New South Wales was the first state to be settled by Europeans. That was in 1788 when Arthur Phillip and the First Fleet settled in Sydney Cove. That means that it was also the first state to dispossess Aboriginal people of the land.

The emblems for NSW are
Animal    :  platypus
Bird          : kookaburra
Flower     : waratah

The waratah can be seen growing in the Blue Mountains which are to the west of Sydney. The waratah is a bright red flower.

Today, New South Wales has more people than any other state. Over 6 million people live in NSW and 3.7 million live in Sydney.  Almost 70% of the state's people live in towns or cities, and most live close to the Pacific Ocean. The area of NSW is about 815 000 square kilometres which is about 10% of Australia's area.