Sydney Harbour National Park protects a number of islands and foreshore areas, swimming spots, bushwalking tracks and picnic areas.

History

At the time of the European arrival and colonisation, the land around Port Jackson was inhabited by the Eora clans, including the

Gadigal The Cadigal, also spelled as Gadigal and Caddiegal, are a group of Indigenous people whose traditional lands are located in Gadi, on Eora country, the location of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Gadigal originally inhabited the area that ...

, Cammeraygal, and

Wangal The Wangal people ( Wanegal or Won-gal,) are a clan of the Dharug ( ?) Aboriginal people whose heirs are custodians of the lands and waters of what is now the Inner West of Sydney, New South Wales, centred around the Municipality of Strathfie ...

. The Gadigal inhabited the land stretching along the south side of Port Jackson from what is now South Head, in an arc west to the present Darling Harbour. The Cammeraygal lived on the northern side of the harbour. The area along the southern banks of the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. S ...

to Rose Hill belonged to the Wangal. The Eora inhabited Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), south to the Georges River and west to Parramatta.

Cook's naming of Port Jackson

The first recorded European discovery of Sydney Harbour was by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770. Cook named the inlet after Sir George Jackson, one of the Lords Commissioners of the British Admiralty, and

Judge Advocate of the Fleet The Judge Advocate of the Fleet was an appointed civilian judge who was responsible for the supervision and superintendence of the court martial system in the Royal Navy from 1663 to 2008. History The position dates to the sixteenth century but ...

. As the ''Endeavour'' sailed past the entrance at Sydney Heads, Cook wrote in his journal "at noon we were...about 2 or 3 miles from the land and abrest of a bay or harbour within there appeared to be a safe anchorage which I called Port Jackson."

First Fleet

Eighteen years later, Port Jackson saw the arrival of the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...

. On 21 January 1788, after arriving at

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

, Governor Arthur Phillip took a

longboat A longboat is a type of ship's boat that was in use from ''circa'' 1500 or before. Though the Royal Navy replaced longboats with launches from 1780, examples can be found in merchant ships after that date. The longboat was usually the largest boa ...

and two cutters up the coast to sound the entrance and examine Cook's Port Jackson. Phillip first stayed overnight at Camp Cove, just inside the South Head, then moved up the harbour, landing at Sydney Cove and then Manly Cove, before returning to Botany Bay on the afternoon of 24 January. Phillip returned to Sydney Cove in HM Armed Tender ''

Supply Supply may refer to: *The amount of a resource that is available **Supply (economics), the amount of a product which is available to customers **Materiel, the goods and equipment for a military unit to fulfill its mission *Supply, as in confidenc ...

'' on 26 January 1788, where he established the first colony in Australia, later to become the city of Sydney. In his first dispatch from the colony back to England, Governor Phillip noted that: Port Jackson was described as a "capacious harbour, equal, if not superior to any yet known in the world", that "sheltered anchorage for the ships" and provided "a suitable landing place on rocks on the western side of the cove, relatively level land at the head of the

cove A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. Coves usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are o ...

, and a run of fresh water", in addition to it being "capable of affording security to a much larger fleet than would probably ever seek for shelter or security in it." Royal Navy officer David Blackburn also described it as a "fine Harbour as Any in the World, with water for any Number of the Largest ships."

Later events

The Great White Fleet, the United States Navy battle fleet, arrived in Port Jackson in August 1908 by order of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. From 1938, seaplanes landed in Sydney Harbour on Rose Bay, making this Sydney's first international airport.

Attack on Sydney Harbour

In 1942, to protect Sydney Harbour from a submarine attack, the

Sydney Harbour anti-submarine boom net The Sydney Harbour anti-submarine boom net was an anti-torpedo and submarine defence net that was in Sydney Harbour during World War II. It spanned the entire width of the harbour from Laing Point (formerly known as Green Point), Watsons Bay t ...

was constructed. It spanned the harbour from Green (Laings) Point,

Watsons Bay Watsons Bay is a harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Watsons Bay is located 11 km north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra. ...

to the

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

at Georges Head, on the other side of the harbour. On the night of 31 May 1942, three Japanese midget submarines entered the harbour, one of which became entangled in the western end of the boom net's central section. Unable to free their submarine, the crew detonated charges, killing themselves in the process. A second midget submarine came to grief in Taylor's Bay, the two crew committing suicide. The third submarine fired two torpedoes at USS ''Chicago'' (both missed) before leaving the harbour. In November 2006, this submarine was found off Sydney's Northern Beaches. The anti-submarine boom net was demolished soon after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and all that remains are the foundations of the old boom net winch house, which can be viewed on Green (Laings) Point, Watsons Bay. Today, the Australian War Memorial has on display a composite of the two midget submarines salvaged from Sydney Harbour. The conning tower of one of the midget submarines is on display at the RAN Heritage Centre, Garden Island, Sydney.

Fortifications

Fort Denison Fort Denison, part of the Sydney Harbour National Park, is a protected national park that is a heritage-listed former penal site and defensive facility occupying a small island located north-east of the Royal Botanic Garden and approximate ...

is a former penal site and defensive facility occupying a small island located north-east of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney Harbour. There are fortifications at Sydney Heads and elsewhere, some of which are now heritage listed. The earliest date from the 1830s, and were designed to defend Sydney from seaborn attack or convict uprisings. There are four historical fortifications located between Taronga Zoo and Middle Head,

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

, they are: the

Middle Head Fortifications The Middle Head Fortifications is a heritage-listed former defence establishment and military fortifications and now public space located at Middle Head Road, Middle Head, in the Mosman Council local government area of New South Wales, Austra ...

, the

Georges Head Battery The Georges Head Battery, also called the Georges Head Military Fortifications, is a heritage-listed former military fortification located on the Georges Head on Chowder Bay Road, Georges Heights, in the suburb of Mosman, in the Mosman Council ...

, the

Lower Georges Heights Commanding Position The Lower Georges Heights Commanding Position is located in the urban locality of Georges Heights in the suburb of Mosman, on the shores of Port Jackson, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Lower Georges Heights Commanding Position was cons ...

and a small fort located on

Bradleys Head Bradleys Head is a headland protruding from the north shore of Sydney Harbour, within the metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is named after the First Fleet naval officer William Bradley. The original Aboriginal ...

, known as the

Bradleys Head Fortification Complex The Bradleys Head Fortification Complex is a heritage-listed former mast and defensive battery and military fortification and now war memorial and recreational area located at Bradleys Head Road within the Sydney Harbour National Park in in the ...

. The forts were built from

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

quarried on site and consist of various tunnels, underground rooms, open batteries and casemated batteries, shell rooms,

gunpowder magazine A gunpowder magazine is a magazine (building) designed to store the explosive gunpowder in wooden barrels for safety. Gunpowder, until superseded, was a universal explosive used in the military and for civil engineering: both applications requ ...

s, barracks and trenches.

Geography

Geologically, Port Jackson is a drowned river valley, or

. It is 19 km long with an area of 55 km². The estuary's volume at high tide is 562 million cubic metres. The perimeter of the estuary is 317 kilometres. According to the

Geographical Names Board of New South Wales The Geographical Names Board of New South Wales, a statutory authority of the Department of Customer Service in the Government of New South Wales, is the official body for naming and recording details of places and geographical names in the s ...

, Port Jackson is "a harbour which comprises all the waters within an imaginary line joining North Head and South Head. Within this harbour lies North Harbour, Middle Harbour and Sydney Harbour." Port Jackson extends westward from the single entrance known as Sydney Heads (North and South Heads) and encompasses all tidal waters within North Harbour,

, Sydney Harbour, Darling Harbour,

and

Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river is a tributary of the Parramatta River, winding thro ...

. The harbour is heavily embayed. The bays on the south side tend to be wide and rounded, whereas those on the north side are generally narrow inlets. Many of these bays include

beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

. The

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...

extends from

Circular Quay Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping port, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the northern edge of the Syd ...

Headlands and peninsulas

East to west, north side: * North Head *

Dobroyd Head Dobroyd Head is a point or headland in the Northern Beaches local government area, in the suburb of Balgowlah Heights, New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Sydney Harbour National Park, which contains examples of ecosystems at risk such ...

* Middle Head * Georges Head *

Cremorne Point Cremorne Point is a harbourside suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Cremorne is located 6 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council. Cremor ...

Kurraba Point Kurraba Point is a harbourside suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Kurraba Point is located 4 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council. ...

Kirribilli Kirribilli is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. One of the city's most established and affluent neighbourhoods, it is located three kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area administere ...

McMahons Point McMahons Point is a harbourside suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. McMahons Point is located 3 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council. M ...

* Balls Head * Berry Island East to west, south side * South Head *

Point Piper Point Piper is a small, harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, east of the Sydney CBD, in the local government area known as the Municipality of Woollahra. Point Piper has been historically r ...

Darling Point Darling Point is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, Australia. It is 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of Woollahra Council. Darling Point is bounded by Sydney Harbour to ...

Potts Point Potts Point is a small and densely populated suburb in inner-city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Potts ...

Bennelong Point Bennelong Point, a former island in Sydney Harbour, is a headland that, since the 1970s is the location of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. History Bennelong Point is known to the local Gadigal people of the Eora ...

Dawes Point Dawes Point is a suburb of the City of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Dawes Point is located on the north-western edge of the Sydney central business district, at the southern end of Sydney Harbour Bridge, adjacent to The R ...

Millers Point Millers Point is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the north-western edge of the Sydney central business district, adjacent to The Rocks and is part of the local government area of the C ...

* Pyrmont * Balmain PortJackson2022OSM

Islands

There are several islands within the harbour, including Shark Island, Clark Island,

, Goat Island, Cockatoo Island, Spectacle Island, Snapper Island and

Rodd Island Rodd Island is a island on the Parramatta River in Sydney, Australia. It lies in the centre of Iron Cove, between the suburbs of Drummoyne, Russell Lea, Rodd Point, Haberfield, Lilyfield and Leichhardt. It is located west of the Sydney Ha ...

. Some other former islands, including Garden Island,

Glebe Island Glebe Island was a major port facility in Sydney Harbour and, in association with the adjacent White Bay facility, was the primary receiving venue for imported cars and dry bulk goods in the region until 2008. It is surrounded by White, Johnsto ...

and Berry Island, have been linked to the shore by land reclamation, though their names often still contain the word "island". Two other former islands,

Bennelong Island Bennelong Point, a former island in Sydney Harbour, is a headland that, since the 1970s is the location of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. History Bennelong Point is known to the local Gadigal people of the Eora ...

and Darling Island, are similarly now linked to the mainland, but rarely mentioned as islands. The former Dawes Island was joined to another small island to create Spectacle Island. Exposed at low tide is

Sow and Pigs Reef Sow and Pigs Reef is a rocky reef in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , su ...

, a well-known navigation obstacle near the main shipping lane.

Tributaries and waterways

Tank Stream The Tank Stream is a heritage-listed former fresh water tributary of Sydney Cove and now tunnel and watercourse located in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The Ta ...

was a freshwater course emptying into Sydney Cove. Today it is little more than a stormwater drain but originally it was the fresh water supply for the fledgling colony of New South Wales. It originated from a swamp to the west of present-day

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

and at high tide entered Sydney Cove at the intersection of

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

and

Pitt Street Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sec ...

s. *

is the northern arm of Port Jackson. It begins as a small creek (Middle Harbour Creek) at St Ives. It joins the main waterway between two headlands, Middle Head and Grotto Point Reserve, west of Sydney Heads. *

is the western arm of Port Jackson. The river begins at the confluence of

Toongabbie Creek Toongabbie Creek, an urban watercourse that is part of the Parramatta River catchment, is located in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Course and features Toongabbie Creek rises in the north-western suburbs of Sydney, west o ...

and Darling Mills Creek west of

and joins the main waterway between Greenwich Point,

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, and Robinsons Point, Birchgrove. *

rises near Thornleigh and flows generally south for about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi). Its catchment area is approximately 95.4 square kilometres (36.8 sq mi). *

Tarban Creek Tarban Creek, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a creek west of Sydney Harbour, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Ecology Tarban Creek starts near Earnshaw Parade in Gladesville and runs along a concrete base through Tarba ...

, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, enters Port Jackson at Hunters Hill. * Johnstons Creek rises in Stanmore and flows in a generally northward direction, passing through the inner-western suburbs of Forest Lodge, Annandale and Glebe. The creek passes beneath the stands of the now demolished

Harold Park Paceway Harold Park Paceway was a harness racing track in Forest Lodge, New South Wales, in use from 1890 to 2010. It was a half-mile track (804.5 metres) but was just 739 metres in circumference until some changes in its later years. Races at the tra ...

prior to emptying into Rozelle Bay at Bicentennial Park, Glebe.

Orphan School Creek Orphan School Creek is a storm drain located in inner Sydney, New South Wales. It is a tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does no ...

is a tributary. * Duck River is a perennial stream and southern tributary of the Parramatta River.

Climate

Port Jackson has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Cfa'') with warm, somewhat humid summers and mild to cool winters, with moderate rainfall spread throughout the year. Due to its exposed proximity to the Tasman Sea, it is slightly cooler, wetter and windier than Observatory Hill to the west. In addition to featuring the lowest maximum summer temperatures in the Sydney region (averaging just 24.4 °C (75.9 °F)), Port Jackson is also least affected by extreme heat due to frequent

sea breeze A sea breeze or onshore breeze is any wind that blows from a large body of water toward or onto a landmass; it develops due to differences in air pressure created by the differing heat capacities of water and dry land. As such, sea breezes ar ...

s. Conversely, winter nights are among the warmest in Sydney, and rarely dip below , although fog often occurs and may be disruptive. Port Jackson's weather station is located within a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

just south of Georges Head at

Georges Heights Georges Heights is an urban locality in the suburb of Mosman, adjoining Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Georges Heights is located in the local government area of the Municipality of Mosman and is part of the Lower North ...

and is adjacent to the suburbs of

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.Point Piper Point Piper is a small, harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, east of the Sydney CBD, in the local government area known as the Municipality of Woollahra. Point Piper has been historically r ...

and

, which are on Port Jackson's east side towards the Pacific Ocean. Sydney Cove, a bay in Port Jackson's west side that includes

, is more proximate to the Observatory Hill weather station, and therefore the climate data below does not apply to that vicinity.

Infrastructure

Bridges

Port Jackson is bridged from north to south by the

, the

Gladesville Bridge Gladesville Bridge is a heritage-listed concrete arch road bridge that carries Victoria Road over the Parramatta River, linking the Sydney suburbs of Huntleys Point and Drummoyne, in the local government areas of Canada Bay and Hunter's H ...

, the

Ryde Bridge The Ryde Bridge(s), also called the Uhrs Point Bridge, are two road bridges that carry Concord Road, part of the A3, across Parramatta River from in the northern suburbs of Sydney to in Sydney's inner west, in New South Wales, Australia. T ...

, and the

Silverwater Bridge Silverwater Bridge is a concrete box girder bridge that spans the Parramatta River west of the central business district in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The bridge carries Silverwater Road (A6) over the river to link Silverwater in t ...

. Other bridges spanning Port Jackson waterways are

Pyrmont Bridge The Pyrmont Bridge, a heritage-listed swing bridge across Cockle Bay, is located in Darling Harbour, part of Port Jackson, west of the central business district in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Open ...

spanning Darling Harbour; the

Anzac Bridge The Anzac Bridge is an eight-lane cable-stayed bridge that carries the Western Distributor (A4) across Johnstons Bay between Pyrmont and Glebe Island (part of the suburb of Rozelle), on the western fringe of the central business district of ...

(formerly known as the Glebe Island Bridge), spanning Blackwattle Bay; the

Iron Cove Bridge The Iron Cove Bridge is a heritage-listed road bridge that carries Victoria Road (A40) across Iron Cove, linking the Sydney suburbs of Drummoyne to Rozelle in the City of Canada Bay local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Curren ...

spanning

Iron Cove Iron Cove is a bay on the Parramatta River, in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately due west of Sydney's central business district. It is surrounded by the suburbs of Birchgrove, Balmai ...

; the

Spit Bridge Spit may refer to: Common uses * Spit (archaeology), a term for a unit of archaeological excavation * Spit (landform), a section of land that extends into a body of water * Spit or rotisserie, a rotating device used for cooking by roasting over ...

spanning Middle Harbour; the

Roseville Bridge The Roseville Bridge, is a pre-stressed concrete box girder road bridge that carries Warringah Road, part of the A38 across Middle Harbour, located adjacent to the suburb of , in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The bridge is one of two ...

spanning Middle Harbour; the

Tarban Creek Bridge The Tarban Creek Bridge is a prestressed concrete arch bridge that carries the Burns Bay Road across the Tarban Creek, located west of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The bridge is situated between the Glade ...

spanning Tarban Creek. The original Meadowbank

carried two railway tracks, now reduced to pedestrian traffic only. The new Meadowbank

carries two railway tracks with piers suitable for four tracks. There is a single track rail bridge on the

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

to Carlingford railway line crossing the Parramatta River near

Camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controv ...

. A new bridge over Homebush Bay connects

Wentworth Point Wentworth Point is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, on the eastern edge of the local government area of City of Parramatta. It is on t ...

and

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

Punts

* Mortlake Ferry

Weir

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

between Queens Avenue and Charles Street, Parramatta, called Charles Street Weir, separates the saltwater and tidal waters to the east from the freshwater and non-tidal waters to the west. The weir is marked right near the western (left) edge of the detailed map above.

Tunnels

A road tunnel, the Sydney Harbour Tunnel passing underneath the Harbour to the east of the bridge was opened in August 1992. In 2005, 2010 and in 2014 the NSW Government proposed a rail tunnel be constructed to the west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Construction of an extra pair of road tunnels to the west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, as part of the Sydney Metro project, was approved in January 2017 while the Harbour tunnelling was completed in March 2020. The

Western Harbour Tunnel & Beaches Link The Western Harbour Tunnel & Beaches Link is a planned underground motorway scheme in Sydney, New South Wales. It consists of a series of motorway tunnels running north-south between Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation ( A8) at Balgowlah and the Wes ...

is planned to offer another motor vehicle tunnel in 2026.

Cruise ship terminals

Permanent cruise ship terminals are located at the

Overseas Passenger Terminal The Overseas Passenger Terminal (OPT), known officially as the Sydney Cove Passenger Terminal, is a public passenger terminal servicing cruise ships and ocean liners located in Circular Quay, Sydney, Australia. Whilst commercial shipping opera ...

at Circular Quay, Sydney Cove and at the

White Bay Cruise Terminal The White Bay Cruise Terminal is a terminal for cruise ships on Sydney Harbour. The terminal is located at the eastern end of the White Bay wharves, on the northern shore of White Bay. It opened on 15 April 2013 as a replacement for Wharf 8 on D ...

at White Bay. White Bay's evolution to a cruise terminal came with the closure of Darling Harbour terminal to make way for the

Barangaroo Barangaroo was the second wife of Bennelong, who was interlocutor between the Aboriginal people and the early British colonists in New South Wales. Barangaroo was a member of the Cammeraygal clan. While Bennelong spent considerable time in th ...

development.

Other port facilities

White Bay and adjacent Glebe Island have been working ports since the mid-1800s, handling just about everything from timber and paper, coal, sugar and cement to cars and containers. The NSW Government identified both as vital to the City's economy and in March 2013 announced its commitment to maintaining both as working ports as it frees up neighbouring bays for public access. Glebe Island is Sydney's last remaining deepwater port able to supply the City's ongoing demand for dry bulk goods such as sugar, gypsum and cement. Most of Sydney's port infrastructure has moved south to Botany Bay since the construction of the first

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

terminals there in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Military installations

Former: *

Dawes Point Battery The Dawes Point Battery remains is a heritage-listed former artillery fortification and now visitor attraction located adjacent to the southern pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge at Hickson Road in inner city Sydney, on the boundary between D ...

(1791) *

Fort Macquarie Fort Macquarie was a square castellated battlement fort built in 1798 at Bennelong Point, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on the site where the Sydney Opera House now stands. It was demolished in 1901 to make way for the Fort Macquarie Tra ...

(1798) *

(1801) * Fort Phillip (1804) * Goat Island (1826) *

(1840) * Admiralty House (1856) *

(1857) *

(1871) * Steel Point Battery (1874) * North Fort (1936) *

(1942) * HMAS Platypus (1967) Current: * HMAS Kuttabul * HMAS Penguin * HMAS Waterhen *

HMAS Watson HMAS ''Watson'' is a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base on Sydney Harbour at South Head, near Watsons Bay in Sydney, Australia. Commissioned in 1945 (after three years operating as HMAS ''Radar''), the base served as the RAN's radar training sc ...

Maritime transport

Sydney Ferries operate services from

to Manly,

Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo is a zoo located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in the suburb of Mosman, on the shores of Sydney Harbour. The opening hours are between 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Taronga is an Aboriginal word meaning 'beautiful water view'. It ...

, Rose Bay ferry wharf, Rose Bay, Barangaroo ferry wharf, Barangaroo, Balmain ferry wharf, Balmain, Parramatta ferry wharf, Parramatta, Milsons Point ferry wharf, Milsons Point and other destinations. Water taxi and water limousine operators offer transport not restricted by timetables or specific routes, and can also provide a service to or from private wharfs and houses on the waterfront. Sightseeing harbour cruises are operated daily from Circular Quay. Whale watching excursions are also operated from Port Jackson. The Mortlake Ferry, also known as the Putney Punt, crosses the Parramatta River, connecting Mortlake and Putney.

Maritime heritage

Sydney Heritage Fleet Heritage dock Rozelle

Australian National Maritime Museum, at Darling Harbour, has themed exhibitions ranging from Indigenous lore and European seafaring to aquatic sport and maritime defence. Sydney Heritage Fleet is a largely volunteer organisation dedicated to the restoration and operation of heritage vessels. The barque ''James Craig (barque), James Craig'' of the SHF sails regularly from Port Jackson. RAN Heritage Centre at Garden Island has many exhibits, artefacts and documents relating to the history of the Royal Australian Navy. Port Jackson is associated with the voyages of Richard Siddins.

Heritage listings

Port Jackson has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: *

* Goat Island * SS South Steyne, SS ''South Steyne'' * Bradleys Head: Bradleys Head Light Tower

Derivative unit of measure

A Sydharb is a unit of volume used in Australia for water, especially in dams and harbours. One sydharb (or sydarb), also called a ''Sydney Harbour'', is the amount of water in the Sydney Harbour (Port Jackson): approximately .

Image gallery

File:Clifftop, hilly homes in Vaucluse in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, Australia.png, Sydney Harbour in distance as seen aloft from Tasman Sea, overlooking the clifftop suburb of

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.Circular Quay Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping port, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the northern edge of the Syd ...

and the Sydney CBD. File:Sydney Harbour New Years Eve 2012-2013.jpg, Sydney Harbour on New Year's Eve File:Portjackson.jpg, View of Port Jackson and Sydney's CBD. File:Sydney Harbour from Circular Quay in 2012.jpg, Sydney Harbour File:Sydney Harbour Bridge from the air.JPG, Sydney Harbour and Port Jackson displaying aerial views of the

and the

. The CBD is located to the far left of the photo. File:Sydney Harbour, from Dumaresq Road, Rose Bay, New South Wales (2011-01-05) 03.jpg, Port Jackson, as seen from Rose Bay. File:Sydney Harbour panorama view from Millers Point.jpg, This is the view of Sydney Harbour from

. File:Sow and Pigs Reef Marker.jpg, East Channel Marker in Sydney Harbour, colloquially called the East Wedding Cake. File:View of Sydney Harbour.jpg, View of the harbour and the Sydney Harbour Bridge from Vaucluse File:Amazing sunset view from Macquarie's Chair.jpg, View of the harbour from the Sydney sandstone, sandstone rocks in Mrs. Macquarie's Chair File:Observatory Hill Sydney.jpg, View over the Harbour from Observatory Park, Sydney, Observatory Park

References

External links

*
ABC Radio National: "A Living Harbour"
– ''a history of Sydney Harbour''.
Official New South Wales Maritime Authority website

Sydney Harbour Guide from Sydney.com
* Maps maintained by the New South Wales Maritime Authority (legal owner of the harbour bed): *
Port Jackson—east of Harbour Bridge
*
Port Jackson—west of Harbour Bridge
*
Sydney Harbour Federation Trust
– ''established by the Australian Government to plan for the future of former Defence and other special Commonwealth Lands around Sydney Harbour.''
Sydney Ports
* [Creative Commons license, CC-By-SA] * [Creative Commons license, CC-By-SA] * [Creative Commons license, CC-By-SA] {{authority control Sydney Harbour, Bays of New South Wales Ports and harbours of New South Wales, Jackson Geography of Sydney Sydney New Year's Eve Tourist attractions in Sydney Northern Beaches

History

Cook's naming of Port Jackson

First Fleet

Later events

Attack on Sydney Harbour

Fortifications

Geography

Headlands and peninsulas

Islands

Tributaries and waterways

Climate

Infrastructure

Bridges

Punts

Weir

Tunnels

Cruise ship terminals

Other port facilities

Military installations

Maritime transport

Maritime heritage

Heritage listings

Derivative unit of measure

Image gallery

See also

References

External links