Zetland is an inner southern suburb of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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, 4 kilometres south of 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 ...

, in the

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of the

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. Zetland recorded a population of 12,622 at the 2021 census. Zetland is part of the Green Square Town Centre district which is an affluent area due to its close proximity to

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's campus-style headquarters, as well as other high-income employers in the financial services, software, and technology industries. The Green Square Plaza is surrounded by Sydney's newest high street, Ebsworth Street, the Gunyama Park Aquatic Centre, parklands, upscale and luxurious apartments, a library, and retail tenancies controlled by Mirvac. Zetland is a residential suburb with medium- to high-density residential areas.

History

Zetland was named for Thomas Dundas, 2nd Earl of Zetland, who was a friend of Governor Sir Hercules Robinson. Zetland is an archaic spelling of

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

Zetland originally featured a lagoon and wetlands which was drained in the early 1900s to create the Victoria Park racecourse. It was bordered by O’Dea Avenue, South Dowling Street, Epsom Road and Joynton Avenue. The privately owned racecourse was closed after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The land was bought by British businessman Lord Nuffield in 1947 and from 1950 the site was utilised by Nuffield Australia for a motor vehicle assembly facility. Vehicle production was continued by Nuffield Australia and its successors BMC Australia and Leyland Australia until the factory was closed in 1975. The site was acquired by the

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for a

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Stores depot which operated until the mid-1990s. The land was subsequently redeveloped into high density housing (location: ). Zetland Post Office was first opened on 4 January 1937 and closed on 29 September 1983.

Former tram line

From 1902 a tram service operated through Zetland. The line initially ran via Chalmers and Redfern Streets and south along Elizabeth Street to Zetland. In 1924, the line was extended to Epsom Road in Rosebery. In 1948, to facilitate construction of the Eastern Suburbs Railway, a new line was constructed down Elizabeth Street between Devonshire Street and Redfern Street and the route was deviated to run down this new section. The line was electrified double track throughout. The line was closed in 1957. 1 Zetland Terrace Homes

Demographics

At the 2021 census, the suburb of Zetland recorded a population of 12,622. ; Age distribution : The distribution of ages in Zetland was younger than the country as a whole. Zetland residents' median age was 30 years, compared to the national median of 39. ; Ethnic diversity : 32.3% of people were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were China 20.5%, England 5.0%, Ireland 3.3%, Indonesia 2.4% and Hong Kong 2.1%. Zetland has the highest number of Brazilians living in

. Over 2% of residents in Zetland were born in Brazil, which is higher than the beachside suburbs of

Bondi Beach Bondi Beach () is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Bondi Beach is located east of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of ...

, Tamarama, and Bronte. Over 2% of the residents in Zetland speak Portuguese, and approximately 5% of the residents in Zetland speak Portuguese and Spanish. This is higher than the suburb of Petersham, which was previously known as the suburb with the highest percentage of Portuguese speakers.
2021 Census. Retrieved 10 August 2022. ; Religion : The most common responses for religion were No Religion 54.2% and Catholic 17.2%. At the 2016 census, there were 10,078 people living in Zetland.

Transport

Zetland is a transport hub with rail, bus and cycle way connections to the rest of the city. Green Square railway station on the Airport & South Line of the

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the brand name and operator of Railways in Sydney, suburban and intercity train services in and around Greater Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The metropolitan part of the network is a hybrid urban rail, urban-suburban r ...

network is located on the southwestern edge of Zetland. Central railway station is the next station to the north and Mascot railway station is the next station to the south.

References

External links