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Queensland is a state
States and territories of Australia

The Australia is made up of six states and two major mainland territories. There are also lesser territories that are under the administration of the federal government....
 of Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory
Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal states and territories of Australia of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions....
 to the west, South Australia
South Australia

South Australia is a States and territories of Australia of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories....
 to the south-west and New South Wales
New South Wales

New South Wales is Australia's oldest and most populous States and territories of Australia, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria and south of Queensland....
 to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea
Coral Sea

The Coral Sea is a marginal sea off the north-east coast of Australia. It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu and by New Caledonia, and in the north approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands....
 and Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
. The state is Australia's second largest by area, following Western Australia
Western Australia

Western Australia is a States and territories of Australia occupying the entire western third of the Australia . The nation's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.1 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state....
, and the country's third most populous after New South Wales and Victoria
Victoria (Australia)

File:Map Victoria Aboriginal tribes .jpgVictoria is a States and territories of Australia located in the southeastern corner of Australia. It is the smallest mainland state in area but the most Population density and urbanised....
.

The area was first occupied by Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the first human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands and their descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Australian Aborigines or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's population....
 and Torres Strait Islanders
Torres Strait Islanders

Torres Strait Islanders are the indigenous peoples of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia. They are culturally akin to the coastal peoples of Papua New Guinea....
, who arrived between 40,000 and 65,000 years ago, according to various dating methods.






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Timeline

1859   Brisbane declared the capital of newly-made-separate colony Queensland, Australia

1859   The British Crown colony of Queensland in Australia is created by devolving part of the territory of New South Wales

1859   Australia: Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales.

1862   Donald McIntyre builds a property in northwest Queensland, which will later become the town of Julia Creek.

1899   Cyclone ''Mahina'' sweeps in north of Cooktown, Queensland, with a 12 m wave that reaches up to 5 km inland - over 300 dead.

1901   The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia. Edmund Barton becomes first Prime Minister.

1935   The Giant neotropical toad is introduced to northern Queensland, Australia to counter sugar cane beetles.

1943   Sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur off the coast of Queensland, by a Japanese submarine.

1969   Queensland: The Brisbane Tramways end service after 84 years of operation.

1972   The highest recorded temperature in Australia is recorded in Birdsville, Queensland of 49.5C (121.1F).







Encyclopedia


Queensland is a state
States and territories of Australia

The Australia is made up of six states and two major mainland territories. There are also lesser territories that are under the administration of the federal government....
 of Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory
Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal states and territories of Australia of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions....
 to the west, South Australia
South Australia

South Australia is a States and territories of Australia of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories....
 to the south-west and New South Wales
New South Wales

New South Wales is Australia's oldest and most populous States and territories of Australia, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria and south of Queensland....
 to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea
Coral Sea

The Coral Sea is a marginal sea off the north-east coast of Australia. It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu and by New Caledonia, and in the north approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands....
 and Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
. The state is Australia's second largest by area, following Western Australia
Western Australia

Western Australia is a States and territories of Australia occupying the entire western third of the Australia . The nation's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.1 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state....
, and the country's third most populous after New South Wales and Victoria
Victoria (Australia)

File:Map Victoria Aboriginal tribes .jpgVictoria is a States and territories of Australia located in the southeastern corner of Australia. It is the smallest mainland state in area but the most Population density and urbanised....
.

The area was first occupied by Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the first human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands and their descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Australian Aborigines or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's population....
 and Torres Strait Islanders
Torres Strait Islanders

Torres Strait Islanders are the indigenous peoples of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia. They are culturally akin to the coastal peoples of Papua New Guinea....
, who arrived between 40,000 and 65,000 years ago, according to various dating methods. Later, Queensland was made a British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 Crown Colony
Crown colony

A Crown colony was a type of colonial administration of the British Empire.Crown colonies were ruled by a governor appointed by The Crown . Though the term was not used at the time, the first of what would later become known as Crown colonies was the Colony of Virginia in the present-day United States, after the Crown took control from the...
 that was separated from New South Wales on 6 June 1859, a date now celebrated annually as Queensland Day
Queensland Day

Queensland Day is officially celebrated as the birthday of the Australian States and territories of Australia of Queensland....
. The area that currently forms Brisbane
Brisbane

Brisbane is the state List of Australian capital cities of Queensland and its most populous city. It is also the List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, behind southern rivals Sydney and Melbourne....
 was originally the Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay

Moreton Bay is a large bay on the eastern coast of Australia 19 km from Brisbane, Queensland. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are used by commercial operators who provide seafood to market....
 penal colony
Penal colony

A penal colony is a Human settlement used to detain prisoners and generally use them for penal labour in an economically underdeveloped part of the state's territories, and on a far larger scale than a prison farm....
, intended as a place for recidivist
Recidivism

Recidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior....
 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 South East Queensland
South East Queensland

South East Queensland is a region of the States and territories of Australia of Queensland in Australia, which contains approximately two-thirds of the state population....
, which includes the capital Brisbane, Logan City
Logan City, Queensland

Logan City Council is a Local Government Areas in Australia in South East Queensland Queensland, Australia. The city borders the Brisbane City Council to the north and Gold Coast City to the south....
, Ipswich
Ipswich, Queensland

File:Ipswich QLD.JPGIpswich is a city and Local Government Areas in Australia situated on the Bremer River in South East Queensland Queensland, Australia....
, Toowoomba
Toowoomba, Queensland

Toowoomba is a city in South East Queensland Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital city, Brisbane. With an urban population of 95,265, Toowoomba is one of Australia's largest provincial cities....
, and the Gold
Gold Coast, Queensland

The Gold Coast is a city and Local Government Areas of Australia in the South East Queensland corner of Queensland, Australia. It is the second most populous city in the state and the List of cities in Australia by population in the country....
 and Sunshine
Sunshine Coast, Queensland

The Sunshine Coast is a coastal region located in South East Queensland, north of the Queensland capital of Brisbane. The Sunshine Coast has recently been united into a single Local Government Areas in Australia, the Sunshine Coast Regional Council....
 Coasts. Other major regional centres include Cairns
Cairns, Queensland

Cairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia. The area upon which the city has been built is known in the local Yidiny language as Gimuy....
, Townsville
Townsville, Queensland

Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland....
, Mackay
Mackay, Queensland

Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River . Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....
, Rockhampton
Rockhampton, Queensland

Rockhampton is a regional city and Local Government Areas of Australia located in Queensland, Australia. Rockhampton is the largest urban centre in Central Queensland with the 2006 census recording the Rockhampton Statistical Subdivision population to be 74,530 people....
, Bundaberg
Bundaberg, Queensland

Bundaberg is a city in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Burnett River, approximately 385 kilometres north of the state capital, Brisbane and 15 kilometres inland from the coast....
, Hervey Bay
Hervey Bay, Queensland

Hervey Bay is a city in south eastern Queensland, Australia. The city is situated approximately 292 kilometres north of the state capital, Brisbane, and lies on the coast of a natural bay between the Queensland mainland and nearby Fraser Island....
 and Mount Isa
Mount Isa, Queensland

Mount Isa is a city in North-West Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines is one of the most productive single mines in world history?based on combined production of lead, silver, copper and zinc....
. Queensland is often nicknamed the Sunshine State, since it enjoys warm weather and a sizeable portion of the state is in the tropics
Tropics

The Tropics, seated in the equatorial regions of the world, are limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23?26' N latitude, and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at 23?26' S latitude....
. The people of Queensland are colloquially known as 'Banana Benders' or 'Canetoads', the former possibly because of the large banana
Banana

File:Banana and cross section.jpgBanana is the common name for a fruit and also the herbaceous plants of the genus Musa which produce this commonly eaten fruit....
 plantations in the tropics, the latter a reference born of the environmental disaster occurring when the cane toad
Cane Toad

The cane toad , also known as the Giant Neotropical Toad or Marine Toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad native to Central America and South America....
 was imported to rid the sugar cane fields of cane beetle
Cane beetle

The cane beetle, Dermolepida albohirtum, is a native Australian beetle and a pest of the sugarcane. Adult beetles eat the leaves of sugar cane but greater damage is the done by their larvae hatching underground and eating the roots, which either kills or stunts the growth of the plant....
 pest.

Etymology

The state was named in honour of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was from 20 June 1837 the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and from 1 May 1876 the first Empress of India of the British Raj until her death....
, who on 6 June 1859 signed a proclamation separating the state from New South Wales. At the time, Victoria was a generally popular monarch, and she preferred an eponymous name for the new colony over Cooksland, which had been suggested by the influential local Presbyterian minister John Dunmore Lang
John Dunmore Lang

John Dunmore Lang , Australian Presbyterian clergyman, writer, politician and activist, was the first prominent advocate of an independent Australian nation and of Australian republicanism....
 in honour of English navigator James Cook
James Cook

Captain James Cook Royal Society Royal Navy was an English explorer, navigator and cartographer, ultimately rising to the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy....
. The southern Australian state of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)

File:Map Victoria Aboriginal tribes .jpgVictoria is a States and territories of Australia located in the southeastern corner of Australia. It is the smallest mainland state in area but the most Population density and urbanised....
 is also named after her.

History


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
Kanakas

Kanakas were workers from various Pacific Islands employed under varying conditions in various British Empire colonies, such as British Columbia , Fiji and Queensland in the 19th and early 20th centuries....
 labour sourced from the South Pacific
Oceania

Oceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville....
. Likewise, it has experienced dynamic growth and progress since its separation from New South Wales in 1859.

Geography

Queenslandroads
Queensland is bordered to the north by the Torres Strait with Boigu Island off the coast of New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
 representing the absolute northern extreme of the territory. The triangular Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland Queensland, Australia. This remote peninsula is one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth....
, which points toward New Guinea is the northernmost part of the state's mainland. The western side of the peninsula is washed by the Gulf of Carpentaria
Gulf of Carpentaria

File:Gulf of Carpentaria map.pngFile:Gulf-of-Carpentaria-Australia-Otto-Petri-1859-Rotterdam.jpgThe Gulf of Carpentaria is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the Arafura Sea ....
, while its eastern side borders the Coral Sea
Coral Sea

The Coral Sea is a marginal sea off the north-east coast of Australia. It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu and by New Caledonia, and in the north approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands....
, an arm of the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
. The eastern border is the Pacific Ocean. To the west, Queensland is bordered by the Northern Territory
Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal states and territories of Australia of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions....
, at the 138°E longitude
138th meridian east

The meridian 138? east of Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, Australasia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
, and to the south-west by the north-eastern corner of South Australia
South Australia

South Australia is a States and territories of Australia of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories....
.

In the south, there are three sections that comprise its border: the watershed
Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean....
 from Point Danger to the Dumaresq River
Dumaresq River

The Dumaresq River forms part of the border between Queensland and New South Wales. The Severn River is its principal tributary and the Dumaresq in turn is a tributary of the Macintyre River....
; the river section involving the Dumaresq, the MacIntyre
MacIntyre River

The Macintyre River is a river in northern New South Wales, Australia, part of which forms the border with Queensland.The headwaters of the Macintyre rise west of Guyra, New South Wales, on the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, south of Glen Innes, New South Wales....
 and the Barwon
Barwon River (New South Wales)

The Barwon River flows through New South Wales, between the MacIntyre River and Gwydir River rivers, forming a section of the border with Queensland....
; and 29°S latitude
29th parallel south

The 29th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 29 degree south of the Earth equator.In Australia, much of the border between Queensland and New South Wales is defined by the parallel....
 (including some minor historical encroachments
Queensland and NSW Encroachments

Due to various historical anomalies, several stations and properties that are officially part of Queensland are below the 29 degrees South parallel. Three of these can be seen easily on Google Maps near Cameron Corner...
 below the 29th parallel) over to the South Australian border.

The state capital is Brisbane
Brisbane

Brisbane is the state List of Australian capital cities of Queensland and its most populous city. It is also the List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, behind southern rivals Sydney and Melbourne....
, located on the coast 100 kilometres (60 mi
Mile

A mile is a Units of measurement of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems. In contemporary English contexts, mile most commonly refers to the statute mile of 5,280 Feet or the nautical mile of 1,852 meters ....
) by road north of the New South Wales border. The fifth-largest city by area in the world, Mount Isa
Mount Isa, Queensland

Mount Isa is a city in North-West Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines is one of the most productive single mines in world history?based on combined production of lead, silver, copper and zinc....
, is located in Queensland. The city area is in excess of 40,000 square kilometres (15,400 sq mi
Square mile

The square mile is an Imperial system and US customary system of measure for an area equal to the area of a square of one mile. It should not be confused with miles square, which refers to the number of miles on each side squared....
). The state is divided into several officially recognised regions
Regions of Queensland

The Regions of Queensland refers to the geographic areas of the Australian state of Queensland. Due to its large size and decentralised population, the state is often divided into regions for statistical and administrative purposes....
. Other smaller geographical regions of note include the Atherton Tableland
Atherton Tableland

The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It is located west to south-south-west inland from Cairns, Queensland, well into the tropics, but its elevated position provides a climate suitable for dairy farming....
s, the Granite Belt, and the Channel Country
Channel Country

The Channel Country of Queensland, Australia, is located in the remote south west of the state. It is a series of ancient flood plains with rivers which flow intermittently....
 in the far south-west.

Queensland has many places of natural beauty, including: the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast having some of the state's most popular beach
Beach

File:MiamiSouthBeachPanoramaEdit.jpgA beach is a geology landform along the shoreline of a body of water. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of Rock , such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, pebbles, or cobble....
es; the Bunya Mountains
Bunya Mountains National Park

Bunya Mountains is a national park in Queensland . The park includes much of the mountain range called the Bunya Mountains. It is situated 63 km northeast of Dalby, Queensland or 58 km southwest of Kingaroy, Queensland....
 and the Great Dividing Range
Great Dividing Range

The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the 4th longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan_Island,_Queensland off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through New South Wales, then into Victoria...
 with numerous lookouts, waterfall
Waterfall

A waterfall is usually a geology geologic formation resulting from water, often in the form of a stream, flowing over an erosion-resistant rock formation that forms a nickpoint, or sudden break in elevation....
s and picnic
Picnic

In contemporary usage, picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance, and usually in Summer....
 areas; Carnarvon Gorge
Carnarvon National Park

Carnarvon National Park is located in the Southern Brigalow Belt bioregion in Central Queensland , 593 km northwest of Brisbane. It began life as a 26,304 hectare reserve gazetted in 1932 to protect Carnarvon Gorge for its outstanding scenic values, its indigenous and non-indigenous cultural heritage, and its geological significance....
; Whitsunday Islands
Whitsunday Islands National Park

Whitsunday Islands is a national park in Queensland, Australia, northwest of Brisbane. It has beautiful scenery and also has a few walks that are open to any one that camps on the islands....
 and Hinchinbrook Island
Hinchinbrook Island

Hinchinbrook Island is an island in tropical north Queensland, between the mainland and the Great Barrier Reef, and between the region's major cities Townsville, Queensland and Cairns ....
.

The state contains five World Heritage listed preservation areas: Australian Fossil Mammal Sites at Riversleigh
Riversleigh

Riversleigh, in North West Queensland, is Australia's most famous fossil site. The 100 km? area has fossil remains of ancient mammals, birds and reptiles of Oligocene and Miocene age....
 in the Gulf Country
Gulf Country

The Gulf Country is the name given to the region surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory....
, Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves
Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves

The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia formerly known as the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves, are the most extensive area of subtropical rainforest in the world....
, Fraser Island, Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately ....
, and the Wet Tropics of Queensland
Wet Tropics of Queensland

The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km? of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range, stretching from Townsville, Queensland to Cooktown, running in close parallel to the Great Barrier Reef ....
.

Climate

Because of its size, there is significant variation in climate across the state. Low rainfall and hot summers are typical for the inland west, a monsoon
Monsoon

A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind that lasts for several months. The term was first used in English in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and neighboring countries to refer to the big seasonal winds blowing from the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea in the southwest bringing heavy rainfall to the region....
al 'wet' season in the far north, and warm temperate
Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold....
 conditions along the coastal strip. Inland and in southern ranges low minimum temperatures are experienced. The climate of the coastal strip is influenced by warm ocean waters, keeping the region free from extremes of temperature and providing moisture for rainfall.

There are five predominate climatic zones in Queensland, based on temperature and humidity:
  • hot humid summer (far north and coastal)
  • warm humid summer (coastal elevated hinterlands and coastal south-east)
  • hot dry summer, mild winter (central west)
  • hot dry summer, cold winter (southern west)
  • temperate - warm summer, cold winter (inland south-east, e.g. Granite Belt)


However, most of the Queensland populace experience two weather seasons: a "winter" period of rather warm temperatures and minimal rainfall and a sultry summer period of hot, sticky temperatures and higher levels of rainfall.

The annual mean statistics for some Queensland centres is shown below:

CityMin. Temp oCMax. Temp oCNo. Clear daysRainfall (mm)
Brisbane
Brisbane

Brisbane is the state List of Australian capital cities of Queensland and its most populous city. It is also the List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, behind southern rivals Sydney and Melbourne....
 14 26 123 1061
Mackay
Mackay, Queensland

Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River . Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....
 18 27 113 1667
Cairns
Cairns, Queensland

Cairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia. The area upon which the city has been built is known in the local Yidiny language as Gimuy....
 20 29 86 2223
Townsville
Townsville, Queensland

Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland....
 18 29 n/a 1144


The highest maximum temperature observed in the state is 49.5 °C
Celsius

Celsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death....
 (121.1 °F
Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit , who proposed it in 1724. Today, the scale has largely been replaced by the Celsius scale; it is still in use for non-scientific purposes in the United States and a few other countries such as Belize....
) at Birdsville
Birdsville, Queensland

Birdsville is a small town located in Western Queensland, Australia. The town is located 1590 kilometres west of the state capital, Brisbane, and 720 kilometres south of the city of Mount Isa, Queensland....
 on 24 December 1972 (The temperature of 53.1 °C (127.5 °F) at Cloncurry
Cloncurry, Queensland

Cloncurry is a town situated in north west Queensland, Australia, 770 kilometres west of the city of Townsville, Queensland via the Flinders Highway, Queensland....
 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).

The lowest minimum temperature is −11.0 °C (12.2 °F) at Stanthorpe
Stanthorpe, Queensland

Stanthorpe is a town situated in south east Queensland, Australia. The town lies on the New England Highway near the New South Wales border 223 km from Brisbane via Warwick, Queensland, 56 km north of Tenterfield, New South Wales and 811 m above sea level....
 on 4 July 1895

Demographics


A smaller proportion of Queensland's population lives in the capital city than any other mainland state. As of 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%:
    • Roman Catholic: 24.9%
    • Anglican: 22.3%
    • Uniting Church: 8.4%
    • Lutheran: 2.1%
    • Other: 13.2%
  • Non-Christian: 2.3%
    • Buddhism
      Buddhism

      Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
      : 1.1%
    • Islam
      Islam

      Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
      : 0.4%
    • Hinduism
      Hinduism

      'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
      : 0.3%
    • Judaism
      Judaism

      Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
      : 0.1%
    • Other: 0.4%
  • No Religion: 14.8%
  • Not Stated: 12.0%


On 9 December 2005, the population of Queensland officially reached 4 million. Queensland is the fastest growing state in Australia, with over 1,500 people moving to the state per week; 1,000 in the southern part of the state alone. Predictions show that Queensland will become Australia's second most populous
Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans....
 state by the late 2020s. According to Queensland's Office of Economic and Statistical Research the estimated population of the state at the end of 2007 was 4,228,290 which is almost 20% of Australia's total.

In 2007, Queensland recorded a TFR
Total Fertility Rate

The total fertility rate of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates through her lifetime, and she were to survive from birth through the end of her reproductive life....
 of 2.09, the highest after 1977.

Economy

Childerscane
Queensland's economy has enjoyed a boom in the tourism
Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational or leisure purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from...
 and mining
Mining

Mining is the extraction of value minerals or other geology materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, Sodium chloride and potash....
 industries over the last twenty years. A sizeable influx of interstate and overseas migrants, large amounts of federal government investment, increased mining of vast mineral
Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through Geology processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties....
 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
Gross state product

Gross state product is a measurement of the economic output of a State or province. It is the sum of all value added by industries within the state and serves as a counterpart to the gross domestic product or GDP....
 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 Gross Domestic Product
Gross domestic product

File:GDP nominal per capita world map IMF 2008.pngThe gross domestic product or gross domestic income is one of the measures of national income and output for a given country's economy....
 (GDP) rose on average 3.9% each year. Queensland's contribution to the Australian GDP increased by 10.4% in that period, one of only three states to do so.

In 2003 Brisbane 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
Sydney

Sydney is the List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million . It is the List of Australian capital cities of New South Wales, and was the site of the first British Empire colony in Australia....
 and Canberra
Canberra

Canberra is the List of Australian capital cities of Australia. With a population of over 340,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth largest Australian city overall....
 and just ahead of Melbourne by $15,000.

Primary industries
Primary sector of industry

The primary sector of the economy involves changing natural resources into primary products. Most products from this sector are considered raw materials for other industries....
 include: banana
Banana

File:Banana and cross section.jpgBanana is the common name for a fruit and also the herbaceous plants of the genus Musa which produce this commonly eaten fruit....
s, pineapple
Pineapple

Pineapple is the common name for an edible tropical plant and also its fruit. It is native to the southern part of Brazil, and Paraguay. This herbaceous plant perennial plant grows to tall with 30 or more trough-shaped and pointed leaves long, surrounding a thick plant stem....
s, peanut
Peanut

The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume Fabaceae native to South America, Mexico and Central America. It is an annual plant herbaceous plant growing to 30 to 50 cm tall....
s, a wide variety of other tropical and temperate fruit and vegetables, grain crops, wineries, cattle raising, cotton
Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa....
, sugar cane, wool
Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
 and a mining industry including bauxite
Bauxite

Bauxite is the most important aluminium ore. It consists largely of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite ?-AlO, and diaspore a-AlO, together with the iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite and small amounts of anatase TiO2....
, coal
Coal

Coal is a readily combustion black or brownish-black sedimentary rock. The harder forms, such as anthracite, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure....
, silver, lead, zinc, gold, and copper
Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity....
.

Secondary industries
Secondary sector of industry

The secondary sector of the economy is one of the three economic sectors, the others being the tertiary sector and the primary sector . Sometimes an additional sector, the "quaternary sector", is defined for the sharing of information ....
 are mostly further processing of the above-mentioned primary produce: bauxite
Bauxite

Bauxite is the most important aluminium ore. It consists largely of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite ?-AlO, and diaspore a-AlO, together with the iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite and small amounts of anatase TiO2....
 from Weipa
Weipa, Queensland

Weipa is the largest town on the Gulf of Carpentaria coast of the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. It is sometimes considered to be the 'Capital of Cape York' and is a mining town of over 3,000 people that exists because of the enormous bauxite deposits along the coast....
 is converted to alumina at Gladstone
Gladstone, Queensland

Gladstone is an Australian city located some 550 kilometres by road north of Brisbane and 100 kilometres south-east of Rockhampton. The city is situated between the Calliope River to the north and the Boyne River some 14 kilometres to the south....
. There are also copper refining and the refining of sugar cane to sugar.

Major tertiary industries
Tertiary sector of industry

The tertiary sector of economy is one of the three economic sectors, the others being the secondary sector and the primary sector . Sometimes an additional sector, the "quaternary sector", is defined for the sharing of information ....
 are the retail trade and tourism
Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational or leisure purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from...
.

Tourism

Part of Great Barrier Reef From Helecopter
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:
  • Brisbane
    Brisbane

    Brisbane is the state List of Australian capital cities of Queensland and its most populous city. It is also the List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, behind southern rivals Sydney and Melbourne....
  • Far North Queensland
    Far North Queensland

    Far North Queensland, or FNQ, is the northernmost part of the Australian States and territories of Australia of Queensland. The region, which contains a large section of the Tropical North Queensland area, stretches from the city of Cairns, Queensland north to the Torres Strait....
     (Cairns, Port Douglas,The Daintree)
  • Gold Coast
    Gold Coast, Queensland

    The Gold Coast is a city and Local Government Areas of Australia in the South East Queensland corner of Queensland, Australia. It is the second most populous city in the state and the List of cities in Australia by population in the country....
  • Great Barrier Reef
    Great Barrier Reef

    The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately ....
  • Hervey Bay
    Hervey Bay, Queensland

    Hervey Bay is a city in south eastern Queensland, Australia. The city is situated approximately 292 kilometres north of the state capital, Brisbane, and lies on the coast of a natural bay between the Queensland mainland and nearby Fraser Island....
    /Fraser Island
  • North Queensland
    North Queensland

    North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the state of Queensland in Australia. Queensland is a massive state, larger than most countries, and the Tropical North Queensland of it has been historically remote and underdeveloped, resulting in a distinctive regional character and identity....
     (Townsville, Magnetic Island)
  • North Stradbroke Island
    North Stradbroke Island

    North Stradbroke Island is an Australian island in the state of Queensland, 30 km southeast of the capital Brisbane. Before 1896 the island was part of the Stradbroke Island....
     and South Stradbroke Island
    South Stradbroke Island

    South Stradbroke Island is an Australian island in the state of Queensland, south of Brisbane and forms the northern end of Gold Coast, Queensland....
  • Sunshine Coast
    Sunshine Coast, Queensland

    The Sunshine Coast is a coastal region located in South East Queensland, north of the Queensland capital of Brisbane. The Sunshine Coast has recently been united into a single Local Government Areas in Australia, the Sunshine Coast Regional Council....
  • Whitsundays (Airlie Beach, Whitehaven Beach, Hamilton Island, Daydream Island)


The Gold Coast of Queensland is also sometimes referred to as "Australia's Theme Park Capital", with five major amusement parks:
  • Dreamworld
    Dreamworld

    Dreamworld is a large theme park situated on the Gold Coast, Queensland in Queensland. It is currently Australia's largest theme park. It is well known for being the location of the Australian Big Brother Australia....
  • Movie World
  • Sea World
    Sea World

    Sea World is a marine mammal park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Queensland, Australia. It includes rides, animal exhibits and other attractions, and promotes conservation through education and through the rescue and rehabilitation of sick, injured or orphaned wildlife....
  • Wet 'n' Wild
  • WhiteWater World
    WhiteWater World

    WhiteWater World is a water park located on the Gold Coast, Queensland in Queensland, Australia that opened to the public on December 8, 2006 at an initial cost of AUD$60 million....


There are also wildlife parks in Queensland, including:

Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland

The Gold Coast is a city and Local Government Areas of Australia in the South East Queensland corner of Queensland, Australia. It is the second most populous city in the state and the List of cities in Australia by population in the country....
  • Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
    Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

    Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary at Currumbin, Queensland on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Queensland in Australia, is world renowned for its feeding of huge flocks of free-flying wild Rainbow Lorikeets, which came to the Sanctuary to feast off the special mixture which the Lorikeets eat....
     at Currumbin
    Currumbin, Queensland

    Currumbin is a suburb in the Gold Coast, Queensland region of Queensland, Australia.The State member of Parliament for Currumbin is Jann Stuckey....
  • David Fleay Wildlife Park
    David Fleay Wildlife Park

    The David Fleay Wildlife Park is located in Burleigh Heads, Queensland, a suburb of the Gold Coast, Queensland, Queensland, Australia.Established by Australian natural history David Fleay in 1952, the Park today is home to many Fauna of Australia, which are displayed in surroundings similar to their natural habitats....
     at Burleigh Heads
    Burleigh Heads, Queensland

    Burleigh Heads is a suburb of the Gold Coast, Queensland in Queensland, Australia. Burleigh Heads is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east, Miami, Queensland to the north, Burleigh Waters, Queensland, West Burleigh, Queensland to the west, Tallebudgera, Queensland to the south-west and Palm Beach, Queensland to the south....


Sunshine Coast
Sunshine Coast, Queensland

The Sunshine Coast is a coastal region located in South East Queensland, north of the Queensland capital of Brisbane. The Sunshine Coast has recently been united into a single Local Government Areas in Australia, the Sunshine Coast Regional Council....
  • UnderWater World
    UnderWater World, Queensland

    UnderWater World at Mooloolaba, Queensland, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Queensland, Australia is a marine mammal park, oceanarium and Wildlife Animal Sanctuary....
     at Mooloolaba
    Mooloolaba, Queensland

    Mooloolaba is a tourist resort township in the centre of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, in Queensland, Australia, 100 km north of Brisbane....
  • Australia Zoo
    Australia Zoo

    Australia Zoo is located in the Australian state of Queensland on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland near Beerwah, Queensland/Glass House Mountains National Park....
     near Beerwah
    Beerwah, Queensland

    Beerwah is a town on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland hinterland in Queensland, Australia. It is situated north of the town of Glass House Mountains, Queensland, approximately 80 km north of Brisbane, and just south of Landsborough, Queensland....
    /Glass House Mountains
    Glass House Mountains National Park

    Glass House Mountains is a national park in Queensland , 70 km northeast of Brisbane. It consists of a flat plain punctuated by volcanic plugs, the cores of extinct volcanoes that formed 27 million to 26 million years ago....


Brisbane
Brisbane

Brisbane is the state List of Australian capital cities of Queensland and its most populous city. It is also the List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, behind southern rivals Sydney and Melbourne....
  • Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
    Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

    Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is located in the Brisbane suburb of Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland. Founded in 1927, it is the world's oldest and largest Koala Animal sanctuary....
     at Fig Tree Pocket
    Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland

    Fig Tree Pocket is a suburb of Brisbane, Australia located 8km south-west of the Brisbane CBD on the Brisbane River. Placed within a pocket of the Brisbane River, the suburb is relatively remote, devoted mostly to low density housing....
  • Brisbane Forest Park
    Brisbane Forest Park, Queensland

    Brisbane Forest Park, which is located on part of the D'Aguilar Range, is a large nature reserve on the western boundary of the City of Brisbane, bordering on the Mount Coot-tha, Queensland....
     at The Gap
    The Gap, Queensland

    The Gap is a leafy and hilly suburb of Brisbane, in Queensland, Australia. The suburb is located 12 km west of the Brisbane CBD....


North of Brisbane
  • Kumbartcho Wildlife Sanctuary (originally Bunya Park Wildlife Sanctuary)


Accommodation in Queensland caters for nearly 22% of the total expenditure, followed by restaurants/meals (15%), airfares (11%), fuel (11%) and shopping/gifts (11%).

Transport

Cairns Airport
Queensland is served by a number of National Highways
National Highway (Australia)

The National Highway is a system of roads connecting all the States and Territories of Australia, and is the major network of highways connecting Australia's largest and most important cities....
 and, particularly in South East Queensland, high quality motorways such as the M1
M1, Queensland

The M1 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is a major urban road corridor. It connects Tugun, Queensland near the New South Wales-Queensland border to the Sunshine Coast, Queensland hinterland via the following corridors:...
.

Principal rail services
Rail transport in Queensland

Rail transport in Queensland has a long history, with the first line opening in 1865. Today it is the second-largest narrow gauge railway network in the world....
 are provided by Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail

QR Limited is the government-owned corporation responsible for the operation and maintenance of the rail transport system in the State of Queensland, Australia....
 and Pacific National
Pacific National

Pacific National is one of Australia's largest private rail freight businesses. Originally a joint venture between Patrick Corporation and Toll Holdings; it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Asciano Limited following the restructure of Toll Holdings....
, predominantly along the coamajor ports including the Port of Brisbane
Port of Brisbane

Port of Brisbane is the shipping port of Brisbane, on the east coast of Australia. It is located in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River on reclaimed land that was once called Fisherman's Island at the mouth of the river....
 and subsidiary ports at Gladstone
Port of Gladstone

The Port of Gladstone is the fifth largest multi cargo port in Australia and the largest port in Queensland by volume of goods handled.It forms and integral part of the City of Gladstone, Queensland and is located about 525km north of Brisbane at Latitude of 23?49.61?S, Longitude 151?34.6?E....
 and Townsville
Port of Townsville

Port of Townsville is a seaport in Townsville, Queensland. It is the third largest seaport in Queensland after Port of Brisbane and the Port of Gladstone in Gladstone, Queensland....
.

Brisbane Airport
Brisbane Airport

Brisbane Airport is the sole passenger airport serving Brisbane and the List of the busiest airports in Australia, after Sydney Airport and Melbourne Airport airports....
 is the main international and domestic gateway serving the state. Gold Coast Airport
Gold Coast Airport

Gold Coast Airport, or Coolangatta Airport, is an Australian domestic and international airport on the Gold Coast, Queensland and is located some south of Brisbane....
 and Cairns International Airport
Cairns International Airport

Cairns Airport is an Australian domestic and international airport in Cairns, Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Formerly operated by the Cairns Port Authority, the airport was sold by the Queensland Government in December 2008 to a private consortium....
 are the two next most prominent airports, both with scheduled international flights. Other regional airports, with scheduled domestic flights, include Great Barrier Reef Airport, Hervey Bay Airport
Hervey Bay Airport

Hervey Bay Airport is the main airport for the city of Hervey Bay, Queensland, Queensland, Australia and the Fraser Coast region which incorporates the nearby cities of Maryborough, Queensland and Bundaberg, Queensland....
, Mackay Airport
Mackay Airport

Mackay Airport is located in Mackay, Queensland, Queensland, Australia....
, Mount Isa Airport
Mount Isa Airport

Mount Isa Airport is the main airport that serves the Western Queensland city of Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia. It is served by a variety of Scheduled regional airlines, with flights to Brisbane, Queensland, Townsville, Queensland and Cairns, Queensland as well as several other regional centres....
, Proserpine / Whitsunday Coast Airport
Proserpine / Whitsunday Coast Airport

Whitsunday Coast Airport is located approximately south of Proserpine, Queensland in Queensland, Australia. The airport's main function is to provide transportation to the tourists who visit the Great Barrier Reef, Whitsunday Islands and the towns of Proserpine, Queensland and Bowen, Queensland....
, Rockhampton Airport
Rockhampton Airport

Rockhampton Airport is a major Australian regional airport that services the city of Rockhampton, Queensland, with flights to the cites of Brisbane, Queensland, Sydney, New South Wales, Gladstone, Queensland, Cairns, Queensland, Townsville, Queensland and Mackay, Queensland and Melbourne, Victoria....
, Sunshine Coast Airport
Sunshine Coast Airport

Sunshine Coast Airport, or Maroochydore Airport is an Australian airport serving Sunshine Coast, Queensland. It is the gateway to holiday destinations such as Noosa, Queensland, Maroochydore, Queensland, Mooloolaba, Queensland and Caloundra, Queensland....
 and Townsville Airport.

South East Queensland is governed by an integrated public transport system, TransLink
TransLink (South East Queensland)

The TransLink Transit Authority is the body of integrated public transport that covers Rail transport, bus and ferry networks in South East Queensland, Australia....
, which provides bus
List of South East Queensland bus stations

The following is a list of bus and busway stations which have been built or are under construction in and around Brisbane and South East Queensland, Australia....
, rail
CityTrain

Citytrain is the brand name of urban, suburban and inter-urban electric passenger railway services in South East Queensland, Australia. Its network, centering in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, is approximately in route length....
 and ferry services
List of Brisbane ferry wharves

This is a list of the suburban ferry wharves operating along the Brisbane River whose services areoperated by the Brisbane City Council and its contractor Metrolink Queensland under the TransLink integrated public transport system....
. Regional bus and long-distance rail
TravelTrain

Traveltrain provides long range passenger rail services in Queensland, run by Queensland Rail. Its flagships are the electric and diesel QR Tilt Train, servicing Brisbane ? Rockhampton, Queensland and Brisbane ? Cairns, Queensland respectively....
 services are also provided throughout the State. Local bus services are also available in most regional centres.

Government


Executive authority is vested in the Governor, who represents and is appointed by Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known as the Commonwealth realms: Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of Canada, Monarchy of Australia, Monarchy of New Zealand, Monarchy of Jamaica, Monarchy of Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Monarchy of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sain...
 on the advice of the Premier. The current governor is Ms. Penelope Wensley
Penelope Wensley

Penelope Anne Wensley Order of Australia is the Governor of Queensland and a former Australian diplomat.Born in Toowoomba, Queensland, she was educated at the University of Queensland where she graduated with a first class Bachelor's degree#Honours degrees and academic distinctions in English and French literature....
, AO
Order of Australia

The Order of Australia is an Order established by Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of Australia on 14 February 1975 "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"....
. The head of government is the Premier, who is appointed by the Governor but must have the support of the Legislative Assembly
Queensland Legislative Assembly

The Queensland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral chamber of the Parliament of Queensland. Elections are held approximately once every three years....
. The current Premier is Anna Bligh
Anna Bligh

Anna Maria Bligh is an Australian politician and the current Premier of Queensland. She has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly since 1995, representing the electorate of electoral district of South Brisbane....
, of the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an List of political parties in Australia.Known as the Australian Labor Party#Etymology for short, the party is the current governing party of Australia, since the Australian federal election, 2007....
. Other ministers, forming the Executive Council
Executive Council

Executive Council may refer to:In politics:** Executive Council of New South Wales, the body which exercises the supreme executive authority in New South Wales...
, are appointed by the governor from among the members of the Legislative Assembly on the Premier's recommendation.

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.

The judicial system of Queensland consists of the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Queensland

The Supreme Court of Queensland, which is based at the Law Courts, Brisbane, is the superior court for the Australian States and territories of Australia of Queensland and sits around the middle of the Australian court hierarchy....
 and the District Court
District Court of Queensland

The District Court of Queensland is a court in Queensland, a state of Australia. It has jurisdiction to hear:* appeals from decisions of the Magistrates' Court of Queensland;...
, established by the Queensland Constitution, and various other courts and tribunals established by ordinary Acts of the Queensland Parliament.

In 2001 Queensland adopted a new codified constitution
Constitution

A constitution is a system for government — often codified as a written document — that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity....
, repealing most of the assorted Acts of Parliament
Act of Parliament

An act of Parliament is a statute wikt:enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. It is broadly equivalent to an act of Congress in the United States....
 that had previously made up the constitution. The new constitution took effect on 6 June 2002, the anniversary of the formation of the colony of Queensland by the signing of Letters Patent
Letters patent

Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of an open letter issued by a monarch or government, granting an office, right, government-granted monopoly, title, or status to a person or to some entity such as a corporation....
 by Queen Victoria in 1859.

Universities

Bond University
* Australian Catholic University
Australian Catholic University

Australian Catholic University, or ACU National, is Australia only public Catholic university. It has more than 13,000 students and 900 staff on six campuses located in three states and the Australian Capital Territory....
 (Brisbane campus)
  • Bond University
    Bond University

    Bond University is a private university university located in Robina, Queensland, Queensland, Australia. It was the first private university established in Australia....
  • Central Queensland University
    Central Queensland University

    CQUniversity is Australian public university based in Queensland. Its main campus in Rockhampton, Queensland Queensland, but it has operations throughout Asia-Pacific....
  • Griffith University
    Griffith University

    Griffith University is a public university based on the Gold Coast, Queensland and in Brisbane, Australia. The total enrolment is 31,000 undergraduate students and 6000 postgraduate students....
  • James Cook University
    James Cook University

    James Cook University is a public university based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia and was proclaimed on 20 April 1970 in Townsville. JCU is the second oldest university in Queensland and the first tertiary education institution in North Queensland....
  • Queensland University of Technology
    Queensland University of Technology

    Queensland University of Technology is located in Brisbane, Queensland, and is one of Australia's largest university.QUT is marketed as "A university for the real world"....
  • University of Queensland
    University of Queensland

    The University of Queensland is one of Australia's premier learning and research institutions. The University is a founding member of the national Group of Eight, an alliance of research-strong, mostly "Sandstone universities" committed to ensuring that Australia has higher education institutions which are genuinely world class....
  • University of Southern Queensland
    University of Southern Queensland

    The University of Southern Queensland is based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The institution was established in 1967 as the Queensland Institute of Technology , in 1971 it became the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education, and then the University College of Southern Queensland in 1990; and finally USQ in 1992....
  • University of the Sunshine Coast
    University of the Sunshine Coast

    The University of the Sunshine Coast is a public university based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland in Queensland, Australia....


Sport

The state of Queensland has teams in all of Australia's national sporting competitions and is also host to a number of domestic and international sporting events. Queensland Maroons rugby league team play the New South Wales rugby league team three times a year and so, unlike the other rugby league teams, do not play in a domestic competition but the annual State of Origin tournament.

Swimming is also a popular sport in Queensland, with a majority of Australian team members and international medalists hailing from the state. At the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, People's Republic of China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008....
, Queensland swimmers won all six of Australia's gold medals
Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics

A total of 433 competitors competed for Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The team was Australia's second largest away team after the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, which included a team of 482 competitors....
, all swimmers on Australia's three female (finals) relays teams were from Queensland, two of which won gold.

Teams include:
  • Association Football: Queensland Roar, North Queensland Fury FC and Gold Coast United Football Club
  • Australian Football: Brisbane Lions
    Brisbane Lions

    Brisbane Lions Australian Football Club is an Australian Football League club based in Brisbane, Queensland. They are the most successful AFL team this century, having won three consecutive Grand Finals, and appeared in a fourth....
  • Basketball
    Basketball

    Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a basketball through a 10 feet  high hoop under organized rules....
    : Townsville Crocodiles
    Townsville Crocodiles

    The Townsville Crocodiles are a basketball team competing in the Australian National Basketball League . Since being established for the 1993 NBL season, the Crocodiles have enjoyed financial stability and sustained community support, but on-court success has eluded them....
    , Cairns Taipans
    Cairns Taipans

    The Cairns Taipans are a professional basketball team competing in Australia's National Basketball League . The club is based in the northern Queensland city of Cairns, Queensland....
     and the Gold Coast Blaze
    Gold Coast Blaze

    The Gold Coast Blaze is an Australian basketball team which competes in the National Basketball League . The Blaze competed in their inaugural season in 2007/08....
  • Cricket
    Cricket

    Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games team sport that originated in southern England. The earliest definite reference is dated 1598, and it is now played in more than 100 countries....
    : Queensland Bulls
    Queensland Bulls

    The Queensland Bulls are the Brisbane-based Queensland representative cricket team in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments:*Sheffield Shield , 4-day matches with first class cricket status, since the 1926/27 season...
  • Netball
    Netball

    Netball is a non-contact team sport originating from the United States similar to, and derived from, basketball. Invented in 1895 by Clara Gregory Baer, a pioneer in women's sport, netball is now pre-eminently played as a women's team sport in Australia and New Zealand and is popular in the West Indies, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom....
    : Queensland Firebirds
    Queensland Firebirds

    The Queensland Firebirds are an Australian netball team, based in Brisbane, Queensland. The Firebirds played in Australia's Commonwealth Bank Trophy up until 2007 when they joined the ANZ Championship....
  • Rugby League
    Rugby league

    Rugby league football is a competitive Full-contact sport team sport played with a spheroid-shaped ball by two teams of thirteen on a rectangular grass field....
    : Queensland Maroons, Brisbane Broncos
    Brisbane Broncos

    The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the city of Brisbane, Queensland. The Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership....
    , Gold Coast Titans
    Gold Coast Titans

    The Gold Coast Titans are an Australian professional rugby league football team based on Gold Coast, Queensland in Queensland. They are the newest team to compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership....
     and the North Queensland Cowboys
    North Queensland Cowboys

    The North Queensland Cowboys are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Australasia's top rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership....
  • Rugby Union
    Rugby union

    Rugby union is a competitive outdoor contact sport, played with an oval ball, by two teams of 15 players. It is one of the two main codes of rugby football, the other being rugby league....
    : Queensland Reds
    Queensland Reds

    The Reds represent Queensland in the sport of rugby union. Prior to 1996 they were a representative team selected on merit from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland....


Events include:
  • Gold Coast Indy 300
  • State of Origin
    Rugby League State of Origin

    The State of Origin is an annual best-of-three series of rugby league football matches between the Queensland Maroons, representing the state of Queensland, and the New South Wales Rugby League team, representing the state of New South Wales....
  • Queensland 400
  • Quicksilver Pro and Roxy Pro
    World championship tour (WCT) surfing

    The World Surfing Champion is a title awarded annually to the best competition surfer for the year, today based on points earned for placings at events on the Association of Surfing Professionals ASP World Tour....


See also

  • Governors of Queensland
    Governors of Queensland

    The Governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level....
  • Local Government Areas of Queensland
    Local Government Areas of Queensland

    The Local Government Areas in Australia of Queensland, Australia are the areas for which particular Local Government authorities, generally known as "Councils" have the responsibility to provide local government services....
  • List of highways in Queensland
    List of highways in Queensland

    Queensland, being the second largest state in Australia is also the most decentralised. Hence the highways and roads covers most parts of the state unlike the sparsely populated Western Australia....
  • List of Queenslanders
    List of Queenslanders

    Other linksQueensland expatriates...
  • List of schools in Queensland
    List of schools in Queensland

    According to the Education Queensland website, there are, or have been, at least 2185 registered schools in Queensland....
  • Premiers of Queensland
    Premiers of Queensland

    Before the 1890s, there was no developed party system in Queensland. Political affiliation labels before that time indicate a general tendency only. Before the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, political parties were more akin to parliamentary factions, and were fluid, informal and disorganised by modern standards....
  • Protected areas of Queensland (Australia)
  • Queensland Council of Unions
    Queensland Council of Unions

    The Queensland Council of Unions is a representative body of Trade union organisations, known as a Labour council, in the Queensland, Australia....
  • Queensland Day
    Queensland Day

    Queensland Day is officially celebrated as the birthday of the Australian States and territories of Australia of Queensland....
  • Queensland Expatriate Awards
    Queensland Expatriate Awards

    The Queensland Expatriate Awards, are the most prominent awards to expatriates from the state of Queensland Australia who are living around the world....
  • Queensland Games
    Queensland Games

    Queensland Games is a promotional collaboration of video game developers, educational institutions, government organizations and service providers in Queensland, Australia....
  • Queensland Police
    Queensland Police

    The Queensland Police Service is the law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto of "Firmness with Courtesy" was changed to "With Honour We Serve"....
  • Regions of Queensland
    Regions of Queensland

    The Regions of Queensland refers to the geographic areas of the Australian state of Queensland. Due to its large size and decentralised population, the state is often divided into regions for statistical and administrative purposes....
  • Sport in Queensland
    Sport in Queensland

    Sport is an important part of the culture of the Australian state of Queensland....
  • Queensland State Archives
    Queensland State Archives

    File:Queensland State Archives.jpgThe Queensland State Archives is the custodian of the largest and most significant documentary heritage collection in Queensland and the lead agency for public recordkeeping....


External links