Brisbane is the state capital of Queensland and its most populous city. It is also the third most populous city in Australia, behind southern rivals Sydney and Melbourne. The city is situated on the Brisbane River on a low-lying floodplain between Moreton Bay and the Great Dividing Range in south-eastern Queensland. The local indigenous people knew the area as Mian-jin, meaning 'place shaped as a spike'. The city is named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, the Governor of New South Wales from 1821 to 1825. Brisbane's demonym is a Brisbanite.
The first European settlement in Queensland was a penal colony at Redcliffe, 28 kilometres (17 mi) north of Brisbane, in 1824. That settlement was soon abandoned and moved to the now Brisbane central business district in 1825. Free settlers were permitted from 1842. Brisbane was chosen as the capital when Queensland was proclaimed a separate colony in 1859.
Brisbane is controlled by the Brisbane City Council. In 1925, the City of Brisbane Act was passed by the Queensland Government, abolishing 20 local government authorities in the city and forming the largest local authority in Australia, with a population of over a million.
The city played a central role in the Allied campaign during World War II as the South West Pacific headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur.
More recently, Brisbane hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games, World Expo '88 and the 2001 Goodwill Games.

Popular tourst and recreation areas in Brisbane include the South Bank Parklands, Roma Street Parkland, the City Botanic Gardens, Brisbane Forest Park and Portside Wharf. The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary opened in 1927 and was the world's first koala sanctuary.
The suburb of Mount Coot-tha is home to a popular state forest, and the Brisbane Botanic Gardens which houses the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium and the "Tsuki-yama-chisen" Japanese Garden (formerly of the Japanese Government Pavilion of Brisbane's World Expo '88).
Brisbane has over 27 km (16.8 mi) of bicycle pathways, mostly surrounding the Brisbane river and city centre, extending to the west of the city. The river itself, once in pristine condition, was popular with bathers and permitted boating excursions to Moreton Bay when the main port was in the city reaches. Today fishing and boating are more common. Other popular recreation activities include the Story Bridge adventure climb and rock climbing at the Kangaroo Point cliffs.