Urban Centres in Queensland
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland and located in the south-east corner of the state. Established in 1825 as a penal colony and recognised as a city in 1902, Brisbane is now a thriving metropolis and home to one and a half million residents.
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Gold Coast
The Gold Coast in south-eastern Queensland is approximately 60km long and boasts some of the most beautiful beaches in the area. Home of the famous "Surfer's Paradise" hotel in the 1920s and 30s which brought tourism to the area initially, the Gold Coast is now dominated by high rise accommodation.
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Sunshine Coast
Sunshine Coast is located in south-east Queensland, north of the state capital Brisbane. It is a popular tourism centre and home to beautiful beaches, national parks and many popular attractions including Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo, Aussie World, the Majestic Theatre and the Big Pineapple.
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Townsville
Townsville is located in the tropics on Queensland's east coast, approximately 1,300km north of Brisbane and 350km south of Cairns.
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Cairns
Cairns, in north-east Queensland, is over 1,700 kilometres away from the state capital Brisbane. The settlement was created in 1876 as mining outpost and named after the Governer of the state, William Wellington Cairns.
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Toowoomba
Toowoomba is in the south-east corner of Queensland, near the border with New South Wales. It is located inland, approximately 130km from the pacific coast and the state capital Brisbane. It is said to be the second largest inland city in all Australia, after Canberra. Toowoomba sits about 700 metres above sea level, on the Great Dividing Range.
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Rockhampton
Rockhampton in eastern Queensland is over 600km north of Brisbane and became a city in 1902. It has a sister city in Japan called Ibusuki.
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Mackay
Mackay, on the eastern coast of Queensland, lies approximately 900 km north of Brisbane. The city is in the sub-tropics and has a year-round average temperature of 23 degrees celcius.
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Bundaberg
The south-east Queensland city of Bundaberg was founded in 1867, but not named until 1870. Today it's main industries are sugar cane production, tourism and fruit and vegetable farming. The city's tourism is mainly thanks to it's proximity to the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef.
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Hervey Bay
Hervey Bay in south-eastern Queensland is a resort city that has been formed from an amalgamation of growing seaside villages in the last 25 years. The bay itself is a large sweeping beach on the South Pacific shore with several others close by, and these beaches and the subtropical climate make the area a very popular tourist destination.
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Gladstone
Gladstone, on the eastern Queensland coast, is approximately 550 kilometres north of Brisbane. It is an industrial port city, supported by large scale plants working with oil, aluminium and chemicals.
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