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The land now known as Sydney holds a deep and complex history stretching back over 45,000 years. The region's first inhabitants were Aboriginal Australians, believed to have migrated from Southeast Asia through northern Australia. Archaeological evidence, including flaked pebbles and radiocarbon dating, supports early human activity in Western Sydney from 30,000 to possibly 50,000 years ago.
Prior to British settlement, an estimated 4,000 to 8,000 Aboriginal people lived in the greater Sydney area. These communities thrived by fishing, hunting, and gathering local plants and shellfish. Coastal clans relied heavily on seafood, while inland groups focused on forest-based resources. Their culture was rich in ceremony, totemic beliefs, and social exchange, with rituals that supported trade, marriage, and alliances across clan lines. Distinctive languages, tools, and artistic traditions defined each group.
The Eora people were the most prominent coastal group, with other major Aboriginal nations in the area including the Dharug (Darug) inland from Parramatta to the Blue Mountains, and the Dharawal to the south near Botany Bay. Languages like Darginung and Gundungurra were also spoken on Sydney’s fringes. Early settlers documented “Eora” as meaning either “people” or “from this place.”
The first recorded contact between Aboriginal people and the British came on 29 April 1770, when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay and encountered the Gweagal clan. The meeting turned violent, with one Gweagal man shot and wounded after challenging the landing. Although Cook’s crew stayed for a week, attempts at peaceful relations were unsuccessful.
By 1788, following the loss of its American colonies, Britain established a penal colony at Botany Bay. The First Fleet, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived with more than 1,000 people, including 736 convicts. Finding Botany Bay unsuitable, the fleet moved to Port Jackson, establishing the settlement at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788. Phillip described the harbour as "the finest... in the world," with ample fresh water and natural shelter.
The settlement struggled at first. Poor soil and failed crops led to famine and strict rationing until the arrival of additional fleets in 1790 and 1791. Gradually, agriculture expanded inland to more fertile areas like Parramatta, Windsor, and Camden, achieving food self-sufficiency by 1804.
Meanwhile, a smallpox outbreak in 1789 devastated Aboriginal communities, killing nearly half of the region’s Indigenous population. In late 1790, Bennelong, a key Aboriginal figure, led a group of survivors into the settlement, helping maintain an Indigenous presence within the growing colony.
Despite having no formal urban planning mandate, Phillip submitted a town layout in 1788. However, his plans were largely ignored, and unregulated development shaped Sydney’s early topography. After Phillip’s departure in 1792, military officers and ex-convicts began settling land informally, sparking conflict with Governor William Bligh, who sought to restrict illegal construction. This tension culminated in the Rum Rebellion of 1808, when Bligh was overthrown by the New South Wales Corps.
Significant reforms came under Governor Lachlan Macquarie (1810–1821). He initiated infrastructure projects including Parramatta Road (1811), and a route across the Blue Mountains (1815), opening new areas for farming and settlement. Macquarie’s vision also included establishing public institutions and designing Sydney’s street layout.
By the 1830s and 1840s, Sydney saw a sharp increase in free settlers, with immigration rising from 900 between 1826 and 1830 to 29,000 by 1840. The city developed distinct class divides, with working-class communities in areas like The Rocks, and wealthier residents in the east. As transportation of convicts ended in 1840, free settlers and their descendants became the majority. Public demand for self-governance and civil rights intensified, marking a shift from colonial outpost to emerging city.
Sydney’s early history is a layered narrative of ancient Indigenous culture, colonial ambition, social transformation, and urban evolution, forming the foundation of what would become Australia's largest city.