Botany Bay

Inlet from the Tasman Sea on the east coast of New South Wales, Australia, 8 km/5 mi south of Sydney. It is the outlet of the rivers Georges and Cooks. The English explorer Captain James Cook landed here in 1770. In 1787 the bay was chosen as the site for a British penal colony, but proved unsuitable, and the colony was located at Port Jackson.

Captain Cook gave the bay its name because of the variety of plants found on its shores by Joseph Banks, the expedition's botanist. A monument marks the spot where Captain Cook landed and took possession of the land for the British crown. The name Botany Bay continued to be popularly used for any convict settlement in Australia.

The inlet is bordered by a number of national nature reserves, though the shoreline is now also fronted by parts of the city of Sydney, as well as by a power station and an oil refinery.