Queensland is a state of Australia that occupies the
north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern
Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to
the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific
Ocean. The state is Australia's second largest by area, following Western
Australia, and the country's third most populous after New South Wales and
Victoria.
Queensland was made a British Crown Colony that was
separated from New South Wales on 6 June 1859, a date now celebrated state-wide
as Queensland Day.
The area that currently forms the state capital, Brisbane,
was originally the Moreton Bay penal colony, intended as a place for recidivist
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 state's population is concentrated in South East
Queensland, which includes Brisbane, Logan City, Redland City, Ipswich,
Toowoomba, and the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. Other major regional centres
include Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Ingham
and Mount Isa.
Queensland is often nicknamed the Sunshine State, since it
enjoys warm weather and a sizeable portion of the state is in the tropics.
