Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland, the Australian state hosting the 2026 BMX World Championships.
The city sits in southeastern Queensland on the Brisbane River, close to Moreton Bay. It is both Queensland’s political centre and its largest city, with the central business district built around a bend of the river. The city’s location makes it a major gateway to the state’s coastal and inland regions.
Brisbane was named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, a British soldier and colonial administrator who served as Governor of New South Wales in the early 1820s. The settlement developed during the colonial period and was later selected as Queensland’s capital when Queensland became a separate colony in 1859.
Visitors sometimes confuse Brisbane with Gold Coast, Cairns or Townsville. Those are important Queensland cities, but none is the state capital. Brisbane is also distinct from the wider Brisbane metropolitan area, which includes numerous surrounding local-government areas beyond the central city.