Brisbane ( (listen) BRIZ-bən) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia, as well as Oceania. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of around 2.6 million, and it lies at the centre of the South East Queensland metropolitan region, which encompasses a population of around 3.8 million. The Brisbane central business district is situated within a peninsula of the Brisbane River about 15 km (9 mi) from its mouth at Moreton Bay, a bay of the Coral Sea. Geographically Australia's largest metropolitan area, Brisbane extends in all directions along the hilly floodplain of the Brisbane River Valley between Moreton Bay and the Taylor and D'Aguilar mountain ranges. It sprawls across several of Australia's most populous local government areas, most centrally the City of Brisbane, Australia's most populous local government area. The demonym of Brisbane is "Brisbanite".The city and the river are named after Sir Thomas Brisbane who was the governor of New South Wales when the city was founded. The Moreton Bay penal settlement was founded in 1824 at Redcliffe as a place for secondary offenders from the Sydney colony, and soon moved to North Quay in 1825. Brisbane was chosen as Queensland's capital when Queensland separated from New South Wales in 1859. By the late 19th century, the city had grown into a major port and centre of immigration. During World War II, the Allied command in the South West Pacific was based in the city, along with the headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur of the United States Army.Brisbane is classified as a global city, and is an advanced centre of research and innovation in the Asia-Pacific. The city has strengths in technology, including mining research and green energy, medicine and biotechnology, cryptocurrency and digital industries, and robotics. A transport hub, Brisbane is served by large rail, bus and ferry networks, as well as Australia's largest airport and third-largest seaport. A diverse city with over 32% of its metropolitan population being foreign-born, Brisbane is consistently ranked among the world's most livable cities. The culture of Brisbane is noted in particular for Queenslander architecture, spring Jacaranda blossoms, and its outdoor dining culture. Brisbane has hosted major events including the 1982 Commonwealth Games, World Expo 88, the 2014 G20 summit, and will host the 2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.Brisbane is a popular tourist destination. Major landmarks and attractions include South Bank Parklands, the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, the City Botanic Gardens, City Hall, the Story Bridge, the Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens and Lookout, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Howard Smith Wharves, New Farm Park, D'Aguilar National Park, and Moreton Bay and its islands, including Moreton, North Stradbroke and St Helena.

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Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. Tourism may be international, or within the traveller's country. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only", as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes". Tourism can be domestic or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments. Today, tourism is a major source of income for many countries, and affects the economy of both the source and host countries, in some cases being of vital importance. Tourism suffered as a result of a strong economic slowdown of the late-2000s recession, between the second half of 2008 and the end of 2009, and the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, but slowly recovered. International tourism receipts (the travel item in the balance of payments) grew to US$1.03 trillion (€740 billion) in 2011, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 3.8% from 2010. International tourist arrivals surpassed the milestone of 1 billion tourists globally for the first time in 2012, emerging markets such as China, Russia and Brazil had significantly increased their spending over the previous decade. The ITB Berlin is the world's leading tourism trade fair.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/