North Queensland Queensland
Largest City - Townsville
LGA:	Whitsunday Regional Council Burdekin Shire Council Hinchinbrook Shire Council Mackay Regional Council
State District:	Whitsunday, Burdekin, Hinchinbrook, Mackay
Federal Division:	Dawson, Kennedy

North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the state of Queensland in Australia. Queensland is a massive state, larger than most countries, and the tropical northern part of it has been historically remote and undeveloped, resulting in a distinctive regional character and identity.

[edit] Geography

There is no official boundary that separates North Queensland from the rest of the state. Unofficially it is usually considered to have a southern border beginning south of the Mackay Regional Council southern boundary, but historically it has been as far south as Rockhampton. To the north is the Far North Queensland region, centred around Cairns and out west is the Gulf Country.

Suburbs of Townsville around Castle Hill

A coastal region centred around its largest settlement is the greater city of Townsville which is often considered the unofficial 'capital' of North Queensland. Townsville is the location of a major seaport handling exports from mines in Mount Isa and cattle exports from coastal and inland areas. The region also contains a bulk sugar exporting terminal at Lucinda in the region's north. Mackay is Australia's sugar capital and produces the most sugar in Australia and is shipped at Mackay Harbour. Mackay is also one of Australia's biggest coal exporters as it is close to Queensland's major mines. Dalrymple Bay, south of Mackay is another port where coal and sugar is exported. It also contains the inland city of Charters Towers and the coastal towns of Ayr and Ingham.

There a number of sugar mills in the region, like this one at Proserpine

Other Communities in North Queensland include Home Hill, Sarina, Bowen, Airlie Beach and Proserpine.

[edit] State of North Queensland

Throughout the years, there have been many calls for the formation of a new State. Many proposals have been drawn up, regarding the borders, name and the debate over which city will become the Capital.^[1] Although the Queensland Parliament has quickly denied any efforts for the formation of the new state.

[edit] See also

Queensland portal

• Regions of Queensland

[edit] References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008)

This Queensland location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e

This North Queensland related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e