Brisbane is the capital 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 2.3 million,
and the South East Queensland urban
conurbation, centred on Brisbane, encompasses a population of more than 3.4
million. The Brisbane central business district
stands on the original European settlement
and is situated inside a bend of the Brisbane River,
about 15 kilometres (9 miles) from its mouth at
Moreton Bay. The metropolitan area
extends in all directions along the floodplain of the Brisbane River valley between Moreton Bay and the Great Dividing Range. The metropolitan area sprawls across several of
Australia's most populous local government areas (LGA), including the City of Brisbane, which is by
far the most populous LGA in the nation.