On 20 July 1842 the municipal council of Sydney was incorporated and the town was declared the first city in Australia, with John Hosking the first elected mayor. In 1929, the novelist Arthur Henry Adams called it the "Siren City of the South" and the "Athens of Australia". Sydney overtook Melbourne in population in the early years of the 20th century, and continues to be the largest city in Australia as you can see in Sydney Australia map. Sydney hosts many different festivals and some of Australia largest social and cultural events. These include the Sydney Festival, Australia largest arts festival which is a celebration involving both indoor and free outdoor performances throughout January; the Biennale of Sydney, established in 1973; the Big Day Out, a travelling rock-music festival which originated in Sydney; the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras along Oxford Street; the Sydney Film Festival and many other smaller film festivals such as the short film Tropfest and Flickerfest. Sculpture by the Sea, Australia's largest outdoor sculpture exhibit, began in Bondi Beach in 1996.

 

Sydney has the largest skyline in Australia. Current height restrictions limit future buildings to the height of 235 metres, in part due to the close proximity of Sydney Airport. The  Australian Securities Exchange and the Reserve Bank of Australia are located in Sydney, as are the headquarters of 90 banks and more than half of Australia top companies, and the regional headquarters for around 500 multinational corporations as its mentioned in Sydney Australia map. Of the ten largest corporations in Australia by revenue, four have headquarters in Sydney: Caltex Australia, the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and Woolworths. Of the 54 authorised deposit-taking banks in Australia, 44 are based in Sydney including nine of the 11 foreign subsidiary banks in Australia and all of the 29 local branches of foreign banks. Major authorised foreign banks in Sydney include Citigroup, UBS Australia, Mizuho Corporate Bank, HSBC Bank Australia and Deutsche Bank.

 

Australia premier prize for portraiture, the Archibald Prize is organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales as its mentioned in sydney australia map. The Sydney Royal Easter Show is held every year at Sydney Olympic Park, the final of Australian Idol takes place on the steps of the Opera House, and Australian Fashion Week takes place in April/May and September. Sydney New Year Eve and Australia Day celebrations are the largest in Australia. Sydney is home to some of Australia most prominent educational institutions. The University of Sydney, established in 1850, is Australia's oldest university and the largest in Sydney. Other public universities located in Sydney include the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of New South Wales, Macquarie University, the University of Western Sydney and the Australian Catholic University (two out of six campuses). Other universities which operate secondary campuses in Sydney include the University of Notre Dame Australia, the University of Wollongong and Curtin University of Technology.