Brisbane

Brisbane is the state capital of Queensland and its most populous city. It is also the third most populous city in Australia, behind southern rivals Sydney and Melbourne. The city is situated on the Brisbane River on a low-lying floodplain between Moreton Bay and the Great Dividing Range in south-eastern Queensland. The local indigenous people knew the area as Mian-jin, meaning 'place shaped as a spike'. The city is named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, the Governor of New South Wales from 1821 to 1825. Brisbane's demonym is a Brisbanite.

The city played a central role in the Allied campaign during World War II as the South West Pacific headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur.

Brisbane was inhabited before European settlement by the Turrbal people whose ancestors migrated to the region from across the Torres Strait. They knew the area as Mian-jin, meaning 'place shaped as a spike'.

The Moreton Bay area was initially explored by Matthew Flinders, landing and naming "Red Cliff Point" – after the red-coloured cliffs visible from the bay, known today as Woody Point – on 17 July 1799. In 1823, Governor of New South Wales, Thomas Brisbane, instructed that a new northern penal settlement be developed, and an exploration party led by John Oxley further explored Moreton Bay. Oxley discovered, named and sailed up the Brisbane River as far as Goodna, some 20 kilometres (12 mi) upstream from the Brisbane central business district. Oxley recommended Red Cliff Point for the new colony, reporting that ships could land at any tide and easily get close to the shore.

Brisbane has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen climate classification Cfa) with hot, humid summers and dry, mild winters. From late Spring through to early Autumn, thunderstorms are common over Brisbane, with the more severe events accompanied by large damaging hail stones, torrential rain and destructive winds.

The city's highest recorded temperature was 43.2 °C (110 °F) on 26 January 1940. On 19 July 2007, Brisbane's temperature fell below freezing point for the first time since records began, registering 0.1 °C (31.8 °F) at the airport. Brisbane's wettest day was 21 January 1887, when 465 millimetres (18.3 in) of rain fell on the city, the highest maximum daily rainfall of Australia's capital cities. From 2006, Brisbane and surrounding temperate areas have experienced the most severe drought in over a century, with dam levels dropping below one quarter of their normal capacity. Residents have been mandated by local laws to observe level 6 water restrictions on gardening and other outdoor water usage. Per Capita water usage is below 140 litres per day, giving Brisbane one of the lowest per capita usages of water of any Western city in the world.

Brisbane has multi-campus universities and colleges including the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University. Other universities which have campuses in Brisbane include the Australian Catholic University, Central Queensland University, James Cook University, the University of the Sunshine Coast and the University of Southern Queensland.

There are three major TAFE colleges in Brisbane; the Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, the Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE, and the Southbank Institute of TAFE. Brisbane is also home to numerous other independent tertiary education providers, including the Australian College of Natural Medicine, the Brisbane College of Theology, QANTM, as well as Jschool: Journalism Education & Training.

The majority of Brisbane's preschool, primary, and secondary schools are run under the jurisdiction of Education Queensland, a branch of the Queensland Government. There are also a large number of independent and Roman Catholic run schools.

Brisbane has a growing live music scene, both popular and classical. The Queensland Performing Arts Complex consists of the Lyric Theatre, a Concert Hall, Cremorne Theatre and the Playhouse Theatre. The Queensland Ballet, Opera Queensland, Queensland Theatre Company and other performance art groups stage regular performances in the different venues.

Popular tourst and recreation areas in Brisbane include the South Bank Parklands, Roma Street Parkland, the City Botanic Gardens, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Brisbane Forest Park and Portside Wharf.

The suburb of Mount Coot-tha is home to a popular state forest, and the Brisbane Botanic Gardens which houses the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium and the "Tsuki-yama-chisen" Japanese Garden (formerly of the Japanese Government Pavilion of Brisbane's World Expo '88).

Brisbane has over 27 km (16.8 mi) of bicycle pathways, mostly surrounding the Brisbane river and city centre, extending to the west of the city. Another popular recreation is the Story Bridge adventure climb.

Population : 1,857,594 (2007)
Density : 918/km² (2,377.6/sq mi) (2006)
Established : 1824
Area : 5904.8 km² (2,279.9 sq mi)
Time zone : AEST (No Daylight Saving) (UTC+10)
Location : 931 km (578 mi) N of Sydney
1692 km (1,051 mi) NNE of Melbourne
1969 km (1,223 mi) NE of Adelaide
4262 km (2,648 mi) E of Perth
943 km (586 mi) NNE of Canberra
LGA : Brisbane
County : Stanley
State District : various (38)