- published: 04 Sep 2015
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Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney. It is a provider of undergraduate, postgraduate and higher research degrees with campuses in Bankstown, Blacktown, Campbelltown, Hawkesbury, Parramatta, and Penrith. It is currently ranked in the top 400 in the world in the 2014 QS World University Rankings and 27th in Australia.
The university in its current form was founded in 1989 under the terms of the University of Western Sydney Act, 1988, which created a federated network university with an amalgamation between two trade schools – Nepean College of Advanced Education and Hawkesbury Agricultural College. The Macarthur Institute of Higher Education was incorporated into the university in 1989, and in 2001 the University of Western Sydney was restructured as a single multi-campus university rather than as a federation. In 2015, the university underwent a rebranding which resulted in a change in name from the University of Western Sydney to Western Sydney University.
Sydney /ˈsɪdni/ is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds the world's largest natural harbour, and sprawls towards the Blue Mountains to the west. Residents of Sydney are known as "Sydneysiders". Sydney is the second official seat and second official residence of the Governor-General of Australia, the Prime Minister of Australia and the Cabinet of Australia.
The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians since the Upper Paleolithic period. The first British settlers arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Since convict transportation ended in the mid-19th century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural and economic centre.
The population of Sydney at the time of the 2011 census was 4.39 million, 1.5 million of which were born overseas, representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are more than 250 different languages spoken in Sydney and about one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home.