It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. New South Wales' state capital is Sydney , which is also Australia's most populous city. Almost two-thirds of the state's population, 5.
It originally comprised more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at th meridian east in During the 19th century, most of the colony's area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became the various states and territories of Australia.
The original inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40, to 60, years ago. Before European settlement there were an estimated , Aboriginal people in the region. The Wodi wodi people, who spoke a variant of the Dharawal language, are the original custodians of an area south of Sydney which was approximately bounded by modern Campbelltown , Shoalhaven River and Moss Vale and included the Illawarra.
The Bundjalung people are the original custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. There are other Aboriginal peoples whose traditional lands are within what is now New South Wales, including the Wiradjuri , Gamilaray , Yuin , Ngarigo , Gweagal , and Ngiyampaa peoples. In , James Cook charted the unmapped eastern coast of the continent of New Holland , now Australia, and claimed the entire coastline that he had just explored as British territory.
Contrary to his instructions, Cook did not gain the consent of the Aboriginal inhabitants. In January Arthur Phillip arrived in Botany Bay with the First Fleet of 11 vessels, which carried over a thousand settlers, including convicts.
