Australian Bureau of Statistics

ENVIRONMENT

Geography
Government
Climatic Data, Brisbane


Geography

Situated generally between 10° and 29° south latitude and between 138° and 154° east longitude, Queensland occupies the north-eastern portion of the Australian continent. Of the total area of approximately 1.73 million square kilometres, just over half is north of the Tropic of Capricorn. Of the states and territories of Australia, Queensland ranks second in area and third in population.

Government

Queensland is a constituent state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and observes the Australian Constitution. While returning elected members to both upper and lower houses of the Federal Parliament, Queensland is unique in that its own State Parliament has only one house – the Legislative Assembly. Local government derives its powers from Acts passed by the State Parliament. The capital city is Brisbane.

Climatic Data, Brisbane

		2010			2011
Month	Unit	Dec	Mar	Jun	Sep
Mean daily maximum	0C	26.8	27.8	20.3	23.6
Mean daily minimum	0C	20.5	20.2	9.5	11.4
Rainfall, total	mm	499.4	188.6	7.4	16.4
Rain days	no.	23	16	4	7
Mean daily sunshine	hours	4.5	6.4	6.9	9.6
Strong wind days, over 50 km/h	no.	8	3	1	5
Source: Bureau of Meteorology.