Queensland

**Queensland** adalah sebuah negeri Australia yang menduduki bahagian barat laut tanah besar. 

Ia bersempadan Wilayah Utara di barat, Australia Selatan di barat daya dan New South Wales di selatan. 

Di timur, Queensland bersempadan dengan Coral Sea dan Pacific Ocean. Negeri ini adalah yang kedua terbesar di Australia mengikut kawasan, berikutnya Australia Barat, dan ketiga paling ramai selepas New South Wales dan Victoria.

Kawasan ini pertama diduduki oleh Orang Asli Australia dan Torres Strait Islanders, yang tiba di antara 40,000 dan 65,000 tahun yang lalu, menurut dengan pelbagai kaedah penarikhan. Kemudian, Queensland dijadikan sebuah Crown Colony British yang diasingkan dari New South Wales pada 6 Jun 1859, suatu tarikh kini dirayaikan tahunan sebagai Hari Queensland. 

Kawasan yang kini membentuk Brisbane terdahulunya koloni tahanan Moreton Bay, ditujukan sebagai sebuah tempat untuk pada banduan recidivist yang telah membaut salah sementara melakukan hukuman mereka di New South Wales. 

Negeri ini kemudian mengalakkan perkampungan bebas, dan kini ekonomi Queensland didominasi oleh sektor pertanian, pelancong dan sumber semulajadi.

Penduduk negeri berpadat di Queensland Tenggara, yang termasuk ibu negeri Brisbane, Logan City, Redland City, Ipswich, Toowoomba, dan Gold Coast dan Sunshine Coast. Pusat serantau utama lain termasuk Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Ingham dan Mount Isa.

Queensland sering dinamasamarankan **Sunshine State**, sejak ia menikmati cuaca panas dan bahagian agak banyak dari negeri berada di tropics.

## Etimologi
Negeri ini dinamakan dengan mulianya Ratu Victoria, yang pada 6 Jun 1859 menandatangani suatu pengisytiharan mengasingkan negeri dari New South Wales. Pada waktu itu, Victoria telah menjadi sebuah raja masyhur yang umum, dan dia lebih suka sebuah nama eponymous untuk tanah jajahan baru ke atas *Cooksland*, yang telah dicadangkan oleh menteri Presbyterian tempatan yang berpengaruh John Dunmore Lang dengan mulianya pengendali Inggeris James Cook. Negeri Australia selatan Victoria juga dinamakan selepas beliau.

## Sejarah

Sejarah Queensland menjangkau beribu-ribu tahun, merangkumi kehadiran indigenous yang berpanjangan, dan juga masa-masa berperistiwa selepas penubuhan Eropah. Dianggarkan telah diduduki oleh Orang Asli Australia lebih kurang 40,000 tahun yang lalu, rantau Australia barat laut telah dijelajahi oleh ahli pelayaran Belanda, Portugis dan Perancis sebelum ditemu oleh Kapten James Cook pada 1770. Jun 2009 menandakan ulang tahun 150 dari penciptaannya sebagai sebuah tanah jajahan terasing dari New South Wales. Negeri ini telah menyaksikan keadaan peperangan perbatasan di antara peneroka Eropah dan penduduk Asli, dan juga penggajian buruh murah Kanaka disumber dari South Pacific.

## Geografi

Queensland disempadan di utara oleh Selat Torres dengan Pulau Boigu di tepi pantai New Guinea mewakili lampau utara keseluruhannya wilayah. The triangular Semenanjung Cape York, which points toward New Guinea is the northernmost part of the state's mainland. The western side of the peninsula is washed by the Gulf of Carpentaria, while its eastern side borders the Coral Sea, an arm of the Pacific Ocean. The eastern border is the Pacific Ocean. To the west, Queensland is bordered by the Northern Territory, at the 138°E longitude, and to the south-west by the north-eastern corner of South Australia. 

In the south, there are three sections that comprise its border: the watershed from Point Danger to the Dumaresq River; the river section involving the Dumaresq, the MacIntyre and the Barwon; and 29°S latitude (including some minor historical encroachments below the 29th parallel) over to the South Australian border. 

The state capital is Brisbane, located on the coast 100 kilometres (60&nbsp;mi) by road north of the New South Wales border. The fifth-largest city by area in the world, Mount Isa, is located in Queensland. The city area is in excess of 40,000 square kilometres (15,400&nbsp;sq&nbsp;mi). The state is divided into several officially recognised regions. Other smaller geographical regions of note include the Atherton Tablelands, the Granite Belt, and the Channel Country in the far south-west.

Queensland has many places of natural beauty, including: the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast having some of the state's most popular beaches; the Bunya Mountains and the Great Dividing Range with numerous lookouts, waterfalls and picnic areas; Carnarvon Gorge; Whitsunday Islands and Hinchinbrook Island.

The state contains five World Heritage listed preservation areas: Australian Fossil Mammal Sites at Riversleigh in the Gulf Country, Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, Fraser Island, Great Barrier Reef, and the Wet Tropics of Queensland.

### Cuaca
Because of its size, there is significant variation in climate across the state. Low rainfall and hot summers are typical for the inland west, a monsoonal 'wet' season in the far north, and warm temperate conditions along the coastal strip. Inland and in southern ranges low minimum temperatures are experienced.
The climate of the coastal strip is influenced by warm ocean waters, keeping the region free from extremes of temperature and providing moisture for rainfall.

There are five predominate climatic zones in Queensland, based on temperature and humidity:
* hot humid summer (far north and coastal)
* warm humid summer (coastal elevated hinterlands and coastal south-east)
* hot dry summer, mild winter (central west)
* hot dry summer, cold winter (southern west)
* temperate - warm summer, cold winter (inland south-east, e.g. Granite Belt)

However, most of the Queensland populace experience two weather seasons: a "winter" period of rather warm temperatures and minimal rainfall and a sultry summer period of hot, sticky temperatures and higher levels of rainfall.

The annual mean statistics for some Queensland centres is shown below:

The highest maximum temperature observed in the state is 49.5 °C (121 °F) at Birdsville on 24 December 1972 (The temperature of 53.1&nbsp;°C (128&nbsp;°F) at Cloncurry on 16 January 1889 is not considered official; the figure quoted from Birdsville is the next highest, so that record is considered as being official).

The lowest minimum temperature is −10.6&nbsp;°C (13&nbsp;°F) at Stanthorpe on 23 June 1961 and at The Hermitage on 12 July 1965. 

## Demografi

A smaller proportion of Queensland's population lives in the capital city than any other mainland state. As of June 2004 the capital city represented 45.7% of the population; for the whole country, capital cities represented 63.8% of the total population.

* Kristian: 70.9%:
** Katolik Rom: 24.9%
** Anglican: 22.3%
** Uniting Church: 8.4%
** Lutheran: 2.1%
** Lain: 13.2%
* Bukan-Kristian: 2.3%
** Agama Buddha: 1.1%
** Islam: 0.4%
** Agama Hindu: 0.3%
** Agama Yahudi: 0.1%
** Lain: 0.4%
* Tiada agama: 14.8%
* Tidak dinyatakan: 12.0%

Pada 9 Disember 2005, the population of Queensland officially reached 4 million. Queensland is the fastest growing state in Australia, with over 1,500 people moving to the state per week; 1,000 in the southern part of the state alone.  Predictions show that Queensland will become Australia's second most populous state by the late 2020s.   According to Queensland's Office of Economic and Statistical Research the estimated population of the state at the end of 2007 was 4,228,290 which is almost 20% of Australia's total.

In 2007, Queensland recorded a TFR of 2.1, the highest since 1977. 

## Universiti

* Australian Catholic University (Brisbane campus)
* Bond University
* Central Queensland University
* Griffith University
* James Cook University
* Queensland University of Technology
* University of Queensland
* University of Southern Queensland
* University of the Sunshine Coast

## Lihat juga
**Senarai:**
* Gabenor Queensland
* Local Government Areas of Queensland
* List of highways in Queensland
* List of Queenslanders
* List of schools in Queensland
* Premiers of Queensland
* Protected areas of Queensland
* Regions of Queensland

## Rujukan

## Pautan luar

* Government of Queensland
* Queensland Government skilled and business migration site
* Governor of Queensland
* Parliament of Queensland
* Premier of Queensland
* Official State Tourism Organisation
* Queensland Art Gallery 
* Translink - Public Transport in Queensland- Bus Train Ferry
* Queensland State Archives