Australia has a land area of 7,617,930 sq km (slightly smaller than the US) and has a population of just over 20 million. Circumnavigating the continent, its "Highway 1" is the longest in the world.

For information on Australian tourist destinations see: Australian Attractions.

For more on Australia see: A Guide to Australia or About Australia.

Australia is divided into six states and two territories. The second largest state, Queensland, in the north-east, has a sub-tropical to tropical climate. The capital city is Brisbane with a population of 800,000. Click here for Queensland Weather; the latest weather satellite image; or Brisbane's current weather forecast.

Queensland's economy relies heavily on natural resources, such as coal and copper; rural produce, such as wheat, sugar, beef and wool; and on tourism, because of the great weather and beaches, and unique sites such as the Great Barrier Reef, national history, such as the Stockman's Hall of Fame and diverse landscape and vegetation, from rainforest to arid desert.

The south-east of Queensland, with 80% of the state's population is the tourism capital of Australia, with theme parks such as Dreamworld, Seaworld and Movieworld. About 80 km south of Brisbane is Surfers Paradise, the tourist centre of the Gold Coast, which has over 30 km of beaches that stretch to the New South Wales border.

For a real-time look at the beach check out SurfCam where the scene to the right is updated every 45 seconds.

Click on Map

The Gold Coast district was settled by loggers before 1900, and later became an important sugar and arrowroot growing area.
Infra-structure from mineral-sand mining (mainly rutile & zircon), opened the Broadbeach area to vacationers; and continued until the early 60s, when the suburb became primarily residential.

In the last few years, Broadbeach has grown to accommodate tourists, mainly from intrastate & interstate partly due to the conventions held at the Casino and the Pacific Fair and Oasis Shopping Centres. The area has developed into an important corporate and commercial centre.

Map provided by courtesy of
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