Australia’s Great Barrier Reef broadly occupies the latitude range from 10°S to 24°S.
This north-to-south span follows Queensland’s coast, from the Torres Strait region toward Lady Elliot Island in the southern Capricorn and Bunker groups. The reef is therefore entirely in the Southern Hemisphere and crosses a large range of tropical marine environments.
Latitude helps explain why conditions differ across the system. Northern and southern sections experience different seasonal patterns, river influences, currents and exposure to tropical cyclones. These differences contribute to regional variation in coral communities and reef habitats.
The figures are a broad geographic description rather than a boundary for every individual reef. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the World Heritage Area have defined mapped boundaries that do not mean every point within them is coral reef.