What characterizes Queensland?

Queensland is a large state in the north-east of Australia, covering about 1.85 million square kilometres (the second-largest state by area) with a population of about 5.5 million in 2024. It includes the tropical north, the subtropical south-east coast, vast inland savannas, and the Great Barrier Reef offshore.

The state stretches from the Torres Strait Islands and Cape York Peninsula in the north, through the Daintree and Wet Tropics rainforests, the Great Barrier Reef coast, the inland Outback, and the densely populated south-east Queensland conurbation around Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast. About 60 per cent of Queenslanders live in this south-east corner.

Queensland separated from New South Wales in 1859 and federated with the other colonies in 1901. Politically it is unique among Australian states in having a single-chamber parliament: the Queensland upper house was abolished in 1922, leaving only the Legislative Assembly. The state has a strong regional identity often described as more decentralised, more conservative, and more sceptical of southern capital cities than New South Wales or Victoria.

Economically Queensland is built on resources, agriculture, and tourism. The Bowen and Galilee coal basins are among the largest coal exporters in the world, and the state is also a major producer of natural gas, copper, lead, zinc, and bauxite. Sugarcane along the tropical coast, beef cattle in the inland, and bananas, mangoes, and avocados from the Wet Tropics drive the agricultural sector. Tourism centres on the Great Barrier Reef, the rainforest, the Whitsundays, and the Gold Coast theme parks. Brisbane will host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.