BASIC
INFORMATION
Full
Country Name: QUEENSLAND
Capital
Brisbane
Official language
English
Government
Const. Monarchy
Area 1,852,642
km²
Population
2005 - 4,000,000
Currency Australian
Dollar (AUD)
Time
zone (UTC+10)
Calling
code +7
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GEOGRAPHY
& BACKGROUND
Queensland
is a state of Australia, in the north-east
of the country. It is the second largest
state by area and the third largest state
by population.
The
capital and largest city is Brisbane. Other
major regional centres include the Gold
Coast, Townsville, Rockhampton, Mackay,
Cairns, Toowoomba, and Mount Isa. Queensland
is often nicknamed the Sunshine State, since
it enjoys warm weather and a sizable portion
of the state is in the tropics.
On
Friday, December 9, 2005 the population
of Queensland officially reached 4 million.
Queensland is the fastest growing state
in Australia, with nine hundred people moving
to the state a week. Predictions have been
made that by 2051 Queensland will become
Australia's 2nd most populous state of 7.5
million behind New South Wales.
Queensland
was originally a British Crown Colony that
was separated from New South Wales in 1859.
What is now Brisbane was originally the
Moreton Bay penal colony, intended as a
place to hold convicts who re-offended while
serving out their sentences in New South
Wales.
The
state's borders are defined as:
North
The northernmost part of the state is the
triangular Cape York Peninsula, which points
toward
New
Guinea. The western side of the
peninsula is washed by the Gulf of Carpentaria,
while its eastern side borders the Coral
Sea, an arm of the Pacific Ocean.
East
The eastern border is the Pacific Ocean
West
To the west, Queensland is bordered by the
Northern Territory, at the 138° E. longitude,
and to the south-west by the north-eastern
corner of South Australia.
South
by New South Wales. This border has three
sections:
The
watershed from Point Danger to the Dumaresq
River
The river section involving the Dumaresq,
the MacIntyre and the Barwon
The 29° S. latitude, over to the South
Australian border.
State
capital Brisbane, is located on the coast
100 km by road north of the New South Wales
border.
The
third largest city by area in the world,
Mount Isa, is located in Queensland. The
city area is in excess of 40,000 km².
The
state is divided into several major regions.
Other smaller geographical regions of note
include:
the Atherton Tablelands
the Granite Belt
the Channel Country in the far south-west.
Queensland has many places that are blessed
with natural beauty, including:
the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast having
some of the state's most popular beaches
the Bunya Mountains and the Great Dividing
Range with numerous lookouts, waterfalls
and picnic areas.
Carnarvon Gorge
Whitsunday Islands and Hinchinbrook Island.
The
state contains five World Heritage listed
preservation areas.
Australian Fossil Mammal Sites at Riversleigh
in the Gulf Country
Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves
Fraser Island
Great Barrier Reef
Wet Tropics of Queensland
Highest maximum temperature: 49.5C (121.1F),
Birdsville, 24 December 1972 (The temperature
of 53.1C (127.5F) at Cloncurry on 16 January
1889 is not considered official, the figure
quoted from Birdsville is the next highest,
so that record is considered as being official).
Lowest
minimum temperature: -11.0C (12.2F), Stanthorpe,
4 July 1895 [1]
For
more information please visit
http://www.fco.gov.uk/
or
visit
http://www.tripadvisor.com
