Port Jackson, also known as Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is best known for the waterside features of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, and for being the largest natural harbour in the world by geography and capacity.
The harbour's discovery by Europeans is credited to Lt James Cook in 1770, although he did not enter it. Cook named the harbour after Sir George Jackson, Judge Advocate of the Fleet at the time; he noted in his log that "there appears to be a good anchorage". Captain Arthur Phillip established the first colony in Australia at Sydney Cove inside Port Jackson in 1788. That colony grew to become Sydney.
Geologically, Port Jackson is a drowned river valley, or ria. It is 19 km long with an area of 55 sq km. The estuary's volume at high tide is 562,000 megalitres. The perimeter of the estuary is 317 kilometres.
Port Jackson is one of three arms extending from the single entrance (known as Sydney Heads). North Harbour is the shortest, and is really just a large bay extending to Manly. Middle Harbour extends to the north-west.
It is bridged at The Spit and Roseville. Its headwaters lie in Garigal National Park. The longest arm, officially known as Port Jackson, extends west as far as Balmain, where it is fed by the estuaries of the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers.
Port Jackson is bridged by the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the ANZAC Bridge (formerly known as the Glebe Island Bridge). One tunnel, the Sydney Harbour Tunnel passes underneath the Harbour, to the east of the bridge, and in 2005 it was proposed that a third harbour crossing, this time a railway line, be constructed to the west of the bridge. 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. Sydney's central business district begins at Circular Quay, a small bay on the south side that has, over time, had its semi-circle reclaimed by land to the point where it is a rectangular quay. The northern side of the harbour is mainly used for residential purposes.
There are several islands within the harbour, including Shark Island, Clarke Island, Fort Denison, Goat Island, Cockatoo Island, Spectacle Island, Snapper Island and Rodd Island. Some other former islands, including Bennelong Island and Garden Island, have subsequently been linked to the shore by land reclamation.
The land around Port Jackson was occupied at the time of European discovery and colonisation by various tribes including the Gadigal, Eora and Wanegal peoples. The Gadigal people are said to have occupied the land stretching along the south side of Port Jackson from what is now South Head, in an arc west through to Petersham. The area along the southern banks of the Parramatta River, west of Petersham to Rose Hill, was reported to belong to the Wanegal. The Eora people lived on the northern side of the harbour.
Port Jackson is maintained by the New South Wales Maritime Authority and the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.
In Australia the size of many bodies of water are referenced back to the size of Sydney Harbour, that is a body of water x is y times the size of the Sydney Harbour. For example: Lake Argyle, the Ord river dam and Australia's largest lake, is variously described as "18 times that of Sydney Harbour", "8-13 times the size the volume of Sydney Harbour", and "nine times the size of Sydney Harbour".
Warragamba Dam in New South Wales and Sydney's major water supply is described as being "4 times the size of Sydney Harbour". Lake Eucumbene, one of the major dams in the Snowy Mountains Scheme, "holds nine times the volume of Sydney Harbour", or perhaps thirteen times. The comparison is not confined to dams. Jervis Bay in New South Wales is "at least 6 times bigger in volume (and 4 times bigger in area) than Sydney Harbour"; and Boston Bay in South Australia, on which Port Lincoln is located, is three and a half times larger than Sydney Harbour.
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The harbour's discovery by Europeans is credited to Lt James Cook in 1770, although he did not enter it. Cook named the harbour after Sir George Jackson, Judge Advocate of the Fleet at the time; he noted in his log that "there appears to be a good anchorage". Captain Arthur Phillip established the first colony in Australia at Sydney Cove inside Port Jackson in 1788. That colony grew to become Sydney.
