New South Wales
New South Wales (abbreviated as NSW) is Australia's oldest and most populous state. It was the first British colony in what is now Australia, established in 1788. The capital city is Sydney.
Originally, New South Wales included the whole of the Australian mainland east of current Western Australia. When new colonies were founded in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne, sections of New South Wales were carved out to be adminstered by the new colonies as Queensland, South Australia and Victoria, respectively. The Northern Territory was also carved out to be adminstered initially by the South Australian government. Modern day New South Wales is the fourth largest of Australia's six states.
The current boundaries of the state are with Victoria to the south, South Australia to the west and Queensland to the north. It also completely surrounds the Australian Capital Territory and the land side of the Jervis Bay Territory.
