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 5.3 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 were immigrants. (Full article...)

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

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Bank of Queensland at Maleny

Bank of Queensland (BOQ), one of the oldest financial institutions in Queensland, Australia, is a retail bank with a network of almost 270 branches, including 152 in Queensland, 52 in New South Wales, 23 in Victoria and 34 in Western Australia. Following the Home Building Society and Pioneer mergers, it now has more than 650,000 customers. In 2007, customer satisfaction with the bank was placed at 88%.

In 1874, the Brisbane Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society was established as the first permanent building society formed in Queensland. The Society incorporated in 1887. The company amalgamated with City and Suburban Building Society in 1921. The company amalgamated with Queensland Deposit Bank a decade later. The company received a licence to operate as a trading bank in 1942. 1971 saw the bank become a publicly traded company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. In 2011, the bank experienced a profit slump due to lending losses from the 2010–2011 Queensland floods. (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 town of Killarney was hit by a destructive tornado on Saturday 23 November 1968, which destroyed many buildings?
...that the Windorah Solar Farm uses five concentrated solar dishes each containing 112 square mirrors which sit atop 13 m masts and can rotate 360°?
...that Wivenhoe Dam (pictured) is home to the vulnerable Queensland lungfish?
...that Stanthorpe holds the record for the lowest temperature recorded in Queensland at -10.6 °C on 23 June 1961?