page_title: Greater Blue Mountains Area
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Greater Blue Mountains Area / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: falls, australia
context_page_description: The Greater Blue Mountains Area is a World Heritage Site in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It was added to the World Heritage List at meeting of the World Heritage Committee, held in Cairns in November 2000.
context_section_description: This area is one of rugged tablelands, cliffs, deep valleys and rivers and lakes. There are many rare and different plants and animals which tell the story of Australia's great age. It shows the story of the evolution of Australia's unique eucalypt trees and the other plants and animals which live among them.
  The Greater Blue Mountains Area covers about 10,300 square kilometres. It is mainly forest on a sandstone plateau 60 to 180 kilometres inland from central Sydney. The area includes large areas of wilderness and is about one third the size of Belgium, or twice the size of Brunei.
  The Blue Mountains are a blue color. This is because rising air temperature makes the oil of Eucalypts evaporate into the air. This makes the mountains seem bluish.
  The World Heritage Site includes eight protected areas. These are in two main blocks separated by land set aside for transport and housing. These areas are the:
  Jenolan Caves Karst Conservation Reserve
  Blue Mountains National Park
  Wollemi National Park
  Yengo National Park
  Nattai National Park
  Kanangra-Boyd National Park
  Gardens of Stone National Park
  Thirlmere Lakes National Park.
  The Blue Mountains are not really mountains, but a sandstone plateau rising from less than 100 metres above sea level to 1300 metres at the highest point. The plateau is cut through with deep valleys. There are basalt outcrops on the higher ridges. There are many different plants and animals which probably survived because they found shelter from climatic changes during recent geological history.
caption: Waterfall in the Blue Mountains
exif: {}