Queensland

Queensland is located at the north-eastern corner of Australia and is joined 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.

Queensland is Australia's second largest by area, following Western Australia, and the country's third most populous after New South Wales and Victoria.

Brisbane was originally the Moreton Bay penal colony, intended as a place for 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.

Queensland's population is concentrated in the south-east corner, which includes the capital Brisbane, Logan City, Ipswich, Toowoomba, and the Gold and Sunshine Coasts. Other major Regional Centres include Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, and Mount Isa.

Queensland is often nicknamed the Sunshine State, since it enjoys warm weather and a sizable portion of the state is in the tropics.