Gold Coast (pop. 607,665) is a city located in the southeast corner of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is a local government authority that covers an area of 515 square miles (1,334 square kilometers) and extends along about 35 miles (55 kilometers) of coastline from Logan River and Moreton Bay in the north to Coolangatta, on the border between the states of Queensland and New South Wales. Industries in the city include tourism, fishing, and manufacturing.
Visitors from around the world come to surf, swim, and sunbathe at the city’s beaches. The Gold Coast has several popular theme parks. Dreamworld and Warner Bros. Movie World feature thrill rides and other attractions. Sea World is a marine animal park. Lamington and Springbrook national parks, southwest of the city, are popular spots for hiking. The Gold Coast Hinterland Great Walk is a 33.5-mile (54-kilometer) hiking path that crosses through the parks’ rain forests and highlands.
The Yugambeh, an Australian Aboriginal people, were the original inhabitants of the region. In the early 1840’s, surveyors from the colonial government of New South Wales mapped the region. In the mid-1800’s, loggers began cutting timber in the area for use in the cities of Sydney and Brisbane. White settlers built cattle stations in what became the Gold Coast. Nerang, the area’s first township, was surveyed and established in 1865. Developers built hotels and other resort facilities in the area in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. In 1959 the area became the city of Gold Coast. A building boom in the 1960’s and 1970’s saw many high-rise buildings added to the city’s skyline. In 2011, the city was chosen to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
