Queenstown

Town in Eastern Cape province, South Africa, situated on a 1,000 m/3,280 ft plateau near the Great Kei River, 160 km/99 mi northwest of East London; population (district, 1991) 44,500. It is the centre of one of South Africa's major cattle- and wool-producing areas.

Queenstown was founded in 1853 as a link in the chain of border outposts. Its central feature is a hexagon, originally intended as a rallying point in case of disturbances, but now a garden.

Queenstown

Resort in southern South Island, New Zealand, on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, near the northern edge of Fiordland National Park; population (1996) 6,100. It is the principal tourist resort of New Zealand; other industries include sheep and dairy farming, cash crop production, and wine making. There is an international airport 8 km/5 mi to the northeast at Frankton.

Queenstown is surrounded by glacier-formed alpine scenery and is a base for skiers and for tourists visiting Fiordland National Park and other wilderness regions. It is also a centre for ‘adventure’ activities including jet-boating, white-water rafting, and paragliding.

Queenstown was first developed as a gold-mining town in the 1860s.

Queenstown

Town in western Tasmania, Australia, on the River Queen, 256 km/160 mi northwest of Hobart, and 41 km/25 mi inland from the port of Strahan; population (1996) 2,631. Queenstown is situated in a region where copper and pyrites are mined. It is classified as a historic town and has a tourist industry related to its mine and mining history. The unusual slopes of the hills surrounding the town resemble the surface of the moon, reflecting the environmental impact of mining in the area.

Thick forests were cut down to fuel the copper smelter, whose fumes, full with sulphur, killed any remaining vegetation and stained the slopes of the hills. The town also has a hydroelectric commission, forest industries, and a national park.

A mine here operated by CMT (Copper Mines of Tasmania) reached full production in 1998, and has an annual output of 3.5 million tonnes.