Brisbane: Capital city of Queensland, Australia

It has a population of 2.2 million people and is the third biggest city in Australia, after Sydney and Melbourne.

Brisbane Meanjin Queensland
Skyline from Kangaroo Point Cliffs; Queenslander architecture, North Stradbroke Island; Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens, City Hall; Story Bridge, St John's Cathedral; Treasury Building, Merivale Bridge
Map of the Brisbane metropolitan area
Brisbane
Coordinates	27°28′S 153°02′E / 27.467°S 153.033°E / -27.467; 153.033
Population	2,360,241 (2016) (3rd)
• Density	148/km2 (380/sq mi)
Established	13 May 1825 (1825-05-13)
Area	15,842 km2 (6,116.6 sq mi) (2016 GCCSA)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10:00)
Location	732 km (455 mi) N of Sydney 945 km (587 mi) NNE of Canberra 1,374 km (854 mi) NNE of Melbourne 1,600 km (994 mi) NE of Adelaide 3,604 km (2,239 mi) NE of Perth
LGA(s)	City of Brisbane City of Ipswich Lockyer Valley Region Logan City Moreton Bay Region Redland City Scenic Rim Region Somerset Region
Region	South East Queensland
County	Stanley, Canning, Cavendish, Churchill, Ward
State electorate(s)	41 divisions
Federal division(s)	17 divisions
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 26.4 °C 80 °F 16.2 °C 61 °F 1,008.2 mm 39.7 in

The central city is on the Brisbane River, 23 kilometres (14 mi) inland from Moreton Bay.

Brisbane is named after the Brisbane River, which is named after Sir Thomas Brisbane who was Governor of New South Wales from 1821 - 1825.

A penal colony was founded at Redcliffe, 28 kilometres (17 mi) to the north, in 1824. It was moved to North Quay in 1825. The first free settlers moved to Brisbane in 1842. Brisbane became the capital city when Queensland became a separate colony from New South Wales in 1859.

Brisbane has more than 50 skyscrapers more than 100 metres (330 ft) tall.

Brisbane has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa). Summers are hot and wet. Winters are warm and quite dry.

Thunderstorms happen a lot from November to March every year. Very heavy thunderstorms caused big floods and a lot of damage in February 1893, January 1974, January 2011 and January 2013.

The warmest recorded temperature in Brisbane was 43.2 °C (109.8 °F) on 26 January 1940 and the coldest was 2.3 °C (36.1 °F) on 2 July 1896.

 

The City of Brisbane, run by Brisbane City Council, covers a big part of the suburbs close to the city. The outer suburbs are part of Logan City to the south, Moreton Bay Region to the north, the City of Ipswich to the south west, Redland City to the south east, with a small part in the Scenic Rim Region to the west.

Brisbane has many universities and colleges including University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University. The Australian Catholic University, Central Queensland University, James Cook University, University of Southern Queensland and the University of the Sunshine Coast each have a campus in Brisbane.

There are three big vocational schools in Brisbane - Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE and Southbank Institute of TAFE.

Most primary schools and secondary schools are run by the Queensland Government. There are also private, Catholic and other Christian schools.

 

Brisbane hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games, the 1988 World Exposition (called World Expo 88), and some games at the 1987 Rugby World Cup and 2001 Cricket World Cup.

Big sports stadiums include the Brisbane Cricket Ground, Lang Park, Ballymore Stadium and the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre.

Brisbane has teams in all Australian sports competitions.

• List of tallest buildings in Brisbane