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Map of official regions of Queensland.

Cities and highways in Queensland

The Regions of Queensland refers to the geographic areas of the Australian state of Queensland. Due to its large size and decentralised population, the state is often divided into regions for statistical and administrative purposes. Each region varies somewhat in terms of its economy, population, climate, geography, flora and fauna. Cultural and official perceptions and definitions of the various regions differ somewhat depending on the government agency or popular group by which they are being applied. These regions are known as “Statistical Divisions”.

Queensland is currently divided into 13 Statistical Divisions (SDs) (11 Prior to July 2006), as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) ^[2]. These SDs can further be disaggregated into Local Government Areas (LGAs) (158 LGAs in Queensland in July 2006) and Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) (477 SLAs in Queensland in July 2007, 478 including the Unincorporated Islands SLA). Whilst LGAs tend to fit entirely within SDs, there are a few exceptions where LGAs are split across several SDs. SLAs, which are either the same size or smaller than LGAs, fit entirely within SDs.

1 Overview
2 South East Queensland
3 Wide Bay - Burnett
4 Darling Downs
5 South West
6 Fitzroy
7 Mackay
8 Northern
9 Far North
10 North West
11 Other definitions
12 References
13 See also

[edit] Overview

Various Queensland state government departments adopt different definitions of regions for administrative and statistical purposes. The Queensland government Office of Economic and Statistical Research ^[1] uses the ABS definitions of the 13 SDs. These are (in standard order according to the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC))):

Brisbane
Gold Coast
Sunshine Coast
West Moreton
Wide Bay-Burnett
Darling Downs
South West
Fitzroy
Central West
Mackay
Northern
Far North
North West

These SDs are used by both the ABS ^[2] and OESR ^[1] and are the basis for this article. Sometimes several of these regions may be combined and referred to as a single region (for example the Mackay, Northern, and Far Northern regions may be referred to as 'North Queensland'). Smaller regions may also exist within these defined regions, such as the Torres Strait Islands or the Whitsunday Islands.

[edit] South East Queensland

South East Queensland is commonly considered to be a single region. It contains four SDs, Brisbane, West Moreton, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast. The region has a population of 2,706,297 people ^[1], or 66.1% of the state's population. The area contains Brisbane, the state's capital city, as well as the cities of Gold Coast and Ipswich. It also contains the areas of the Sunshine Coast, which comprises several municipalities. The region is the major administrative and commercial centre and focus of tourism within Queensland. The total area of the region is 22,317.1 km² ^[5].

[edit] Brisbane

Brisbane is the largest city in both the South East Queensland region and the state of Queensland.

The Brisbane SD comprises the greater Brisbane metropolitan area, including the Brisbane City Council. The region consists of the state's largest urban area containing a population of 1,820,400 people, or 44.5% of the state's total ^[1]. It is the state's main commercial and administrative centre and contains the state's largest domestic and international airport. The total area of the SD is 5901.56 km² ^[5].

Local Government Areas within the region are ^[1]:

( (C) City, (S) Shire )

[edit] West Moreton

The West Moreton SD contains the rural areas west of Ipswich (Laidley, Gatton) but east of Toowoomba. ^[5]. The region has a population of 72,713, 1.8% of the state’s total ^[1]. The total area of the region is 11,421.43 km² ^[5].