Introduction The great barrier reef is one of the most well known tourist location in the world as it is the largest reef in the world. The reef is home to a series of flora and fauna, it hosts a total of about 1500 species of fish, 411 types of coral, 134 species of sharks and 6 out 7 turtle species. The reef has a bluish - greenish colour to it and makes all different shapes through out the area. Tourism to the reef generates approximately $6 billion per year.
How big is it? The Great Barrier Reef has an area of 344,400 km². The reef is the largest living thing on Earth and is even visible from space.
Location The Reef is is just off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The coordinates of The Great Barrier Reef are 18.2861° South and 147.7000° East. The Reef is 2,575 kilometres from the coast of Queensland
Weather The Great Barrier Reef has a tropical climate, with temperatures in summer between 24 and 33 degrees Celsius and in winter about 14 to 26 degrees.
How was the Reef formed? The Great Barrier Reef is an extremely old and large land mass. It was formed from living coral growing on dead coral going back to about as much as twenty million years. Many generations of dead coral have formed themselves into great walls of rock covered in a range of living organisms such as coral, algae, anemones, sponges, fish, worms, starfish, turtles, molluscs, snakes and crustaceans.
Other Australian Landforms
Uluru Uluru is a big sandstone rock in the middle of the Northern Territory, Red Centre desert. 450km from the nearest large town, Alice Springs. It’s sacred to indigenous aboriginal and believed to be about 700 million years old.
Murray River The Murray River is Australia's longest river stretching to 2508 km. The Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains. The Murray is the third longest river in the world, after the Amazon and the Nile. Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range is Australia’s largest mountain range and the third longest in the world. The land stretches out for an area of 2,456,547 km². Its highest point is Mount Kosciuszko at 2.2km.