Brisbane; a short history

Brisbane is the capital of and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland, and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2.5 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred on Brisbane, encompasses a population of more than 3.5 million. The Brisbane central business district stands on the historic European settlement and is situated inside a peninsula of the Brisbane River about 15 kilometres from its mouth at Moreton Bay. The demonym for this city is "Brisbanite".

One of the oldest cities in Australia, Brisbane was founded upon the ancient homelands of the indigenous Turrbal and Jagera peoples. Named after the Brisbane River on which it is located—which in turn takes its name from Scottish explorer John Oxley who explored Moreton Bay during 1823–24—the area was chosen as a place for secondary offenders from Sydney. A penal settlement was established at Redcliffe in 1824 and brisbane was founded in 1825 as a free colony with convict labour being brought to work in local cotton plantations and timber camps. Free settlers were drawn to Brisbane by waves of immigration during the 1840s; Germans were attracted to settle here because land was cheaper than that offered by other colonies; others came seeking land for agriculture or grazing purposes while some simply wanted to escape overcrowding or political turmoil elsewhere (such as Ireland). Immigration continued throughout much of 19th century; however problems arose when new arrivals brought diseases such as typhoid fever which killed many Aboriginals living around Brisbanes riverside settlements – leading to calls for better quarantine facilities to be established at ports such as Port Curtis (now Gladstone) where immigrants first disembarked before travelling up river to Moreton Bay.

The 20th century saw an influx of migrants from all over Europe including Italians, Greeks, Dutch, Germans as well as many British people looking for a new life after World War II ended – making Brisbane one of Australias most culturally diverse cities today with almost half of residents born overseas. In 1925 construction began on what would become one of Brisbanes most iconic landmarks: Story Bridge which spans across the width of the Brisbane River connecting Fortitude Valley with Kangaroo Point; it opened 6 years later in 1931. The following decade saw another major engineering feat with completion of Wynnum Road Bridge – then Australias longest concrete bridge – which linked Lota with Tingalpa (today this route is known as Gateway Motorway).

The Great Depression hit Australia hard but fortunately ended just before World War II began; many men enlisted into military service while women took up jobs vacated by them becoming an important part of Brisbanes war effort industry-wise (particularly within munitions factories). After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor American troops were stationed in Townsville meaning even more people passed through Brisbane en route north – further boosting numbers during what would otherwise have been tough economic times; tourism also increased due largely to servicemen wanting to visit nearby beaches while on leave.

In 1949 floods devastated much low-lying areas around Wivenhoe Dam leaving thousands homeless; however this natural disaster also resulted in improvements made to infrastructure including raising houses/businesses above flood level and building stronger levees along riverbanks plus creation/improvementof drainage systems throughout south east Queensland generally speaking. Despite these precautions another major flood occurred 54 years later causing widespread damage once again especially within inner-city suburbs like Rockleaand Toowong where large shopping centres had only recently been constructed (these have since been rebuilt further away from rivers edge).

Since then life has continued relatively smoothly within Greater Brisbane with strong growth experienced particularly during 1970s oil crisis when petrol prices quadrupled almost overnight resulting in many people moving out into newly created satellite townships like Ipswich so they could commute into city for work each day rather than pay high fuel costs; public transport improved considerably during this time too making getting around easier/more affordable for those without cars.