Blue Mountains (New South Wales) in the context of "Western Sydney"

Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Blue Mountains in the west, and about 80 km (50 mi) from Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and the Hawkesbury River in the north and north-west, to the Royal National Park and Macarthur in the south and south-west. Greater Sydney consists of 658 suburbs, spread across 33 local government areas. Residents of the city are colloquially known as "Sydneysiders". The estimated population in June 2024 was 5,557,233, which is about 66% of the state's population. The city's nicknames include the Emerald City and the Harbour City.

There is evidence that Aboriginal Australians inhabited the Greater Sydney region at least 30,000 years ago, and their engravings and cultural sites are common. The traditional custodians of the land on which modern Sydney stands are the clans of the Darug, Dharawal and Eora. During his first Pacific voyage in 1770, James Cook charted the eastern coast of Australia, making landfall at Botany Bay. In 1788, the First Fleet of convicts, led by Arthur Phillip, founded Sydney as a British penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. After World War II, Sydney experienced mass migration and by 2021 over 40 per cent of the population was born overseas. Foreign countries of birth with the greatest representation are mainland China, India, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Mount Irvine is a small village and a mountain located in the Blue Mountains region in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The village is situated in the City of Blue Mountains in Greater Western Sydney. At the 2021 census, Mount Irvine has a population of 22.

At an elevation of 850 metres (2,790 ft) above sea level, the mountain is approximately 85 kilometres (53 mi) west northwest from Sydney CBD and more than two hours by car. The area has a wet micro climate and rich basalt soils, weathered from ancient volcanics. Rainfall is in excess of 1,500 millimetres (59 in) a year and vegetation is predominantly temperate rain forest. The area is typified by some spectacular temperate gardens, similar to those in the neighbouring area of Mount Wilson.

Greater Sydney is the most populous metropolitan area in Australia and Oceania. Located in the state of New South Wales, it encompasses the state capital Sydney, including the City of Sydney local government area (LGA), as well as the surrounding built-up areas. Greater Sydney covers an area stretching from the Hawkesbury and the Northern Beaches in the north, to the Blue Mountains in the west and to Wollondilly, Campbelltown and Sutherland in the south.

Under the New South Wales Greater Cities Commission (formerly the Greater Sydney Commission), the Greater Sydney Region, along with Newcastle, the Central Coast and Wollongong, will constitute a Sandstone Mega-region that will make-up 70% of the New South Wales population and 25% of the national population.

Sydney rock engravings, or Sydney rock art, comprise a number of Aboriginal rock art sites in the Sydney region, New South Wales, Australia. Carved from Sydney sandstone, they consist of carefully drawn images of people, animals, or symbols. Many thousands of such engravings are known to exist in the Sydney region, although the locations of most are not publicised to prevent damage by vandalism, and to retain their sanctity, as they are still regarded as sacred sites by Aboriginal Australians. There are two art environments in Sydney Basin: rock shelters, and engraving sites.

There are 1,500 pieces of Aboriginal art in Sydney, more than half of which contain rock art, and around 1,500 caves or shelters which contain cultural deposit. They are comparable with the petroglyphs of Native Americans and the rock art found elsewhere in Australia, but have their own distinctive style which is quite unlike rock art found anywhere else in Australia. Dating to around 5,000 years, with some possibly as old as 7,000 years, Sydney rock art is predominantly found in Ku-ring-gai Council, Sydney Harbour and the Blue Mountains.

Prospect Hill is a heritage-listed hill in Pemulwuy and Prospect in the greater western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Situated about 30 kilometres (19 miles) west of central Sydney, the hill is Sydney's largest body of igneous rock and is higher than the ridges of the Cumberland Plain around it, with its present-day highest point being 117 metres (384 feet) high, although before its summit was quarried away it rose to a height of 131 metres (430 feet) above sea level.

Prospect Hill is a free-standing hillock which is disconnected from Marrong Reserve to the south at a saddle by Butu Wargun Drive. Prospect Hill is a “nodal point” of the Cumberland Plain. Its summit affords a “goodly prospect” west to the Blue Mountains and east to the man-made landmarks of central Sydney. People have walked round and over Prospect Hill for 30,000 years and have recognised it as a landmark, a meeting place and a boundary. For today's Australians it has historic significance, aesthetic values and commercial values. Owned by Boral Limited and CSIRO, the site was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 17 October 2003.

The City of Blue Mountains is a local government area of New South Wales, Australia, governed by the Blue Mountains City Council. The city is located in the Blue Mountains, on the Great Dividing Range at the far western fringe of the Greater Sydney area. Major settlements include Katoomba, Lawson, Springwood, and Blaxland.

The mayor of Blue Mountains City Council is Councillor Mark Greenhill, a member of the Labor Party.

Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, far western and the Blue Mountains sub-regions within Sydney's metropolitan area and encompasses 11 local government areas: Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Camden, Campbelltown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Hawkesbury, Liverpool, Parramatta, Penrith and Wollondilly. It includes Western Sydney, which has a number of different definitions, although the one consistently used is the region composed of ten local government authorities, most of which are members of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC). The NSW Government's Office of Western Sydney calls the region "Greater Western Sydney".

Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity occurred in the Sydney metropolitan area from around 30,000 years ago. The Darug people lived in the area that was greater western Sydney before European settlement regarded the region as rich in food from the river and forests. Parramatta was founded in 1788, the same year as Sydney, making it the second oldest city in Australia. Opened in 1811, Parramatta Road, which navigates into the heart of greater western Sydney, is one of Sydney's oldest roads and Australia's first highway between two cities – Sydney central business district (CBD) and Parramatta, which is now the sixth largest business district in Australia. Rapid population increase after World War II saw the settlement of many ex-service men and migrants in the greater west, making it one of the most urbanised regions in the country and an area of growing national importance.

Blue Mountains Basalts are igneous rocks occurring in the Sydney Basin in eastern Australia. This formation is up to 140 metres thick. Formed in the middle Miocene, some 17 million to 14 million years ago.

The remnants of this volcanic lava flow are confined to the higher altitudes in the western Blue Mountains. Such as Mount Hay, Mount Wilson, Mount Irvine, Mount Banks and Mount Tomah.

A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term rock formation can also refer to specific sedimentary strata or other rock unit in stratigraphic and petrologic studies.

A rock structure can be created in any rock type or combination: