Portal:Queensland

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The Queensland Portal

Queensland(locally/ˈkwiːnzlænd/KWEENZ-land,commonly abbreviated asQld) is astatein northeasternAustralia,the second-largest and third-most populous of the Australian states. It is bordered by theNorthern Territory,South AustraliaandNew South Walesto the west, southwest and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by theCoral Seaand thePacific Ocean;to its north is theTorres Strait,separating the Australian mainland fromPapua New Guinea,and theGulf of Carpentariato the north-west. With an area of 1,723,030 square kilometres (665,270 sq mi), Queensland is the world'ssixth-largest subnational entity;itis larger than all but 16 countries.Due to its size, Queensland's geographical features and climates are diverse, includingtropical rainforests,rivers,coral reefs,mountain rangesand sandy beaches in itstropicalandsub-tropicalcoastal regions, as well asdesertsandsavannain thesemi-aridanddesertclimatic regions of its interior.

Queensland has a population of over 5.5 million, concentrated along the east coast, particularly inSouth East Queensland.The capital and largest city in the state isBrisbane,Australia'sthird-largest city.Ten of Australia's thirty largest cities are located in Queensland, the largest outside Brisbane being theGold Coast,theSunshine Coast,Townsville,Cairns,Ipswich,andToowoomba.28.9% of the state's population areimmigrants.(Full article...)

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Qantas was founded inWinton, Queenslandon 16 November 1920 asQueensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services LimitedbyPaul McGuiness,Hudson Fysh,Fergus McMasterand Arthur Baird. Initially the airline operated air mail services subsidised by the Australian government, linking railheads in western Queensland. Between 1926 and 1928 Qantas built several aircraft inLongreachand made the inaugural flight of theRoyal Flying Doctor Service of Australia,departing fromCloncurry.Qantas Empire Airways Limited (QEA) was formed by Qantas and Britain'sImperial Airwaysin 1934. They flew internationally from May 1935, when the service fromDarwinwas extended toSingapore.As operations expanded with flying boat service World War disrupted air travel until 1943. In 1947, QEA was nationalised, with the Australian Labor government buying the shares. In the same year the airline took delivery ofLockheed 749 Constellationsand these took over the trunk route toLondon.In 1958, Qantas became the second round-the-world airline, flying Super Constellations westward from Australia to London through Asia and theMiddle East.

In 1956, Qantas ordered theBoeing 707-138jet airliner and the first was delivered in June 1959. The first jet service operated by Qantas was on 29 July 1959 from Sydney to San Francisco via Nadi and Honolulu. On 5 September 1959 Qantas became the third airline to fly jets across the North Atlantic. In 1966, the airline diversified its business by opening the 450 room Wentworth Hotel in Sydney. In 1967, the airline placed orders for theBoeing 747and Qantas Empire Airways changed its name to Qantas Airways. WhenCyclone Tracydevastated the town of Darwin at Christmas 1974, Qantas established a world record for the most people ever embarked on a single aircraft when it evacuated 673 people on a single Boeing 747 flight. In March 1979, Qantas operated its final Boeing 707 flight from Auckland to Sydney, and became the only airline in the world to have a fleet that consisted of Boeing 747s only.

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Image 1Noosa Headson theSunshine Coast,Queensland's third largest city and a major tourist destination (fromQueensland)
Image 2TheGold Coast,Queensland's second-largest city and a major tourist destination (fromQueensland)
Image 3Government House,seat of theGovernor(fromQueensland)
Image 4Cricketgame atThe Gabba,a 42,000-seat round stadium inBrisbane(fromQueensland)
Image 5Commonly designatedregions of Queensland,withCentral Queenslanddivided intoMackayandFitzroysubregions (fromQueensland)
Image 6Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law,headquarters of theSupreme Court of QueenslandandDistrict Court of Queensland(fromQueensland)
Image 7Hill Inlet at theWhitsunday Islands.(fromQueensland)
Image 8The Great Court at theUniversity of Queenslandin Brisbane, Queensland's oldest university (fromQueensland)
Image 9Parade of troops in Brisbane, prior to departure for theBoer Warin South Africa (fromQueensland)
Image 10Parliament House,seat of theQueensland Parliament(fromQueensland)
Image 11Passenger train atOxley railway stationon theIpswich/Rosewood linewithin theQueensland Rail City network(fromQueensland)
Image 12The Ekka (theRoyal Queensland Exhibition) is held each August at the Brisbane Showgrounds. (fromQueensland)
Image 13Lake McKensie,K'gari (Fraser Island)(fromQueensland)
Image 14Köppen climate typesin Queensland (fromQueensland)
Image 15Blackbirded South Sea Islanders on aSugarcaneplantation in Queensland. (fromQueensland)
Image 16Aftermath of the 1861Cullin-La-Ringo massacrein which 19 settlers were killed by Aboriginal people, the deadliest attack on settlers in the frontier wars (fromQueensland)
Image 17Cargo ships at thePort of Gladstone,Queensland's largestcommodity seaport(fromQueensland)
Image 18TheMossman River,flowing through theDaintree RainforestinFar North Queensland(fromQueensland)
Image 19Skyline of theBrisbane central business district.Brisbane is aglobal cityand the state's largest economic hub. (fromQueensland)
Image 20Kanaka workersin a sugar cane plantation, late 19th century (fromQueensland)
Image 21Returned World War II soldiers march in Queen Street, Brisbane, 1944 (fromQueensland)
Image 22Fighting betweenBurke and Wills's supply party and Aboriginal Australians at Bulla in 1861 (fromQueensland)
Image 23Gold mineatRavenswoodinNorth Queensland.Mining is one of the state's major industries (fromQueensland)
Image 24CaptainJames Cookclaims theeast coast of Australiafor theKingdom of Great BritainatPossession Islandin 1770 (fromQueensland)
Image 25TheGreat Barrier Reef,which extends along most of Queensland'sCoral Seacoastline (fromQueensland)
Image 26TheMcPherson RangeatLamington National ParkinSouth East Queensland(fromQueensland)
Image 27Brisbane,capital and most populous city of Queensland (fromQueensland)

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Mineralogyis a mining company owned byClive PalmerofQueensland,Australia.Mineralogy signed a deal with the Chinese infrastructure companyCITIC Pacificto develop a small portion of a largeiron oredeposit in thePilbararegion ofWestern Australia.The agreement involves the development of twomagnetitemines and construction of port infrastructure atCape Preston.Mineralogy was paid $415 million USD for the rights to mine the ore. (Full article...)

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Did you know(auto-generated)

... thatLachlan Murdochwas forced to resign as a director ofPrime Media Groupbecause the company owneda radio stationon Queensland'sSunshine Coast?
... that despite being described in 1840, thechestnut-backed buttonquailwas only confirmed in Queensland in 2020?

More did You Know?

...that the town ofKillarneywas hit by a destructivetornadoon Saturday 23 November 1968, which destroyed many buildings?
...that theWindorah Solar Farmuses five concentrated solar dishes each containing 112 square mirrors which sit atop 13 m masts and can rotate 360°?
...thatWivenhoe Dam(pictured)is home to the vulnerableQueensland lungfish?
...thatStanthorpeholds the record for the lowest temperature recorded inQueenslandat -10.6 °C on 23 June 1961?