1.
Sydney
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Sydney /ˈsɪdni/ is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australias east coast, the metropolis surrounds the worlds largest natural harbour, residents of Sydney are known as Sydneysiders. The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years, the first British settlers, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Since convict transportation ended in the century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural. As at June 2016 Sydneys estimated population was 5,005,358, in the 2011 census,34 percent of the population reported having been born overseas, representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are more than 250 different languages spoken in Sydney and about one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home and it is classified as an Alpha+ World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has a market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing. Its gross regional product was $337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia, there is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as one of Asia Pacifics leading financial hubs. Its natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, man-made attractions such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are also well known to international visitors. The first people to inhabit the now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago, the earliest British settlers called them Eora people. Eora is the term the indigenous used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is from this place, prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans. Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan, the principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells. Development has destroyed much of the citys history including that of the first inhabitants, there continues to be examples of rock art and engravings located in the protected Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The first meeting between the people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula. He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors, Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned to start a settlement
2.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
3.
Australian dollar
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Within Australia, it is almost always abbreviated with the dollar sign, with A$ or AU$ sometimes used to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is subdivided into 100 cents, in 2011, the Australian dollar was the fifth most traded currency in the world, accounting for 7. 6% of the worlds daily share. It trades in the foreign exchange markets behind the US dollar, the euro, the yen. The currency is referred to by foreign-exchange traders as the Aussie dollar. With pounds, shillings and pence to be replaced by decimal currency on 14 February 1966, in 1963, the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, a monarchist, wished to name the currency the royal. Other proposed names included more exotic suggestions such as the austral, the oz, the boomer, the roo, the kanga, the emu, the digger, the quid, the dinkum and the ming. Menzies influence resulted in the selection of the royal, and trial designs were prepared and printed by the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Treasurer, Harold Holt, announced the decision in Parliament on 5 June 1963. The royal would be subdivided into 100 cents, but the existing names shilling, florin, the name royal for the currency proved very unpopular, with Holt and his wife even receiving death threats. On 24 July Holt told the Cabinet the decision had been a terrible mistake, on 18 September Holt advised Parliament that the name was to be the dollar, of 100 cents. The Australian pound, introduced in 1910 and officially distinct in value from the pound sterling since devaluation in 1931, was replaced by the dollar on 14 February 1966. The rate of conversion for the new currency was two dollars per Australian pound, or ten Australian shillings per dollar. The exchange rate was pegged to the pound sterling at a rate of $1 =8 shillings, in 1967, Australia effectively left the sterling area, when the pound sterling was devalued against the US dollar and the Australian dollar did not follow. It maintained its peg to the US dollar at the rate of A$1 = US$1.12, on 27 September 2012, the Reserve Bank of Australia stated that they had ordered work on a project to upgrade the current banknotes. The upgraded banknotes will incorporate a number of new features so that they remain secure into the future, the first new banknotes were issued from the 1st of September 2016, with the remaining denominations to be issued in the coming years. In 1966, coins were introduced in denominations of 1,2,5,10,20 and 50 cents. The initial 50-cent coins contained high silver content and were withdrawn after a year after the value of the silver content was found to exceed the face value of the coins. One-dollar coins were introduced in 1984, followed by two-dollar coins in 1988, the one- and two-cent coins were discontinued in 1991 and withdrawn from circulation. In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of decimal currency, the 2006 mint proof and uncirculated sets included one-, in early 2013, Australias first triangular coin was introduced, to mark the 25th anniversary of the opening of Parliament House
4.
Sydney Tower
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Sydney Tower is Sydneys tallest structure and the second tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere. Aucklands Sky Tower is taller but Sydney Towers main observation deck is almost 50 m higher than the deck on Aucklands Sky Tower. The name Sydney Tower has become common in usage, however the tower has been known as the Sydney Tower Eye, AMP Tower, Westfield Centrepoint Tower. The Sydney Tower is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers, the tower stands 309 m above the Sydney central business district, located on Market Street, between Pitt and Castlereagh Streets. It is accessible from the Pitt Street Mall, Market Street or Castlereagh Street, the tower is open to the public, and is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in the city, being visible from a number of vantage points throughout town and from adjoining suburbs. Designed by Australian architect Donald Crone the first plans for Sydney Tower were unveiled in March 1968, construction of the office building commenced in 1970, and tower construction began in 1975. Prior to construction of the tower, the limit in Sydney had been set at 279 m. Public access to the tower began in August 1981, the total cost of construction was A$36 million. In 1998, the addition of a rod to the top of spire extended the towers overall height to 309 m. While AMP managed the Centrepoint shopping centre, the tower was referred to as AMP Tower. After the Westfield Group took over ownership of Centrepoint in December 2001, in 2009, the base building was closed and stripped for a major refurbishment. This involved the connection of the centre to other arcades. The shopping centre was reopened from 2010 and was renamed Westfield Sydney. On 25–26 June 2011 the AMP banner was removed from the tower and this was achieved by helicopter after two previous attempts on 22 May and 12 June were aborted due to bad weather. In 2011, Merlin Entertainments acquired the rights to operate the observation deck tower, four sections of the tower are open to public, three being occupied by Sydney Tower Dining. 360 Bar and Dining, which offers revolving views of the Sydney skyline, is located on one of the Sydney Tower. Sydney Tower Buffet, a contemporary self-select restaurant, is located on the second level. STUDIO, located on three, is the highest event space in the Southern Hemisphere, and can cater for cocktail functions for 200 people and 156 sit-down guests
5.
Sydney central business district
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The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 km from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement in which the Sydney region was initially established, due to its pivotal role in Australias early history, it is one of the oldest established areas in the country. Geographically, its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in the south, at the 2011 Australian Census, the CBD recorded a population of 14,308. Sydney CBD is very used to refer not only to the CBD proper. The Sydney CBD is Australias main financial and economic centre, as well as a hub of economic activity for the Asia-Pacific region. The city centre employs approximately 13% of the Sydney regions workforce and it produced $64.1 billion worth of goods and services in 2011–12. Culturally, the city centre is Sydneys focal point for nightlife and it is also home to some of the citys most significant buildings and structures. The Sydney CBD is an area of very densely concentrated skyscrapers and other buildings, interspersed by parks such as Hyde Park, The Domain, Royal Botanic Gardens. George Street is the Sydney CBDs main north–south thoroughfare, the CBD runs along two ridge lines below Macquarie Street and York Streets. Between these ridges is Pitt Street, running close to the course of the original Tank Stream, bridge Street, took its name from the bridge running east–west that once crossed this stream. Pitt Street is the heart of the city which includes the Pitt Street Mall. Macquarie Street is a historic precinct that houses such buildings as the State Parliament House, administratively, the Sydney CBD falls under the authority of the local government area of the City of Sydney. The New South Wales state government also has authority over some aspects of the CBD, the Sydney CBD is home to some of the largest Australian companies, as well as serving as an Asia-Pacific headquarters for many large international companies. Sydneys CBD is serviced by rail, light rail, buses. There is a largely-underground CBD rail loop, accessed in both directions via Central, which services five additional CBD stations, plus a spur line to Bondi Junction which services two. The only light rail line currently operating links the southern part of the CBD, buses, both government-run and privately owned, service the CBD along several dozen routes to both inner and more remote suburbs. NightRide is an bus service that operates between midnight and 5, 00am, with most services running from George Street outside the Sydney Town Hall. Sydney Ferries operate largely from Circular Quay, on the edge of the CBD
6.
Pitt Street Mall
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Pitt Street Mall is the pedestrianised section of Pitt Street in the Sydney central business district, in the Australian state of New South Wales. Running for approximately 200 metres between Market Street and King Street, it is one long and one of Australias busiest and most cosmopolitan shopping precincts. Floorspace rents are the highest in Australia, in due to other cities shopping precincts being longer. In 2015, its rents were the fifth-highest in the world in terms of city streets, despite its small size, Pitt Street Mall hosts many flagship chain stores and more than 400 specialty stores. Formerly a vehicular street, the mall was closed off to traffic in the 1990s and this was commonplace in various Australian cities at the time, in an effort to encourage walk-in business. Many prominent Australian businesses had flagship stores along Pitt Street, namely Sportsgirl, along with extensive upgrades to retail areas, the Pitt Street Malls pedestrian area saw a A$10 million refurbishment during 2010-11. This included the provision of new seating as well as new pavers, visited by 43.8 million people annually, Westfield Sydney is home to 353 retailers. The Strand Arcade - Opened in 1891, The Strand Arcade is the last remaining Victorian era arcade in the Sydney CBD, visited by approximately 5.4 million people annually, The Strand Arcade is home to 76 retailers including designer boutiques. MidCity Centre - Opened in 2010, MidCity Centre is a four storey shopping centre with 23 retailers, Sydney Arcade - A small arcade located at the northern end of Pitt Street Mall. Stockland Glasshouse - Located on the end of Pitt Street Mall, list of leading shopping streets and districts by city
7.
Auckland
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Auckland is a city in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the most populous area in the country. Auckland has a population of 1,495,000, which constitutes 32 percent of New Zealands population, a diverse and multicultural city, Auckland is home to the largest Polynesian population in the world. It has also been called Ākarana, the Māori pronunciation of Auckland, the Auckland urban area ranges to Waiwera in the north, Kumeu in the northwest, and Runciman in the south. It is not contiguous, the section from Waiwera to Whangaparāoa Peninsula is separate from its nearest neighbouring suburb of Long Bay, the surrounding hills are covered in rainforest and the landscape is dotted with dozens of dormant volcanic cones. The central part of the area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitemata Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the few cities in the world to have harbours on two major bodies of water. The isthmus on which Auckland resides was first settled around 1350 and was valued for its rich, Māori population in the area is estimated to have peaked at 20,000 before the arrival of Europeans. After a British colony was established in 1840, the new Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson and he named the area Auckland for George Eden, Earl of Auckland, British First Lord of the Admiralty. It was replaced as the capital in 1865, but immigration to the new city stayed strong, today, Aucklands Central Business District is the major financial centre of New Zealand. Auckland is classified as a Beta World City because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, education and tourism. Aucklands landmarks such as the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Harbour Bridge, the Sky Tower, the isthmus was settled by Māori around 1350, and was valued for its rich and fertile land. Many pā were created, mainly on the volcanic peaks, Māori population in the area is estimated to have been about 20,000 people before the arrival of Europeans. As a result, the region had relatively low numbers of Māori when European settlement of New Zealand began, there is, however, nothing to suggest that this was the result of a deliberate European policy. Auckland was officially declared New Zealands capital in 1841 and the transfer of the administration from Russell in the Bay of Islands was completed in 1842. However, even in 1840 Port Nicholson was seen as a choice for an administrative capital because of its proximity to the South Island. After losing its status as capital, Auckland remained the city of the Auckland Province until the provincial system was abolished in 1876. Each of the four settlements had about 800 settlers, the men being fully armed in case of emergency but spent nearly all their time breaking in the land and establishing roads
8.
Sky Tower (Auckland)
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The Sky Tower is an observation and telecommunications tower located at the corner of Victoria and Federal Streets in the Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand. It is 328 metres tall, as measured from ground level to the top of the mast, making it the tallest freestanding structure in the Southern Hemisphere and it has become an iconic landmark in Aucklands skyline due to its height and unique design. The tower is part of the SkyCity Auckland casino complex, originally built in 1994–1997 for Harrahs Entertainment, several upper levels are accessible to the public, attracting an average of 1,150 visitors per day. There is also a brasserie-style buffet located one floor above the main observatory level and it has three observation decks at different heights, each providing 360-degree views of the city. The main observation level at 186 m has 38 mm thick sections of flooring giving a view straight to the ground. The top observation deck labeled Skydeck sits just below the antenna at 220 m. The tower also features the SkyJump, a 192-metre jump from the observation deck, the jump is guide-cable-controlled to prevent jumpers from colliding with the tower in case of wind gusts. Climbs into the antenna mast portion are also possible for tour groups, the tower is also used for telecommunications and broadcasting with the Auckland Peering Exchange being located on Level 48. The aerial at the top of the hosts the largest FM combiner in the world which combines with 58 wireless microwave links located above the top restaurant to provide a number of services. These include television, wireless internet, RT, and weather measurement services, a total of twenty-three FM radio stations and six digital terrestrial television multiplexes broadcast from the tower. Two VHF analogue television channels broadcasting from the tower were switched off in the hours of Sunday 1 December 2013 as part of New Zealands digital television transition. It was designed by Gordon Moller of Craig Craig Moller architects and has received a New Zealand Institute of Architects National Award as well as regional awards, the Project Architect was Les Dykstra. Taking two years and nine months to construct, the tower was opened on 3 August 1997, the tower is constructed of high-performance reinforced concrete. Its 12-metre diameter shaft is supported on eight legs based on 16 foundation piles drilled over 12 m deep into the local sandstone, the main shaft was built using climbing formwork. The upper levels were constructed from composite materials, structural steel, precast concrete and reinforced concrete, a structural steel framework supports the upper mast structure. During construction 15,000 cubic metres of concrete,2,000 tonnes of reinforcing steel, the mast weighs over 170 tonnes. It had to be lifted into place using an attached to the structure. The tower is designed to wind in excess of 200 km/h
9.
Lightning rod
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Lightning rods are also called finials, air terminals or strike termination devices. In a lightning protection system, a rod is a single component of the system. The lightning rod requires a connection to earth to perform its protective function, copper and its alloys are the most common materials used in lightning protection. As buildings become taller, lightning becomes more of a threat, a lightning conductor may have been intentionally used in the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk. The spire of the tower is crowned with a rod in the shape of a gilded sphere with spikes. This lightning rod is grounded through the rebar carcass, which pierces the entire building, the Nevyansk Tower was built between 1721 and 1745, on the orders of industrialist Akinfiy Demidov. The Nevyansk Tower was built 28 years before Benjamin Franklins experiment, however, the true intent behind the metal rooftop and rebars remains unknown. The church tower of many European cities, which was usually the highest structure in the city, was likely to be hit by lightning, Early on, Christian churches tried to prevent the occurrence of the damaging effects of lightning by prayers. Peter Ahlwardts advised individuals seeking cover from lightning to go anywhere except in or around a church, divišs apparatus was, according to his private theories, aimed towards preventing thunderstorms altogether by constantly depriving the air of its superfluous electricity. The apparatus was, however, mounted on a pole and probably better grounded than Franklins lightning rods at that time. After local protests, Diviš had to cease his weather experiments around 1760, although not the first to suggest a correlation between electricity and lightning, Franklin was the first to propose a workable system for testing his hypothesis. Franklin speculated that, with an iron rod sharpened to a point, The electrical fire would, I think, be out of a cloud silently. Franklin speculated about lightning rods for several years before his reported kite experiment and this experiment, it is said, took place because he was tired of waiting for Christ Church in Philadelphia to be completed so he could place a lightning rod on top of it. In the 19th century, the lightning rod became a decorative motif, Lightning rods were embellished with ornamental glass balls. The ornamental appeal of these balls has been used in weather vanes. The main purpose of these balls, however, is to provide evidence of a strike by shattering or falling off. If after a storm a ball is discovered missing or broken, the property owner should then check the building, rod, balls of solid glass occasionally were used in a method purported to prevent lightning strikes to ships and other objects. The idea was that objects, being non-conductors, are seldom struck by lightning
10.
Westfield Sydney
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Westfield Sydney is an upscale world class shopping centre operated by Scentre Group and located beneath the Sydney Tower in the Sydney central business district. It is located on Pitt Street Mall and is adjacent to the Mid City Centre, The Strand Arcade, the site of the A$860 million Westfield Sydney redevelopment was once occupied by the Centrepoint Shopping Centre, Sydney Central Plaza and the smaller Skygarden and Imperial Arcade. Centrepoint Shopping Centre opened in 1972 with 52 stores, many of which are still trading today, the centre was refurbished in 1984 and further upgraded in 1996 and 2000. Centrepoint purchased by The Westfield Group in December 2001 and was later renamed Westfield Centrepoint, Sydney Central Plaza featured the Myer Department Store and featured over 50 stores, it was later purchased by the Westfield Group in 2003. Imperial Arcade opened in 1891 and was designed by prominent Sydney architect Thomas Rowe, the Westfield Centrepoint provided sky bridge connections to two of Australias major department stores, Myer and David Jones. There was also a connection to Imperial Arcade which featured the Sydney central business districts Angus & Robertson bookstore, Westfield has invested approximately $930 million in redeveloping Westfield Centrepoint, Sydney Central Plaza, Skygarden and Imperial Arcade. The four shopping centres including Westfield Centrepoint, Sydney Central Plaza, Skygarden and Imperial Arcade merged and was redeveloped, stage 1 of the development opened in October 2010 with approximately 130 specialty stores. Stage 2 opened a further 120 stores between November 2010 and late-2011, the opening of a 25-storey commercial tower at 85 Castlereagh Street marked the completion of the total project in early 2012. Westfield Sydney is home to numerous stores and has over 350 stores. Anchor tenants in the centre include Sydney Tower Myer Zara Gap JB Hi-Fi Microsoft Store Official website
11.
Multilingualism
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Multilingualism is the use of two or more languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the worlds population, more than half of all Europeans claim to speak at least one other language in addition to their mother tongue. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of globalization, people who speak several languages are also called polyglots. Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the first language is acquired without formal education, by mechanisms heavily disputed. Children acquiring two languages in this way are called simultaneous bilinguals, even in the case of simultaneous bilinguals, one language usually dominates the other. People who know more than one language have been reported to be adept at language learning compared to monolinguals. Multilingualism in computing can be considered part of a continuum between internationalization and localization, the definition of multilingualism is a subject of debate in the very same way as the definition of language fluency. On one end of a sort of continuum, one may define multilingualism as complete competence. The speaker would presumably have complete knowledge and control over the language so as to sound native, on the opposite end of the spectrum would be people who know enough phrases to get around as a tourist using the alternate language. Since 1992, Vivian Cook has argued that most multilingual speakers fall somewhere between minimal and maximal definitions, in addition, there is no consistent definition of what constitutes a distinct language. For instance, scholars disagree whether Scots is a language in its own right or a dialect of English. Many small independent nations schoolchildren are today compelled to learn multiple languages because of international interactions, for example, in, all children are required to learn at least two foreign languages, the other national language and one alien language. Many Finnish schoolchildren also select further languages, such as German or Russian, in some large nations with multiple languages, such as India, school children may routinely learn multiple languages based on where they reside in the country. In major metropolitan areas of Central, South and East India, thus a child of Telugu parents living in Bangalore will end up speaking his or her mother tongue at home and the state language, Hindi and English in school and his or her surroundings. Many myths and much prejudice has grown around the notions of bi- and these are all harmful convictions which have long been debunked, yet still persist among many parents. A multilingual person is someone who can communicate in more than one language, more specifically, the terms bilingual and trilingual are used to describe comparable situations in which two or three languages are involved. A multilingual person is referred to as a polyglot. Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the first language is acquired without formal education, by mechanisms heavily disputed
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