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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Selected Article

Australia Zoo is a 76-acre (31 ha) zoo located on the Sunshine Coast near Beerwah and the Glass House Mountains. It is a member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) and is owned by Terri Irwin, the widow of Steve Irwin, whose wildlife documentary series The Crocodile Hunter made the zoo a popular tourist attraction. The zoo is managed by Director Wes Mannion

Australia Zoo was opened by Bob and Lyn Irwin on June 3rd 1970 under the name Beerwah Reptile Park. Their son Steve, had helped his parents since childhood to care for crocodiles and reptiles and to maintain the growing number of animals in the zoo. In 1982 the park was renamed to the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park and the area was doubled with the purchase of another 4 acres (1.6 ha). Steve and Terri changed the name of their now growing wildlife park to Australia Zoo. As filming generated extra funds, Steve and Terri put all money raised from filming and merchandise into conservation and building new exhibits.

Australia Zoo won the Australian Tourism Awards for 2003-2004 in the category Major Tourist Attraction. In 2004, the Australian Animal Hospital was opened next to the zoo to help with animal care and rehabilitation. As well as viewing a wide ranges of birds, mammals and reptiles visitors can view a crocodile feeding and participate in an elephant feeding.

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Selected images

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

Selected business

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 despite being described in 1840, the chestnut-backed buttonquail was only confirmed in Queensland in 2020?
... 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?

More did You Know?

Billy Slater after the 2009 NRL Grand Final

...that at age 16, Billy Slater (pictured) was working in Sydney as a roustabout for the racehorse trainer, Gai Waterhouse?
...that the 283 metre high Vision Brisbane skyscraper was put on hold and then cancelled due to the late-2000s financial crisis?
...that the name for The Veronicas came from a character in the movie Heathers played by Winona Ryder?
...that despite inhabiting the Whitsunday Islands and coastal regions of Queensland from at least 7000 BC until 1870, there is no archaeological evidence of the Ngaro people?