Brisbane

Brisbane (brĭz`bən), city (1991 pop. 1,145,537), capital of Queensland, E Australia, on the Brisbane River above its mouth on Moreton Bay. Brisbane is Australia's third largest city and an administrative, commercial, industrial, and cultural center. It has shipyards, oil refineries, food-processing plants, textile mills, automobile and telecommunications plants, and railroad workshops, but in recent years tourism and commercial expansion have dominated the city's development. Extensive suburban growth has accompanied the city's rapid increase in population. The area was settled in 1824 as a penal colony, and the city was named in 1834 for Sir Thomas Brisbane, governor of New South Wales. In 1925 the Greater Brisbane Act unified the administration of 19 formerly separate localities. Brisbane is the seat of the Univ. of Queensland (1909), a national art gallery (1895), a museum (1871), and a performing arts complex.

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Brisbane

City (pop., 2004 est.: urban agglom. 1,774,890), southeastern Queensland, Australia. Lying on the northern bank of the Brisbane River above its mouth at Moreton Bay, the site was first explored by the English in 1823. It was founded as a penal colony in 1824 and was declared a town in 1834 when it was named in honour of Sir Thomas Brisbane, former governor of New South Wales. Made the capital of Queensland in 1859, it was joined with South Brisbane in the 1920s to form Greater Brisbane. The city, connected by bridges and ferries, is Australia's third largest; it is the hub of rail lines and highways and a busy port. It is the site of the Queensland Cultural Centre and a university.

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Brisbane

a port in E Australia, the capital of Queensland: founded in 1824 as a penal settlement; vast agricultural hinterland. Pop.: 1 508 161 (2001)