New South Wales (abbreviated as NSW), is Australia's most populous state, and is located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland, east of South Australia, west of Jervis Bay Territory and encompasses the whole of the Australian Capital Territory. The colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788 and originally comprised much of the Australian mainland, as well as Van Diemen's Land, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island in addition to the area currently referred to as the state of New South Wales, which was formed during Federation in 1901.When Britain annexed New Zealand in 1840, it briefly became a part of New South Wales. During the 19th century large areas were successively separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania (established as a separate colony named Van Diemen's Land in 1825), South Australia (1836), Victoria (1851) and Queensland (1859).

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