Sydney Cove is a small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson (commonly but incorrectly called Sydney Harbour), on the coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Named after the British Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney, it was the site chosen by Captain Arthur Phillip on 26 January 1788 (now commemorated as Australia Day) for the British penal settlement which is now the city of Sydney. Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge located on Port Jackson Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. ... Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge located on Port Jackson Port Jackson is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia, also known as Sydney Harbour and is the largest natural harbour in the world. ... Capital Sydney Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Professor Marie Bashir Premier Morris Iemma (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 50  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $305,437 (1st)  - Product per capita  $45,153/person (4th) Population (End of March 2006)  - Population  6,817,100 (1st)  - Density  8. ... The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office and is responsible for internal affairs in England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the whole United Kingdom (including Scotland and Northern Ireland). ... Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney (24 February 1732 - 30 June 1800), the British politician after whom the city of Sydney, Australia, is named, was born at Frognal House, near Chislehurst in Kent. ... Admiral Arthur Phillip RN (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. ... January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Australia Day is Australias official national day, 26 January. ... The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour Sydney (pronounced ) is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of over 4,200,000 people, and 151,920, in the city limits. ...

Phillip's instructions were to establish the settlement at Botany Bay, a large bay further down the coast. Botany Bay had been discovered by Captain James Cook during his voyage of discovery in 1770, and was recommended by the eminent scientist Sir Joseph Banks, who had accompanied Cook, as a suitable site for a settlement. But Phillip discovered that Botany Bay offered neither a secure anchorage nor a reliable source of fresh water. Sydney Cove offered both of these. For other Botany Bays see Botany Bay (disambiguation) Bicentennial Monument at Botany Bay Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, a few kilometers south of the central business district. ... James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance, c. ... Battle of Chesma, by Ivan Aivazovsky. ... Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks (February 13, 1743 - June 19, 1820) was the British naturalist and botanist on Cooks first great voyage (1768-1771) and some 75 species bear Banks name. ...

Port Jackson at sunrise, 2007. Sydney Cove in the foreground.

The Australian writers Flora Eldershaw and Marjorie Barnard (writing under their joint nom de plume M Barnard Eldershaw) wrote in Phillip of Australia (Angus and Robertson, 1938): Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

"It must have been like entering paradise on that summer afternoon when the sea-won convoy passed through the dun and barren headlands into the untouched harbour - the water brilliantly blue, the shores high and wooded without being precipitous, a scattering of islands, sandy beaches, the trees shimmering under the sun...

"The site of the settlement was Sydney Cove... It was one of the smaller inlets, chosen because it had fresh water and good anchorage for ships close into the land. The Governor's working party had cleared a camping ground beside the creek, which stole silently along through a very thick wood, the stillness of which had then for the first time since the Creation, been interrupted by the rude sound of the labourer's axe..."

Today both the creek and the wood have disappeared beneath the streets of the central business district of Sydney. The head of the cove is occupied by the Circular Quay ferry terminal. On Bennelong Point at the northern end of the eastern shore of the cove stands the Sydney Opera House. On the western shore is the historic district known as The Rocks. Categories: Suburbs of Sydney | Incomplete Sydney suburbs ... Categories: Australia geography stubs | Sydney | Islands of Australia ... The Sydney Opera House is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ... George Street, the main street of The Rocks The Rocks is a tourist precinct and historic area near the central business district (CBD) of Sydney, Australia. ...

As the convicts cramped into the boats the news of arrival sounded sweet. They were unaware that they would still be in the death traps for another week or so because Botany Bay was deemed unsuitable for the boats to pull anchor.^{[citation needed]}