Witha population of four million and occupying an area of almost 1,130 sq. km., Sydney is the largest and most cosmopolitan city in Australia and is one of the world’s elite cities that generate a sense of excitement from the air. Even at the end of a marathon flight across the Pacific, there's renewed sparkle in the cabin as the plane circles the city, crossing the branching fingers of the harbor, where thousands of yachts are suspended on the dark water and the sails of the Opera House glisten in the distance. Its setting alone, perfected with dazzling beaches and a sunny, Mediterranean climate (an average temperature of 25oC in summer and 14oC in winter) guarantees Sydney a place among the most glamorous cities on the planet.

Like the United States, Australia is a society of immigrants, and Sydney has been their preferred destination. Since the 1950s, the Anglo-Irish immigrants who made up the city's original population have been enriched by successive waves of Italians, Greeks, Turks, Lebanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thais, and Indonesians.