a state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Queensland occupies the northeastern section of the continent and adjacent islands in the Pacific Ocean, in the Torres Strait, and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Area, 1,727,500 sq km; population, 1,848,600 (1972), with approximately 80 percent in urban areas. The capital is the city of Brisbane.
The eastern half of Queensland is occupied by the northern part of the Great Dividing Range (with elevations to 1,611 m) and the western half by a low-lying plain. Northern Queensland has a subequatorial climate and the southern part, a tropical climate. Average monthly temperatures descend from north to south, from 25° to 20°C in summer (January) and from 25° to 15°C in winter (July). On the eastern mountain slopes and the coastal lowland, precipitation measures 2,000 mm per year and up to 2,500 mm in some places. The tropical and subtropical forests that once covered the mountains have in some places been cut down and burned to make way for pasture. Savannas and deserts are typical of the western section of Queensland.
Somewhat more than 2 percent of the land in the state is cultivated. Most of the land, especially the pasture, belongs to large capitalist farms. Livestock raising is the main agricultural branch of industry. Queensland has 32.4 percent of Australia’s population of meat and dairy cattle (7.9 million head in 1971), 8.3 percent of the sheep (14.8 million), and 19.2 percent of the swine (500,000); it produces approximately 8.6 percent of the wool clip (unwashed), 19 percent of the meat, 9.2 percent of the butter, and 9.9 percent of the cheese. On the coastal plains and seaward mountain slopes are plantings of sugarcane (95 percent of all Australia’s sugarcane) and tropical fruit (pineapple, bananas, papayas, mangoes, and others). On the western mountain slopes and in the Darling River valley are crops of wheat and corn, often in combination with dairy farms.
The mining industry has been developed in Queensland; in 1971 the state was first in the country in copper mining (approximately three-fourths of all copper mining; Mount Isa and Mount Morgan) and bauxite mining (approximately two-thirds of all bauxite mining; Cape York Peninsula); second in zinc and lead (Mount Isa), rutile and zircon (coastal sands), coal (Bowen, Blaff, and elsewhere), and tungsten mining; and third in gold mining and petroleum and natural gas extraction (near Roma, from where they are transported by pipeline to Brisbane). Uranium (Mary Kathleen), tin (Herberton), and iron ore are also mined. The machine-building, chemical, food, and other industries are located in Queensland. The key industrial centers are Brisbane, Gladstone, Townsville, Rockhampton, Mackay, and Cairns. In the town of Mount Isa is a blister copper smelting plant.
V. W. ANDREEVA