Gold Coast Australia reports the first settlers on the Gold Coast used the land for logging. The initial settlement was called Nerang, an Aboriginal word meaning shovel nosed shark.
The Gold Coast area of Australia began to become an area for tourism around 1925 when the first road was built linking the area to the city of Brisbane. This road building program coincided with the building of the original Surfers Paradise Hotel which has become an iconic building in the area.
The Gold Coast name began as a nickname given to the area by journalists, real estate developers and tourists during the 1940s. Gold Coast Australia reports the South Coast Town Council of Queensland changed its name to Gold Coast Town Council on Oct. 23, 1958, with the area being given city status in 1959.
The Gold Coast City Council describes the climate of the area as sub-tropical with an average of 287 days of sunshine per year. The average summer temperature of the Gold Coast is between 66 and 83 degrees Fahrenheit, with an average winter temperature of between 48 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Gold Coast is the sixth largest city in Australia, with the Gold Coast City Council reporting a population in 2007 of 496,906 that is expected to grow by between 13,000 and 16,000 annually.
Australia's Gold Coast has over 43 miles of beaches with a professional lifeguard service the Gold Coast City Council describes as the largest in Australia. In 1935, the Gold Coast became the first Australian area to employ a professional lifeguard to protect tourists.
