 To its north is the Torres Strait, separating the Australian mainland from Papua New Guinea.With an area of , Queensland is the world's sixth-largest sub-national entity, and is larger than all but 15 countries.Due to its size, Queensland's geographical features and climates are diverse, including tropical rainforests, rivers, coral reefs, mountain ranges and sandy beaches in its tropical and sub-tropical coastal regions, as well as deserts and savanna in the semi-arid and desert climactic regions of its interior.