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Queensland is a big State -the second-largest in
Australia. From Coolangatta, on the
New South
Wales border, to the tip of
Cape York it is 3000 km. From the
Northern Territory border in the west to
Sandy Cape in the east, the distance is more than 1350 km. Queensland's
infrastructure is thus necessarily huge, with a network of over 176,635 km
of roads.
There is also 9357 km of rail, ten major airports,
including two international ones 'Brisbane and
Cairns' and 15 major ports.
Geographically, Queensland can be divided into four main regions, all
running from north to south. First there is the rich, fertile coastal
strip, with reliable rainfall and good weather -this is where 60 per cent
of the population lives. In the far north this section is tropical, with
high rainfall, and access is difficult, with lush rainforests coming right
down to the sea in places. Further south, the rainfall is not as reliable,
but there are sections of subtropical rainforest as far south as the
New South
Wales border and Lamington National Park.
Next there is the Great Dividing Range, a mountain
system running right through the State from north to south. To the west of
the range is the third main region, the rolling, timbered tablelands
typified by the Atherton Tablelands and the Darling Downs. These consist
generally of volcanic, black soil that is particularly fertile and highly
productive. Finally, in the west are the grasslands that make up more than
half the State. This is grazing country; it has a very unreliable rainfall
and droughts are not unusual. It is also the country of waving plains of
Mitchell grass in Australia's vast natural grasslands. A major part of it
is also mulga country, with forests of near impenetrable mulga trees. The
mulga is a lifesaver, though, as it sustains stock through droughts.
The Nerang River enters The Broadwater at its
southern end, after passing behind the hotels and high-rise apartments
 of
downtown Surfers Paradise. Although lined for much of its lower length
with houses, shops and apartments, and playing host to myriad fast-moving
water craft, the Nerang estuary still produces good to excellent catches
of whiting, bream and dusky flathead, particularly at night and in the
early hours of the morning, just before and after first light.
Queensland has the fastest growing population in
Australia: in 1938, the population was just one million, in 1974 it
reached two million, and by March 1992 it was three million. It is
anticipated that the population will increase to between 4.1 and 4.3
million by the year 2011. In common with most other developed regions,
Queensland is experiencing a 'greying' of the population, with increasing
median ages and a higher proportion of people in the 65 years and over
age-group. This trend is expected to accelerate during this century. |
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