Great Barrier Reef

Queensland (off the coast), Australia

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The Great Barrier Reef lies off the coast of Queensland, Australia, stretching about 2,300 km along the northeastern shoreline and extending up to around 160 km offshore into the Coral Sea, making it the world’s largest coral reef system. It is made up of more than 3,000 individual reefs and nearly 900 islands, covering an area of roughly 350,000 square kilometers and forming a globally unique marine ecosystem that includes corals, seagrass beds, mangrove forests, and deep‑sea habitats. The reef is renowned for its extraordinary biodiversity, hosting hundreds of coral species, more than 1,500 kinds of fish, six of the world’s seven marine turtle species, and many sharks, rays, whales, and other marine animals, all within relatively shallow waters that rarely exceed about 50 meters in depth. Officially protected as a Marine Park since 1975 and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981, the Great Barrier Reef is managed to balance tourism, fishing, and conservation, though it also faces ongoing threats from climate change, coral bleaching, and coastal development.