page_title: Great Dividing Range
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Great Dividing Range / Description
caption_attribution_description: Great Dividing Range sign on Kings Highway between Braidwood and Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia Picture taken by AYArktos September 2005
context_page_description: The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's largest mountain range. It is the fifth longest land-based range in the world. The range is 3,500 kilometres in length and runs along the whole east coast of Australia. In the north it starts from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland. In Victoria the range turns west and ends at the Grampians in western Victoria. The width of the range varies from about 160 km to over 300 km.
  The difference in height between the narrow coastal area and the eastern mountains has affected Australia's climate. This caused by the mountains causing lots of rain as clouds move over them. There are many gorges where the rise is tall.
context_section_description: The Great Dividing Range is not a single mountain range. There is a complex of mountain ranges, plateaus, upland areas and escarpments. In some places the land is nearly flat, with only very low hills.  The highlands range from 300 m (984 ft) to 1,600 m (5,249 ft) in height.
  The Great Dividing Range is made of limestones, sandstone, quartzite, schists and metamorphic dolomite. Their shapes have been made by faulting and folding processes.
  The crest of the range is the boundary between the drainage basins of rivers; those which drain east into the Pacific Ocean, or southward into Bass Strait; and those rivers which drain west and south into the Murray-Darling rivers. In the north, the rivers on the west side of the range drain towards the Gulf of Carpentaria.
  The higher and more rugged parts of the "range" are not always part of the crest of the range. The term "Great Dividing Range" is used for both the watershed crest, and all of the hills and mountains between the east coast of Australia and the central plains and lowlands. At some places the Great Dividing Range can be up to 400 km (249 mi) wide. Most of the ranges and other features have their own names.
caption: Great Dividing Range sign on the Kings Highway between Braidwood and Bungendore, New South Wales
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "OLYMPUS OPTICAL CO.,LTD", "Image Model": "C740UZ", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "v754g-79", "Image DateTime": "2005:09:11 15:59:21", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image CustomRendered": "Normal", "Image ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Auto", "Image DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Image GainControl": "None", "Image Contrast": "Normal", "Image Saturation": "Normal", "Image Sharpness": "Normal", "Image ExifOffset": "358", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1775", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9100", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "16/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Creative", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:09:11 15:59:21", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:09:11 15:59:21", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "17/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "79/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1536", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2048", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}