Portal:Queensland

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The Queensland Portal

Queensland (locally /ˈkwiːnzlænd/ KWEENZ-land, commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state 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 the state's 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, and include tropical rainforests, rivers, coral reefs, mountain ranges and white 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. 24.2% of the state's population were born overseas. The state has the highest inter-state net migration in Australia. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected Article

The 1992 Queensland storms were a series of thunderstorms which struck southeastern Queensland, Australia on November 29, 1992. The storms produced strong winds, flash flooding and large hailstones in the region, including the capital city of Brisbane. The storms also spawned two of the most powerful tornadoes recorded in Australia, including the only Australian tornado to be given an 'F4' classification on the Fujita scale.

The meteorological instability in the region resulted in the formation of at least five supercell thunderstorms in the space of around three hours. The storms, which spawned progressively further up the coast from Brisbane to Gladstone as the afternoon progressed, left a trail of damage resulting from hail, rain and wind. The event has been described as "one of the most widespread [outbreaks of severe thunderstorms] recorded" by veteran meteorologist Richard Whitaker.

Archive • Read more...

Selected images

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

Selected business

NightOwl Convenience Stores is a franchised system of stores based in Brisbane, Australia. The first store opened in 1975 and was located in the Auchenflower suburb of Brisbane. The store pre-dated Seven Eleven opening in Australia by 12 months. The store traded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Established by a former Woolworth's Store Manager, the Auchenflower branch offered an extensive range of traditional supermarket grocery items-together with fresh fruit, vegetables and hot BBQ Chickens. Popular with the growing Student and Yuppy community in the district. The business concept was franchised in 1987.

In 1995, NightOwl was floated on the stock exchange and was bought out by Retail Services Limited in 1996. RSL is a diversified holdings group mainly based in the retail sector, this helped take NightOwl nationwide. In 2011, the group had 63 stores including three of the new format 'NightOwl Super Stores'. (Full article...)

More selected

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?
... that in its two years of existence, the Hunter River Railway Company initiated construction on what would eventually become the Great Northern Railway connecting Sydney to Queensland?

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?