is a
State of
Australia , occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent.
It is neighboured by the
Northern Territory to the west,
South Australia to the south-west and
New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the
Coral Sea and
Pacific Ocean . The state is Australia's second largest by area, following
Western Australia , and the country's third most populous after
New South Wales and
Victoria .
The area was first colonised by
Crown Colony that was separated from
New South Wales on 6 June
1859 , a date now celebrated annually as
Queensland Day . The area that currently forms
Brisbane was originally the
Moreton Bay Penal Colony , intended as a place for
Recidivist convicts who had offended while serving out their sentences in
New South Wales . The state later encouraged free settlement, and today Queensland's economy is dominated by the agricultural, tourist and natural resource sectors.
The population is concentrated in the
South-east Corner , which includes the capital
Brisbane ,
Logan City ,
Ipswich ,
Toowoomba , and the
Gold and
Sunshine Coasts. Other major regional centres include
Cairns ,
Townsville ,
Mackay ,
Rockhampton ,
Bundaberg , and
Mount Isa . Queensland is often nicknamed the since it enjoys warm weather and a sizable portion of the state is in the
Tropics .
The state was named in honour of Queen . At the time, Victoria was a generally popular monarch, and the successful name was preferred over ''Cooksland'', which was suggested by the influential local
Presbyterian minister
John Dunmore Lang .
Dictionary of Australian Biography
]]
- State capital Brisbane , is located on the coast 100 kilometres (60 Mi ) by road north of the New South Wales border.
- The fifth-largest city by area in the world, Mount Isa , is located in Queensland. The city area is in excess of 40,000 square kilometres (15,400 Sq mi ).
- The state is divided into several officially recognised regions (''see Regions Of Queensland ''). Other smaller geographical regions of note include:
- --- the Atherton Tableland s
- --- the Granite Belt
- --- the Channel Country in the far south-west.
49.5 °
C (121.1 °
F ),
Birdsville ,
24 December 1972 (The temperature of 53.1 °C (127.5 °F) 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).
-11.0 °C (12.2 °F),
Stanthorpe ,
4 July 1895 {Link without Title}
]]
Queensland's population is less centralised in the capital city than the rest of the country. At
30 June 2004 the capital city represented 45.7% of the population; for the whole country, capital cities represented 63.8% of the total population.
Christian: 70.9% (: 0.1%, Other: 0.4%), No Religion: 14.8%, Not Stated: 12.0%
On Friday,
9 December 2005 the population of Queensland officially reached 4 million. Queensland is the fastest growing state in Australia, with over fifteen hundred people moving to the state per week. 1000 in the southern part of the state alone.
Once you calculate
Immigration and
Migration , (People Arriving in QLD-Minus-Queenslanders Leaving,) Queensland is left with a healthy number of people staying in Queensland. Predictions have been made to show that Queensland will become Australia's 2nd
Most Populous state by the late
2020 s.
ABS Statistics
Queensland's economy has enjoyed a boom in the and overseas migrants, large amounts of federal government investment, increased mining of vast
Mineral deposits and an ever expanding aerospace sector ensure that the state will remain Australia's fastest growing economy in the foreseeable future.
Between
1992 and
2002 , the growth in the Gross State Product of Queensland outperformed that of all the other states and territories. In that period Queensland's GSP grew 5.0% each year, while growth in Australia's GDP rose on average 3.9% each year. Queensland's contribution to the Australian
GDP also increased (by 10.4%) in that period, one of only three states to do so.
{Link without Title}
In 2003 Brisbane city had the lowest cost of living of all Australia's capital cities. As of late 2005 Brisbane is the third most expensive capital for housing after Sydney and Canberra and just ahead of Melbourne by $15,000.
s,
Pineapple s,
Peanut s, a wide variety of other tropical and temperate fruit and vegetables, grain crops,
Wineries ,
Cattle Raising ,
Cotton ,
Sugar Cane ,
Wool and a mining industry including
Bauxite ,
Coal and
Copper .
is converted to
Alumina at
Gladstone . There are also copper refining and the refining of sugar cane to sugar.
Major
Tertiary Industries are the
Retail Trade and
Tourism .
]]
Tourism is Queensland's leading
Tertiary Industry with millions of interstate and overseas visitors flocking to the Sunshine State each year. Queensland is a state of many contrasts that range from sunny tropical coastal areas, lush rainforests to dry inland areas.
The main tourist destinations of Queensland include –
]]
The Gold Coast of Queensland is also sometimes referred to as "Australia's Theme Park Capital", with five major amusement parks –
There are also wildlife parks -
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and
Australia Zoo (home of
Steve Irwin until his death on
September 4 ,
2006 ).
]]
Queensland is drenched in sunshine, has warm seas, cool sea breezes and an enviable warm climate all year round; the weather in Queensland is incomparable to most other Australian states. The Queensland region has two weather seasons: a winter period of rather warm temperatures and minimal rainfall and a summer period of warm balmy temperatures and higher levels of rainfall.
The Average Summer Temperature in the South East of 19 to 29 degrees Celsius and the Average Winter Temperatures in the South East of 9 to 21 degrees Celsius. The averages for Tropical North Queensland do vary somewhat for winter with the Average Summer Temperature of 17-31 degrees Celsius and the Average Winter Temperature of 17-26 degrees Celsius.
Ozone Depletion and the seasonal
Ozone Hole has led to dangerously high levels of UV radiation, especially at the most extreme latitutudes of the southern hemisphere.
1. Incidence of skin cancer in Queensland, has risen to 75 percent among those over 64 years of age by about 1990, due to thinning of the ozone layer.Al Gore, "Earth in the Balance, Ecology and the Human Spirit"', 1992
Queensland is the second most popular overnight holiday destination in Australia for domestic travelers ($10.9 billion per year) with NSW taking the honours for 2006. Holidays in Queensland comprised of 18 754 000 combined visitor nights (23% Australian Market) with more than 60% of these room nights by residents from NSW and Victoria. Day visitors also contributed a further $2.5 billion.
The Sunshine Coast ($1.4 billion) and Tropical North Queensland ($1.3 billion) where Australia’s most visited regional areas for overnight and day visitors (excluding major cities and the Gold Coast).
The highest average overnight expenditure is in the Whitsundays ($1 295 per person per night)
Accommodation in Queensland caters for nearly 22% of the total expenditure, followed by Restaurants / Meals 15%, Airline Fares 11%, Fuel 11% and Shopping / Gifts 11%
Tourism related information and statistics
over the
Gold Coast ]]
The
Q1 , located on the
Gold Coast , is the tallest residential tower in the world, when measured to the top of its spire. It was completed in September, 2005.
Queensland is served by a number of
National Highways and, particularly in
South East Queensland , high quality
Motorways such as the
M1 . Rail services are provided by
Queensland Rail and
Pacific National , predominantly along the coastline.
Queensland has a number of major ports including the
Port Of Brisbane and subsidiary ports at
Gladstone and
Townsville amongst others. The
Brisbane Airport ,
Gold Coast Airport and
Cairns International Airport are the main gateways into the State from overseas, with domestic airports at
Maroochydore ,
Rockhampton south and elsewhere.
South-East Queensland is governed by an integrated public transport system,
TransLink , which provides
Bus ,
Rail and
Ferry Services . Regional bus and
Long-distance Rail services are also provided throughout the State.
See Also: Government of Queensland
in Brisbane]]
Queen Elizabeth II is represented as
Head Of State by the
Governor , whom she appoints on the advice of the
Premier . The current Governor is Ms
Quentin Bryce ,
AC . The elected head of government is the
Labor Premier , the Hon
Peter Beattie , who appoints an
Executive Council from the members of the 89-seat
Legislative Assembly , known as
Members Of The Legislative Assembly (MPs).
The Queensland State
Parliament , known as the
Queensland Parliament or the Legislative Assembly is
Unicameral . It is the only Australian state with a unicameral legislature. A
Bicameral system existed until
1922 , when the
Legislative Council was abolished by the Labor members' "suicide squad," so called because they were appointed for the purpose of voting to abolish their own offices. Hanging was abolished in 1922.
In
2001 the state adopted a new codified
Constitution , repealing most of the assorted
Acts that had previously made up the constitution. The new constitution took effect on
6 June 2002 , the anniversary of the formation of the independent colony of Queensland by the signing of
Letters Patent by Queen
Victoria in
1859 .
- ''structure of state judiciary ''
- ''does it have referenda? '' -->
labourers on a plantation in the 1890s]]
See Also: History of Queensland
The history of Queensland spans thousands of years, encompassing both a lengthy
Indigenous presence, as well as the eventful times of post-European settlement. Estimated to have been settled by Indigenous Australians approximately 40,000 years ago, the north-eastern Australian region was explored by Dutch, Portuguese and French navigators before being encountered by
Captain James Cook in
1770 . The state has witnessed the tragic events of frontier warfare between European settlers and Indigenous inhabitants, as well as the employment of cheap
Kanaka labour sourced from the
South Pacific . Likewise, it has experienced dynamic growth and progress since its separation from
New South Wales in
1859 , currently being the fastest-growing state in Australia.
Queensland has one sister state:
in
Robina ]]
