Queensland

Queensland [ kwi ː nzlənd ], abbreviated QLD, is an Australian state with the capital Brisbane.

Geography

In the state of Queensland about 4 million inhabitants in an area of ​​1.73065 million square kilometers. Queensland is geographically to Western Australia 's second largest state in Australia; it is about five times the size of Germany.

In addition to New South Wales Queensland is the state with the largest number of Aboriginal people. There live each 26 percent of the total Aboriginal population of Australia (see also Indigenous peoples of Australia - Oceania ).

Queensland is in the northeast of the Australian continent in the time zone to Eastern Standard Time. The capital is Brisbane with 1.73 million residents. Other major cities in Queensland Gold Coast / Tweed ( 527 660 inhabitants), Townsville ( 145 099 inhabitants), Cairns ( 111 916 inhabitants), Toowoomba ( 95 262 inhabitants) and Rockhampton ( 64 437 inhabitants).

It is the only Australian state that has a unicameral parliament.

Several wildlife sanctuaries Queensland are part of the UNESCO World Heritage List. These are the Great Barrier Reef, Fraser Iceland and the tropical rain forest on the Cape York Peninsula in the north of the state.

History

In Queensland, traces of settlement were found 30000-15000 years ago. As a first-time intrusion by Europeans, the discovery of the Cape York Peninsula in the north by the Dutchman Willem Jansz applies in 1606., The area belonged since 1824 to New South Wales and was established on 10 December 1859 by Queen Victoria as a separate colony. The first elections were held in 1860.

On 26 June 1879, the Torres Strait Islands and Barrier Reef / Whitsunday Islands has been assigned to Queensland.

Queensland was on January 1, 1901, a State of Australia ( ' Australian Commonwealth ').

At the turn of 2010/2011 Queensland suffered severe flooding.

Policy

Queensland is a parliamentary monarchy and is divided into 53 administrative regions. The current constitution came into force on 6 June 2002.

Elizabeth II, is represented as head of state of Penelope Wensley, the Governor of Queensland. Head of government is Premier Campbell Newman (Liberal National Party ( Queensland) ). For the legislation, the 89 elected members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland are responsible. Queensland is the only state of Australia with a unicameral system. The members of the Legislative Council of Queensland, who was the second chamber of the state earlier, the abolition of the institution in 1922 voted to themselves.

Economy

Important economic activity fields are sugar cane, mining ( coal ), the tourism in the area of the Great Barrier Reef as well as cattle and sheep breeding in the interior. By Geological Survey of Queensland Projects of carbon dioxide storage and geothermal energy are pursued in the coastal area.

Traffic

The railway in Queensland has predominantly a track width of 1067 mm; an exception is taken in the 1930s in operating standard gauge route from Brisbane to the south. The state has its own railway transport and infrastructure company Queensland Rail, which operates rapid transit in urban areas and tourist trains. Privately organized societies such as Aurizon or Pacific National are responsible for the freight.

Regions

Regions on the mainland

Queensland is divided into five main regions of Tropical North, Subtropical Coast, Outback, surrounding Brisbane and Brisbane.

At the Tropical North region include Cairns, the Daintree Rainforest, the Atherton Tablelands and the almost uninhabited Cape York Peninsula. Cape York is the northernmost point on the Australian mainland.

The densely populated Subtropical Coast stretches from Hervey Bay in the south to Townsville in the north. Because of its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef, this region represents a very important hub for tourism in Australia

The west of the coastline, the Outback is characterized by a very low population density. Here are the Simpson Desert, and Sturt Stony desert Strzeleckiwüste. The main towns and villages of this vast region are Mount Isa, Cloncurry, Longreach and Charleville.

The urbanized area of Brisbane is among one of the most developed regions of the continent. The Gold Coast is the commercial center, the Sunshine Coast is characterized by long sandy beaches and the mountainous hinterland is known for a variety of national parks.

The state capital, Brisbane is the industrial, commercial and financial hub of Queensland dar. With over two million inhabitants, the city is to Sydney and Melbourne, the third largest city in Australia.

Torres Strait Islander

At Queensland include the " Torres Strait Islander ". The archipelago is located between Australia and Papua New Guinea, north of Cape York Peninsula. In 2000, the more than 250 islands had a total of about 6,700 inhabitants.

The archipelago was on June 26, 1879 part of the state of Queensland. On 1 July 1991, the " Torres Strait Islands Regional Authority ( TSRA )" was founded. The Torres Strait Islands received their political autonomy on 29 May 1992.

The chairmen of the district government ( " Chairmen of the Torres Strait Islands Regional Authority TSRA " ) are:

• Getano Lui, Jr., July 1, 1994 - March 1997
• John Abednego, March 1997 - April 19, 2000
• Terry Waia, April 19, 2000 - May 2004
• John Toshie Kris, since May 2004

Barrier Reef / Whitsunday Islands

The Barrier Reef / Whitsunday Islands lie east of the cities of Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour in Queensland in the Pacific between the Queensland coast and the Great Barrier Reef.

The Barrier Reef / Whitsunday Islands consist of a total of 74 sub-tropical islands; the larger ones are: Whitsunday Iceland, Iceland Hayman, Hook Iceland, Iceland Haselwood, Hamilton Iceland ( with an airport), Dent Iceland, Iceland Longs, Lindeman Iceland, Iceland Shaw and Sir James Smith Group. Only 17 of the islands are inhabited, some with exclusive hotel resorts. On most islands are national parks.

By 26 June 1879, they were politically associated with Queensland.

Climate

In southern Queensland is subtropical, warm, sunny climate with mild winters. Further north the climate is slowly tropical. From January to April of the tropical summer starts here with rain and occasionally on land reaching tropical cyclones. After Cyclone Larry had already caused considerable damage in March 2006, devastated the cyclone Yasi on the night of 2nd -wide on February 3, 2011 parts of the coastal region between Cairns and Townsville and also penetrated deep into the interior.

The average temperatures range in summer between 21 ° C and 29 ° C, in winter between 10 ° C and 26 ° C, the water temperature in summer 29 ° C, in winter 19 ° C. In the region of the tropical north of Queensland is expected in the summer with temperatures of 24 to 31 ° C, in winter with 17 to 26 ° C.

Universities

• Australian Catholic University (ACU ) Brisbane et.al.: http://www.acu.edu.au
• Bond University ( BOND ), Gold Coast: http://www.bond.edu.au
• Central Queensland University ( CQU ), Rockhampton et.al.: http://www.cqu.edu.au
• Griffith University ( GRIFFITH ), Gold Coast Campus: http://www.gu.edu.au
• James Cook University ( JCU ), Townsville: http://www.jcu.edu.au
• Queensland University of Technology ( QUT ), Brisbane: http://www.qut.edu.au
• University of Queensland (UQ ), Brisbane: http://www.uq.edu.au
• University of Southern Queensland ( USQ ), Toowoomba: http://www.usq.edu.au
• University of the Sunshine Coast (USC ), Sippy Downs: http://www.usc.edu.au