2000 Olympics

Information about 2000 Olympics

Games of the XXVII Olympiad
Enlarge picture
Games of the XXVII Olympias

Host citySydney, Australia
Nations participating199
Athletes participating10,651
(6,582 men, 4,069 women)
Events300 in 28 sports
Opening ceremonySeptember 15
Closing ceremonyOctober 1
Officially opened byGovernor-General William Deane
Athlete's OathRechelle Hawkes
Judge's OathPeter Kerr
Olympic TorchCathy Freeman
StadiumTelstra Stadium
The 2000 Summer Olympics or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were the Summer Olympic Games held in 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Bidding process

See also 2000 Summer Olympics bids

Sydney won the right to host the games on September 23, 1993 after being selected over Beijing, Berlin, Istanbul and Manchester, by the final vote, in an election in Monte Carlo.

2000 Summer Olympics bidding results
CityNOC NameR1R2R3R4
Sydney Australia30303745
Beijing China32374043
Manchester United Kingdom111311-
Berlin Germany99--
Istanbul Turkey7---

Costs

In 2002 the Auditor-General of New South Wales reported that the Sydney Games cost $AUD6.6 thousand million (£2.3 thousand million), with a nett cost to the public between $AUS 1.7 and 2.4 thousand million (between £580 million and £830 million).[1][2]

Preliminary matches- from September 13

Although the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony was not scheduled until September 15, the football competitions began with preliminary matches on September 13. Among the pre-ceremony fixtures, host nation Australia lost 1-0 to Italy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Day 1 - September 15, the Opening Ceremony

Main article: 2000 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony
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The cover for the DVD of the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics showing fireworks in the background and the lighting of the Olympic Flame by Cathy Freeman (who subsequently won the 400 m title). Cathy Freeman is a major role model for Indigenous Australians

Cultural display highlights

The opening ceremony began with a tribute to the Australian pastural heritage of the muster (or "roundup", in which the stockmen gather together the livestock from the vast areas of an Australian outback sheep or cattle station), symbolising the drawing together of people from across the world. This was introduced by a lone rider, Steve Jefferys, and his rearing Australian Stock Horse Ammo. At the cracking of Jefferys' stockwhip, a further 120 riders entered the Stadium, their stock horses performing intricate steps, including forming the five Olympic Rings, to the music by Bruce Rowland, based on the theme which he (Rowland) had previously composed for the 1982 film The Man from Snowy River.

The Australian National Anthem was sung, the first verse by Human Nature and the second by Julie Anthony.

The ceremony continued, showing many aspects of the land and its people:- the affinity of the mainly coastal-dwelling Australians with the sea that surrounds the "Island Continent", the indigenous occupation of the land, the coming of the First Fleet, the continued immigration from many nations and the rural industry on which the economy of the nation was built, including a display representing the harshness of rural life based on the paintings of Sir Sidney Nolan. Two memorable scenes were the representation of the "Heart" of the country by 200 Aboriginal women from Central Australia who danced up "the mighty spirit of God to protect the Games" and the overwhelmingly noisy representation of the construction industry by hundreds of tap-dancing teenagers.

Because the wife of Juan Antonio Samaranch, the IOC President, was seriously ill and not able to accompany her husband to the Olympics, former Australian Olympic Champion swimmer, Dawn Fraser, accompanied Samaranch during the Australian cultural display, explaining to him some of the more obscure cultural references.

Formal presentation

A record 199 nations entered the stadium, the only missing IOC member being Afghanistan (suspended due to the Taliban regime's prohibition against practicing any kind of sports). Most remarkable was the entering of North and South Korea as one team, using a specially designed unification flag: a white background flag with a blue map of the Korea peninsula; the two teams would compete separately, however. Four athletes from East Timor also marched in the parade of nations. Although the country-to-be had no National Olympic Committee then, they were allowed to compete under the Olympic Flag. The Governor-General, Sir William Deane, opened the games.

The Olympic Flag was carried around the arena by eight former Australian Olympic champions: Bill Roycroft, Murray Rose, Liane Tooth, Gillian Rolton, Marjorie Jackson, Lorraine Crapp, Michael Wenden and Nick Green. During the raising of the Olympics Flag, the Olympic Hymn was sung by the Millennium Choir of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.

The opening ceremony concluded with the lighting of the Olympic Flame. Former Australian Olympic champion Herb Elliott brought the Olympic Flame into the stadium. Then, celebrating 100 years of women's participation in the Olympic Games, former Australian women Olympic champions: Betty Cuthbert and Raelene Boyle, Dawn Fraser, Shirley Strickland (later Shirley Strickland de la Hunty), Shane Gould and Debbie Flintoff-King brought the torch through the stadium, handing it over to Cathy Freeman, who lit the flame in the cauldron within a circle of fire. Unfortunately, what should have been a spectacular climax to the ceremony was somewhat spoilt by a technical glitch which meant that the Olympic flame was suspended in mid-air for several minutes, rather than immediately rising up a water-covered ramp to the top of the stadium. After the problem was fixed, the cauldron continued its course, and the ceremony concluded with a spectacular fireworks display.

Some significant participants

The young girl singer, who featured in the early part of the opening ceremony, was Nikki Webster. Other musical performers were Olivia Newton-John and John Farnham (who sang the duet "Dare to Dream" while walking among the athletes), Vanessa Amorosi (who sang "Heroes Live Forever" while a huge cloth was lowered down to cover the athletes - with sporting images and the image of a white dove of peace then being displayed on the cloth) and Tina Arena (who sang "The Flame"). There was also a massed Millennium Marching Band of 2000 musicians - with 1000 Australian musicians, the remaining 1000 musicians being from other countries around the world. (the massed band was so large that six conductors were required for the segment).

The English-language announcer for the Opening Ceremony was Australian actor John Stanton, while the Channel 7 narrator for the Indigenous section of the display was actor Ernie Dingo.

Events

Day 2 - September 16

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Gold medalist Nancy Johnson (centre) of the U.S., raises her hands with silver medalist Cho-Hyun Kang (left), of Korea, and bronze winner Jing Gao (right), of China, during the first medal ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games.


The first medals of the Games were awarded in the women's 10 metre air rifle competition, which was won by Nancy Johnson of the United States.

The Triathlon made its Olympic debut with the women's race. Set in the surroundings of the iconic Sydney Opera House, Brigitte McMahon representing Switzerland swam, cycled and ran to the first gold medal in the sport, beating the favoured home athletes.

The first star of the Games was Ian Thorpe. The 17-year-old Australian first set a new world record in the 400 m freestyle final before competing in an exciting 4 x 100 m freestyle final. Swimming the last leg, Thorpe passed the leading Americans and arrived in a new world record time, two tenths of a second ahead of the Americans. In the same event for women, the Americans also broke the world record, finishing ahead of the Netherlands and Sweden.

Samaranch had to leave for home, as his wife was severely ill. Upon arrival, his wife had already died. Samaranch returned to Sydney four days later. The Olympic flag was flown at half-staff during the period as a sign of respect to Samaranch's wife.

Day 3 - September 17

Canadian Simon Whitfield sprinted away in the last 100 metres of the men's triathlon, becoming the inaugural winner in the event.

On the cycling track, Robert Bartko beat fellow German Jens Lehmann in the individual pursuit, setting a new Olympic Record. Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel set a world record in the semi-finals the same event for women.

In the swimming pool, American Tom Dolan beat the world record in the 400 m medley, successfully defending the title he won in Atlanta four years prior. Dutchwoman Inge de Bruijn also clocked a new world record, beating her own time in the 100 m butterfly final to win by more than a second.

Day 4 - September 18

The main event for the Australians on the fourth day of the Games was the 200 m freestyle. Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband had broken the world record in the semi-finals, taking it from the new Australian hero Ian Thorpe, who came close to the world record in his semi-final heat. As the final race finished, Van den Hoogenband's time was exactly the same as in the semi-finals, finishing ahead of Thorpe by half a second.

China won the gold medal in the men's team all-around gymnastics competition, after being the runner-up in the previous two Olympics. The other medals were taken by Ukraine and Russia, respectively.

Zijlaard-van Moorsel lived up to the expectations set by her world record in cycling in the semis by winning the gold medal.

Day 9 - September 23

By rowing in the winning coxless four, Steve Redgrave of Great Britain became a member of a select group who had won gold medals at five consecutive Olympics.

The swimming 4 x 100-metre medley relay of B.J. Bedford, Megan Quann (Jendrick), Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres became the first women's relay under 4-minutes, swimming 3:58 and setting a world record, claiming the gold medal for the United States.

Day 10 - September 26

Rulon Gardner, never a NCAA champion or a world medalist, beat Alexander Karelin of Russia to win gold in the super heavyweight class, Greco-Roman wrestling. Karelin had won gold in Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta. Before this fight he had never lost in international competition, had been unbeaten in all competitions in 13 years, and had not surrendered a point in a decade.

Day 11 - September 25

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Track and field events at the Olympic stadium during the 2000 Olympics


Australian Cathy Freeman won the 400 metre final in front of a jubilant Sydney crowd at the Olympic Stadium, ahead of Lorraine Graham of Jamaica and Katharine Merry of Great Britain. Freeman's win made her the first competitor in Olympic Games history to light the Olympic Flame and then go on to win a Gold Medal.

Day 13 - September 28

The Canadian flag at athletes' village is lowered to half-staff as Canadian athletes pay tribute to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau after hearing of his passing in Montreal (Because of the time difference, it was September 29 in Sydney when Trudeau died).

Day 15 - September 30

Cameroon won a historic gold medal over Spain in the Men's Olympic Football Final at the Olympic Stadium. The game went to a penalty shootout.

Day 16 - October 1

The Closing Ceremony commenced with Christine Anu singing a stirring rendition of her hit song, Island Home. She performed with several aboriginal dancers atop the Geodome Stage in the middle of the stadium, around which several hundred umbrella and lampbox kids created an image of aboriginal dreamtime.

The Geodome Stage was used throughout the ceremony, which is a flat stage which is mechanically raised into the shape of a Geode.

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Olympic colours on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch declared at the Closing Ceremony,
"I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever."
Yvonne Kenny was the soprano who sang the Olympic Hymn at the Closing Ceremony. The ceremony featured performing artists such as Jimmy Barnes, Midnight Oil, Kylie Minogue, Slim Dusty, Christine Anu, Nikki Webster, John Paul Young, Melbourne-based singer Vanessa Amorosi, Tommy Emmanuel CGP, and pop duo Savage Garden.

The Games were then handed over to the city of their birthplace, Athens, where they would again take place in 2004. The ceremony concluded with a huge fireworks display on Sydney Harbour.

Sports

See the medal winners, ordered by sport:

  • Wheelchair Racing (Demonstration Event)

    Medal count

    Main article: 2000 Summer Olympics medal count
    These are the top medal-collecting nations for the 2000 Games. (Host country is highlighted)
     Rank  Nation GoldSilverBronzeTotal
    1 United States40243397
    2 Russia32282888
    3 China28161559
    4 Australia16251758
    5 Germany13172656
    6 France13141138
    7 Italy1381334
    8 Netherlands129425
    9 Cuba1111729
    10 Great Britain1110728


    Marion Jones, winner of three golds and two bronzes for the United States, later relinquished her medals in October of 2007 after confessing that she had taken tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) from September 2000 through July 2001. The IOC is expected to formally strip Jones of her medals and confirm new medalists in her three individual events, but it is uncertain whether the results of Jones' two relay events will also be changed.

    Participating nations

    Enlarge picture
    Participating countries
    199 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Sydney Games, two more than in 1996. In addition, there were four Timorese Individual Olympic Athletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Eritrea, Micronesia and Palau made their Olympic debut this year.
  • Saint Vincent &
    the Grenadines

    Venues

    Sydney Olympic Park

    Sydney

    Outside of Sydney

    Media coverage

    Most of the footage used by international broadcasters of the Opening and Closing Ceremony was directed out of SOBO (Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation) by Australian director Peter Faiman.

    The games were covered by the following broadcasters: Running up to the games an Australian comedy satire, The Games, was broadcast in Australia (it was also broadcast, at a later date, in New Zealand). It featured a spoof of the issues and events that the top-level organisers and bureaucrats suffered in the lead up to the games.

    NBC presented over 400+ hours on their main and sister stations, CNBC and MSNBC. The downside of the American coverage was that it was presented on tape delay rather than live due to the 15-hour time difference. The lone exception was the gold medal game in Men's Basketball, which featured the U.S. defeating France 85-75. The game was televised live in primetime on Saturday, September 30(EDT), which was the afternoon of Sunday, October 1 in Australia. In their 2004 coverage, NBC and its sister networks presented live coverage throughout the morning and afternoon, while showing marquee events pre-taped in prime time.

    A poignant part of the media coverage happened in the Canadian broadcast. On September 28, the CBC was airing the Olympics, when the network's chief correspondent, Peter Mansbridge, broke in and said:

    "Hello from Toronto, I'm Peter Mansbridge. Sad news to report from Montreal...Pierre Elliott Trudeau, prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1984 with one brief interruption in 1979, has passed away..."


    People in Canada who wanted to see the Olympics between then and the closing ceremonies had to turn to TSN because the CBC was broadcasting news coverage related to the death and state funeral of the former prime minister.

    Organization

    Enlarge picture
    SOCOG organisational structure circa 1998 - five groups and 33 divisions reporting to the CEO are organised primarily along functional lines with only a limited number of divisions (eg Interstate Football and Villages) anticipating a venue focussed design.
    Enlarge picture
    SOCOG organisational structure circa 1999 - functional divisions and precinct/venue streams are organised in a matrix structure linked to the Main Operations Centre (MOC). Some functions such as Project Management (in the Games Coordination group) continue to exist largely outside this matrix structure.

    Bodies responsible for the Olympics

    A number of quasi-government bodies were responsible for the construction, organisation and execution of the Sydney Games. These included:
    • SOCOG the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, primarily responsible for the staging of the Games
    • OCA the Olympic Coordination Authority, primarily responsible for construction and oversight
    • ORTA the Olympic Roads and Transport Authority
    • OSCC the Olympic Security Command Centre
    • OIC the Olympic Intelligence Centre
    • JTF Gold the Australian Defence Force Joint Taskforce Gold
    • SOBO the Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation (nominally part of SOCOG)
    These organisations worked closely together and with other bodies such as: The Sydney Millennium Mascots, Syd, Milli, and Olly were designed by Matt Hatton and Jozef Szekeres.

    These bodies are often collectively referred to as the "Olympic Family".

    Organization of the Paralympics

    Organization of the 2000 Summer Paralympics was the responsibility of SPOC the Sydney Paralympic Organizing Committee. However much of the planning and operation of the Paralympic Games was outsourced to SOCOG such that most operational programmes planned both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

    Other Olympic events

    Organisation of the Olympic Games included not only the actual sporting events but also the management (and sometimes construction) of the sporting venues and surrounding precincts, the organisation of the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival and Olympic torch relay. The route the relay took is shown here:

    Phases of the Olympic project

    The staging of the Olympics were treated as a project on a vast scale, with the project broken into several broad phases:
    • 1993 to 1996 – positioning
    • 1997 – going operational
    • 1998 – procurement/venuisation
    • 1999 – testing/refinement
    • 2000 - implementation
    • 2001 - post implementation and wind-down

    SOCOG organisational design

    The internal organisation of SOCOG evolved over the phases of the project and changed, sometimes radically, several times.

    In late 1998 the design was principally functional. The top two tiers below the CEO Sandy Hollway consisted of five groups (managed by Group General Managers and the Deputy CEO) and twenty divisions (managed by divisional General Managers), which in turn were further broken up into programmes and sub programmes or projects.

    In 1999 functional areas (FAs) broke up into geographic precinct and venue teams (managed by Precinct Managers and Venue Managers) with functional area staff reporting to both the FA manager and the venue manager. Ie, SOCOG moved to a matrix structure. The Interstate Football division extant in 1998 was the first of these geographically based venue teams.

    Volunteer program

    The origins of the volunteer program for Sydney 2000 dates back to the bid, as early as 1992.

    On December 17 1992, a group of Sydney citizens, interested in the prospect of hosting the 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games, gathered for a meeting at Sports House, at Wentworth Park in Sydney.

    In the period leading up to 1999, after Sydney had won the bid, the small group of volunteers grew from approximately 42 to around 500. These volunteers became known as Pioneer Volunteers. The Pioneer Volunteer program was managed internally by SOCOG's Volunteer Services Department in consultation with prominent peak groups like The Centre for Volunteering (Volunteering NSW) and TAFE. Some of the Pioneer Volunteers still meet every four months, an unseen legacy of the games which brought together a community spirit not seen before.

    During the Olympic games tens of thousands of volunteers helped everywhere at the Olympic venues and elsewhere in the city. They were honoured with a parade like the athletes had a few days before.

    The official mascots

    The official mascots chosen for the 2000 Summer Olympics were:[3]
    • Olly the Kookaburra — 'Olly' was named for 'Olympics'
    • Syd the Platypus — 'Syd' was named for 'Sydney', the host city for the Games.
    • Millie the Echidna — 'Millie' was named for 'Millennium'
    There was also an unofficial mascot, Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat, popularized by comedy team The Dream with Roy and HG.

    The Bronze Medals

    Until the end of 1991,[4] Australia minted both a:
    In 1992, these coins began to be removed from circulation. People were urged to exchange them for coins still in circulation.

    Both the 1 cent coins and 2 cent coins were melted down and turned into bronze medals for the 2000 Olympics.[5] [6]


    Award

    • The International Olympic Committee awarded Sydney and its inhabitants with the "Pierre de Coubertin Trophy" in recognition of the collaboration and happiness shown by the people of Sydney during the event to all the athletes and visitors around the world.

    Trivia

    Fictional reference

    • The James Bond character in the film Die Another Day, Miranda Frost, won a gold medal in fencing. It was referred to by Madonna's character Verity, who told Bond that she won the gold by default (after her opponent died of a steroid overdose orchestrated by Gustav Graves) in Sydney.
    • The 2000 Olympics are a key plot element of the Tom Clancy book Rainbow Six

    Notes and references

    See also

    External links

    Olympic Games
     •  • [ e]
    Sports • • NOCs
    Medalists • Symbols
    Summer Games: 1896, 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1912, (1916), 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944),, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028
    Winter Games: 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
    Athens 2004 — Turin 2006 — Beijing 2008 — Vancouver 2010 — London 2012 — ''Sochi 2014
    Sydney
    New South Wales

    Location of Sydney within Australia

    Population:
    • Density: 4,280,190 (2006 Census) (1st)
    345.
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    Anthem
    Advance Australia Fair [1]


    Capital Canberra

    Largest city Sydney
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    Olympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The current Olympic program consists of 35 sports with 53 disciplines and more than 400 events — the Summer Olympics include 28 sports with 38 disciplines, and the Winter Olympics include
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    Events

    • 668 - Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II is assassinated in his bath at Syracuse, Italy.

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    Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church - Patronage/Protection of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary, Mother of God) dating to 10th Century Constantinople, when she appeared holding her mantle over the faithful who were praying in a church during a military attack on the city.
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    Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth.
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    Sir William Patrick Deane, AC, KBE (born 4 January 1931), Australian judge and 22nd Governor-General of Australia, was born in Melbourne, Victoria. He was educated at Catholic schools including St.
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    Competitor for  Australia
    Women's Field Hockey
    Olympic Games
    Gold 1988 Seoul Team Competition
    Gold 1996 Atlanta Team Competition
    Gold 2000 Sydney Team Competition
    Champions Trophy
    Gold 1991 Berlin Team Competition
    Gold
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    Competitor for  Australia
    Olympic Games
    Gold 2000 Sydney 400 m
    Silver 1996 Atlanta 400 m
    World Championships
    Gold 1997 Athens 400 m
    Gold 1999 Seville 400 m
    Bronze 1995 Gothenburg 4x400 m relay


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    The Olympic Stadium is the name usually given to the big centrepiece stadium of the Summer Olympic Games. Traditionally, the opening and closing ceremonies and the track & field competitions are held in the Olympic Stadium.
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    Telstra Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park precinct of Homebush, Sydney, Australia. The stadium was completed in March 1999 at a cost of A$690 million to host the 2000 Summer Olympics.
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    The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event held every four years, organised by the International Olympic Committee.
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    20th century - 21st century
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    2000 by topic:
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    Sydney
    New South Wales

    Location of Sydney within Australia

    Population:
    • Density: 4,280,190 (2006 Census) (1st)
    345.
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    New South Wales

    Flag Coat of Arms
    Slogan or Nickname: First State, Premier State
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    (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine)

    Other Australian states and territories
    Capital Sydney
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    Overview Sydney
    BeijingBerlinIstanbulManchester

    2000 Summer Olympics
    Details
    Committee International Olympic Committee (IOC)
    Election venue Monte Carlo
    101st IOC Session
    Important dates

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    Běijīng
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    State Party  Turkey
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    Reference 356
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    Inscription 1985  (9th Session)
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    Sydney
    New South Wales

    Location of Sydney within Australia

    Population:
    • Density: 4,280,190 (2006 Census) (1st)
    345.
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    Anthem
    Advance Australia Fair [1]


    Capital Canberra

    Largest city Sydney
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    Běijīng
    北京
    The Temple of Heaven, a symbol of Beijing
    Location within China
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