QUEENSLAND

Australia state of northeastern Australia, occupying the wettest and most tropical part of the continent. It covers an area of 666,900 square miles (1,727,200 square km). state of northeastern Australia, occupying the wettest and most tropical part of the continent. It is bounded on the north and east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by New South Wales, on the southwest by South Australia, and on the west by the Northern Territory. The capital is Brisbane. Queensland, the second largest of Australia's states, occupies nearly one-fourth of the continent. The state is 2.5 times larger than the U.S. state of Texas and 7 times larger than the United Kingdom. In terms of land occupancy, however, Queensland is Australia's largest state, with an occupied area 36 percent greater than that of Western Australia. It also is the most decentralized mainland state, with most of its people scattered along the eastern coastline over a distance of 1,400 miles (2,200 kilometres). There is a thin dispersal of people over almost all of the vast interior, posing severe challenges in conquering distance. With its large area and small population, Queensland's economy is largely resource-based, with exports being predominantly pastoral, agricultural, and mineral products. With 54 percent of its land and more than a fifth of its people located north of the Tropic of Capricorn, Queensland has faced the challenge of European colonization of a tropical zone, experiencing many difficulties before success was achieved. In recent decades the climate, formerly a handicap, has been turned to advantage. Under the self-proclaimed title of the Sunshine State, Queensland has benefited greatly from rapid growth in tourism, some attractions being sandy surfing beaches, estuaries, islands, and the Great Barrier Reef, extending for 1,250 miles off its Coral Sea coastline. Equally important, since 1970 the state has experienced rapid population growth through sunbelt migration, which is strongly focused on the more attractive coastal regions. In sharp contrast is the persistent population decline experienced by the state's thinly populated interior. Area 666,900 square miles (1,727,200 square km). Pop. (1996) 3,368,850. Additional reading A comprehensive introduction to physical and human geography is J.H. Holmes (ed.), Queensland: A Geographical Interpretation (1986). Accounts of the tropical north are provided in P.P. Courtenay, Northern Australia (1982); and of the inland in Adrian C.B. Allen, Interior Queensland (1972). Raphael Cilento, Triumph in the Tropics (1959), provides valuable insights into environmental influences in European settlement. The Queensland Year Book is a valuable source of current information. Stanley Breeden and Kay Breeden, Tropical Queensland (1970, reissued 1982), describes the flora, fauna, and landscape. Historical works include Ross Fitzgerald, From the Dreaming to 1915 (1982), and From 1915 to the Early 1980s (1984), which also have been published as A History of Queensland, 2 vol. (198688); W. Ross Johnston, The Call of the Land: A History of Queensland to the Present Day (1982); and A.C.V. Melbourne, Early Constitutional Development in Australia: New South Wales 17881856, Queensland 18591922, 2nd ed. (1963). John H. Holmes Ross Fitzgerald