Land Mass

Queensland consists of a large land mass covering 22.5% of the Australian continent and an area of 1,727,000 square kilometers . It is the second biggest state in the Australian Commonwealth.

It includes the small and scattered islands to the north of the Torres Straits and to the east of the Great Barrier Reef.

The State has a continental coastline of 7,400 km and 9,800 km if including islands. The greatest distance from north to south is 2,100km and from east to west 1,450 km.

Queensland is larger than the combined areas of Germany, Italy, France and Spain. It is five times the size of Japan.

Borders

It has common borders with the Australian states of New South Wales, the Northern Territory and South Australia. Land based travel is possible to all Australian states and territories apart from Tasmania which is an island to the south of the Australian mainland.

The boundaries were fixed between 1859 and 1878 by the British Government.

The States current land boundaries are shared in the south with New South Wales for 1,625 km, in the south-west with South Australia for 630 km and in the west with Northern Territory for 1,045 km.

The southern boundary is shared with New South Wales for 1,625 km and starts at Point Danger on the coast at 28 degrees 08’S latitude along the McPherson Range, The Great Dividing Range, the Dumaresq River and the Barwan River to 29 degrees south. And then continues due west until it meets the eastern boundary of South Australia at Cameron Corner at 29 degrees south and 141 degrees east.

The western boundary extends in the south-west with South Australia for 630 km and in the west with Northern Territory for 1,045 km which takes it from Cameron Corner along the 141 degree east longitude to meet the 26 degree south latitude at Haddon Corner. It then follows the 26 degree latitude westward forming the northern boundary with South Australia to 138 degree east at Poeppel Corner where the boundaries of Queensland, South Australia, and Northern Territory meet. The Queensland and Northern Territory boundary then follows the 138 degree east longitude north to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The eastern or maritime boundary extends easterly from Point Danger to the limit of 138 degree east (fixed in 1862) and 10 degree south in the north. All islands off the eastern coast to a distance of 96 km were annexed to the colony on 30 May 1872 and the Torres Strait Islands on 11 October 1878.

The Torres Strait Border Treaty of 1978 renegotiated the boundary between Australia and Papua New Guinea. The agreement retained sovereignty over the Torres Strait Islands and provided for a Protected Zone between the Islands and New Guinea.

The Northern border of Queensland (and Australia) is shared with Papua New Guinea on the west to 141 degrees E and from that meridian, with Indonesia in Irian Jaya.

In the east, Queensland shares the boundary with Papua New Guinea into the Coral Sea where the boundary extends south along the 144 degree E longitude to 12 degrees South

The Tropic of Capricorn runs through Queensland from east to west and the town of Rockhampton lies just to the north of it where it crosses the eastern coastline and in the west the town of Longreach sits on it.

World Heritage Areas

• The Great Barrier Reef


• Riversleigh Fossil Fields


• Fraser Island


• Regions of the central east rainforests including the national parks of Springbrook, Lamington, Main Range and Mount Barney.


• Regions of the wet tropical rainforests from Cooktown south to Townsville.

Queensland Parks, Reserves, and Refuges.

• 212 national parks


• 168 conservation parks


• 39 resources reserves


• 55 nature refuges


• 6 marine parks

Rivers

The rivers of Queensland flow easterly and westerly down the central dividing range. Towards the north of the state the inland rivers turn northerly while the southern inland rivers turn south into New South Wales and South Australia.

Many inland rivers do not flow in the hot summer months while those flowing east usually do so all year round.

The longest river complex is known as the Cooper-Barcoo (930 kilometres) followed by the Flinders (873 kilometres) but the Burdekin is the largest that flows constantly and is 720 kilometres long.

The capital city Brisbane sits on the Brisbane River. Most cities are closely associated with a river passing by or through the city.

Mountains

The highest mountain in Queensland is Mount Bartle Frere and is 1622 metres high.

Changed Features

The coastline is changing all the time. In 1898 the sea broke through the 50 metre wide isthmus at Jumpinpin creating North and South Stradbroke Islands.