A British colony occupying the NE. of Australia, 1300 m. from N. to S. and 800 m. from E. to W., two-thirds of it within the tropics, and occupying an area three times as large as that of France. Mountains stretch away N. parallel to the coast, and much of the centre is tableland; one-half of it is covered with forests, and it is fairly well watered, the rivers being numerous, and the chief the Fitzroy and the Burdekin. The population is only half a million, and the chief towns are Brisbane, the capital, Gympie, Maryborough, Rockhampton, and Townsville. The pastoral industry is very large, and there is considerable mining for gold. The mineral resources are great, and a coal-field still to be worked exists in it as large as the whole of Scotland. Maize and sugar are the principal products of the soil, and wool, gold, and sugar are the principal exports; the colony is capable of immense developments. Until 1859 the territory was administered by New South Wales, but in that year it became an independent colony, with a government of its own under a Governor appointed by the Crown; the Parliament consists of two Houses, a Legislative Council of 41 members, nominated by the Governor, and the Legislative Assembly of 72 members, elected for three years by manhood suffrage.