Portal:Queensland

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The Queensland Portal

Queensland (locally /ˈkwiːnzlænd/ KWEENZ-land, commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, the second-largest and third-most populous of the Australian states. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, southwest and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and the Pacific Ocean; to its north is the Torres Strait, separating the Australian mainland from Papua New Guinea, and the Gulf of Carpentaria to the north-west. With an area of 1,723,030 square kilometres (665,270 sq mi), Queensland is the world's sixth-largest subnational entity; it is larger than all but 16 countries. Due to its size, Queensland's geographical features and climates are diverse, including tropical rainforests, rivers, coral reefs, mountain ranges and sandy beaches in its tropical and sub-tropical coastal regions, as well as deserts and savanna in the semi-arid and desert climatic regions of its interior.

Queensland has a population of over 5.5 million, concentrated along the east coast, particularly in South East Queensland. The capital and largest city in the state is Brisbane, Australia's third-largest city. Ten of Australia's thirty largest cities are located in Queensland, the largest outside Brisbane being the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Townsville, Cairns, Ipswich, and Toowoomba. 28.9% of the state's population are immigrants. (Full article...)

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Selected Article

Satellite image of part of the Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of roughly 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for 2,600 kilometres (1,616 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in northeast Australia.

The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. The Great Barrier Reef supports a wide diversity of life, and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. CNN has labelled it one of the seven natural wonders of the world, and the Queensland National Trust has named it a state icon of Queensland. A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which helps to limit the impact of human use, such as overfishing and tourism

Selected images

Image 1Hill Inlet at the Whitsunday Islands. (from Queensland)
Image 2The Great Court at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Queensland's oldest university (from Queensland)
Image 3Kanaka workers in a sugar cane plantation, late 19th century (from Queensland)
Image 4Brisbane, capital and most populous city of Queensland (from Queensland)
Image 5Cargo ships at the Port of Gladstone, Queensland's largest commodity seaport (from Queensland)
Image 6Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law, headquarters of the Supreme Court of Queensland and District Court of Queensland (from Queensland)
Image 7Lake McKensie, K'gari (Fraser Island) (from Queensland)
Image 8Captain James Cook claims the east coast of Australia for the Kingdom of Great Britain at Possession Island in 1770 (from Queensland)
Image 9Gold mine at Ravenswood in North Queensland. Mining is one of the state's major industries (from Queensland)
Image 10Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland's third largest city and a major tourist destination (from Queensland)
Image 11Returned World War II soldiers march in Queen Street, Brisbane, 1944 (from Queensland)
Image 12Parliament House, seat of the Queensland Parliament (from Queensland)
Image 13Parade of troops in Brisbane, prior to departure for the Boer War in South Africa (from Queensland)
Image 14Cricket game at The Gabba, a 42,000-seat round stadium in Brisbane (from Queensland)
Image 15Government House, seat of the Governor (from Queensland)
Image 16The Great Barrier Reef, which extends along most of Queensland's Coral Sea coastline (from Queensland)
Image 17The McPherson Range at Lamington National Park in South East Queensland (from Queensland)
Image 18Fighting between Burke and Wills's supply party and Aboriginal Australians at Bulla in 1861 (from Queensland)
Image 19The Gold Coast, Queensland's second-largest city and a major tourist destination (from Queensland)
Image 20Skyline of the Brisbane central business district. Brisbane is a global city and the state's largest economic hub. (from Queensland)
Image 21The Ekka (the Royal Queensland Exhibition) is held each August at the Brisbane Showgrounds. (from Queensland)
Image 22Commonly designated regions of Queensland, with Central Queensland divided into Mackay and Fitzroy subregions (from Queensland)
Image 23Blackbirded South Sea Islanders on a Sugarcane plantation in Queensland. (from Queensland)
Image 24Köppen climate types in Queensland (from Queensland)
Image 25Passenger train at Oxley railway station on the Ipswich/Rosewood line within the Queensland Rail City network (from Queensland)
Image 26The Mossman River, flowing through the Daintree Rainforest in Far North Queensland (from Queensland)
Image 27Aftermath of the 1861 Cullin-La-Ringo massacre in which 19 settlers were killed by Aboriginal people, the deadliest attack on settlers in the frontier wars (from Queensland)

Selected business

New Hope Coal is an Australian coal-mining and energy company with its headquarters in Brisbane, Queensland. The company's operations include New Acland Mine, Jeebropilly Mine, New Oakleigh Mine and Queensland Bulk Handling. New Hope Coal is 61.11% owned by Washington H. Soul Pattinson.

New Hope's first export shipment, 17,332 tonnes of Bundamba coal, was aboard MV "Floret" which sailed from the Maynegrain grain terminal at Pinkenba on 10 September 1980. At first the company met domestic demand however by 1986 New Hope's market mix had about-faced to 90 per cent export and 10 per cent domestic sales. On 18 July 2008, New Hope entered into an agreement to sell its New Saraji Coal Project to BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) for A$2.45 billion. (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Lachlan Murdoch was forced to resign as a director of Prime Media Group because the company owned a radio station on Queensland's Sunshine Coast?
... that despite being described in 1840, the chestnut-backed buttonquail was only confirmed in Queensland in 2020?

More did You Know?

... that the Bremer River served as an important navigation route for the towns of Ipswich and Brisbane?
...that when the Tower of Terror II (pictured) at Dreamworld opened on 23 January 1997, it was the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world?
...that the extinct Gastric-brooding frog genus was unique because it contained the only two known frog species that incubated the prejuvenile stages of their offspring in the stomach of the mother?
... that the University of Queensland is the oldest university in Queensland?