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The Queensland Portal

Queensland (locally /ˈkwiːnzlænd/ KWEENZ-land) is a state situated in northeastern Australia, and is 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, south-west 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 1,852,642 square kilometres (715,309 sq mi), Queensland is the world's sixth-largest sub-national entity; it is larger than all but 15 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 5.3 million, concentrated along the coast and 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, with the largest outside Brisbane being the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Townsville, Cairns, Ipswich, and Toowoomba. The state's population is multicultural, with 28.9% of inhabitants being immigrants. (Full article...)

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Selected Article

Brisbane skyline from Norman Park, looking over New Farm Park.

Brisbane is the third largest city in Australia, as well as the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland. It is set close to the Pacific Ocean, and is situated on the Brisbane River on plains between Moreton Bay and the Great Dividing Range in south-eastern Queensland.

The city is named in honour of Sir Thomas Brisbane who was Governor of New South Wales from 1821 – 1825. The original settlement grew from a harsh penal colony established at his direction in 1824 at Redcliffe, 28 km (17.4 mi) to the north. The colony was moved to what is now the location of the Brisbane CBD in 1825, and free settlers were permitted from 1842. It was chosen as the capital when Queensland was proclaimed a separate colony, in 1859. The city developed slowly until after World War II, when it played a central role in the Allied campaign as the South West Pacific headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur.

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Selected images

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

Selected business

(Pictured left: A Billabong brand hat)

Billabong International is a clothing company traded on the Australian Securities Exchange since 11 August 2000. Billabong was founded in 1973 by Gordon and Rena Merchant. The name came from the same word billabong, which is a stagnant body of water attached to a waterway.

As well as the Billabong brand-name, the company sells surfwear and accessories under the Palmers Surf, Honolua Surf, Swell.com, Von Zipper, Kustom (footwear), Nixon, Xcel Wetsuits and Tigerlily brands, and also Element skate clothing and hardware. The brands are available at various surf and skateboard stores locations. (Full article...)

More selected

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that despite being described in 1840, the chestnut-backed buttonquail was only confirmed in Queensland in 2020?
... that the founder of the Australian Flying Arts School took flying lessons so that he could travel throughout the Queensland Outback providing art lessons to its inhabitants?
... 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 George Poynter Heath, the first portmaster of Queensland, Australia, was responsible for establishing 33 lighthouses, Booby Island Light being the last one?

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?