State Queensland
AUSTRALIA
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AGNES WATER (regional info)
AIRLIE BEACH (regional info)
ALEXANDRA HEDLAND (regional info)
ANNERLEY (regional info)
ASCOT (regional info)
ASHMORE (regional info)
ATHERTON (regional info)
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Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent.
It is neighboured 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.
The area was first colonised by Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, who arrived
between 40 000 and 65 000 years ago, according to various dating methods.
Later, queensland was made a British Crown Colony that was separated from New South Wales
on 6 June 1859, a date now celebrated annually as queensland Day.
The area that currently forms 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 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.
The people of queensland are colloquially known as 'Banana Benders' or 'Canetoads',
the former possibly due to the large Banana plantations in the tropics, the latter a reference born
of the environmental disaster occurring when the cane toad was imported to rid the sugar cane
fields of cane beetle pest.
This is often referred to during the 'State of Origin', an annual Rugby League competition
between Queensland and fierce rivals New South Wales.
read full wikipedia reference about queensland
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