Queensland, Australia's second largest state (after Western Australia), embracing the northeastern quarter of the country. Extending for 1,300 miles (2,100 km) from north to south and 900 miles (1,450 km) from east to west, the state presents major contrasts in climate, vegetation, land use, and settlement from coast to interior and from tropical north to subtropical south. Queensland has an area of 669,565 square miles (1,734,174 sq km). Most of the state is of low elevation with major uplands only near the east coast.

Queensland is the 2nd largest state in the whole Australian commonwealth. Almost all of the western two thirds of Queensland comprises an extensive basin of recent sedimentary rocks yielding artesian water at depth. Surface drainage is highly seasonal. The rivers flood in summer or early autumn and spread widely as they flow north to the Gulf of Carpentaria, south to the Murray-Darling system, or southwest toward the internal drainage basin focused on Lake Eyre. Streams flowing southwestward, such as the Diamantina River and Coopers Creek, have such gentle gradients.