Gold Coast Information

Extract From the Wikipedia Entry on the Gold Coast

Gold Coast is a city and local government area in the southeast corner of Queensland, Australia. It is the second most populous city in the state and the sixth most populous city in the country. Gold Coast City is renowned for its sunny subtropical climate, popular surfing beaches, expansive waterway and canal systems, a skyline dominated by high-rise apartment buildings, active nightlife for surfers and a wide variety of tourist attractions.

Gold Coast City stretches from Beenleigh on the southern fringe of Logan City, for approximately 60km (38 miles) south to Coolangatta situated on the New South Wales border, and extends west to the foothills of the Great Dividing Range in World Heritage listed Lamington National Park. Tweed Heads and sections of Beaudesert are also commonly referred to as being a part of 'The Gold Coast' region. However, they do not fall into the statistical boundaries of Gold Coast City.

The Gold Coast is situated in the southeast corner of Queensland, to the south of Brisbane, the state capital. Due to continuous development in south-east Queensland over the past 30 years, the Gold Coast/Beenleigh/Logan City/Brisbane region is now a conurbation. The Gold Coast officially stretches from the south end of Logan City and Russell Island to the border with New South Wales. The southernmost town is Coolangatta which includes Point Danger and its lighthouse. Coolangatta is a twin city with Tweed Heads located directly across the border. At 28.1667 S 153.55 E, this is the most easterly point on the Queensland mainland (Point Lookout on the offshore island of North Stradbroke is slightly further east).

From Coolangatta, approximately forty kilometres of holiday resorts and surfing beaches stretch north to the suburb of Main Beach, and then further on Stradbroke Island. The suburbs of Southport and Surfers Paradise form the Gold Coast's commercial centre (latitude about 27.7 degrees south). The administrative area of the Gold Coast City Council (Gold Coast City Council Website) continues north up to and including Beenleigh.

The major river in the area is the Nerang River. Much of the land between the coastal strip and the hinterland was once wetlands drained by this river, but the swamps have been converted into man-made waterways (over 260 km [3], or over 9 times that of Venice, Italy) and artificial islands covered in upmarket homes. The heavily developed coastal strip sits on a narrow barrier sandbar between these waterways and the sea.

Gold Coast Links