Built on the banks of Jackson Bay where James Cook touched land for the first time on the Australian continent, Sydney has a rich past and a dynamic future. World centre for the commerce of wool and a flourishing trade port, the city has been able to draw on a range of advantages, which accounts for its lightning expansion over the last century. The Opera House, the symbol of the city, with its dome in the shape of a white sail, is truly eye-catching in this metropolis where American-style skyscrapers share space with old buildings which recall the times when the place attracted bathers and was a stopping-off point for gold prospectors.