The Great Barrier Reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the northeastern coast of Queensland, Australia. It stretches over 2,300 kilometers (about 1,400 miles) along the coast, extending from roughly the Torres Strait in the north to Lady Elliot Island in the south. The reef lies at the eastern edge of the Australian continental shelf, separated from the mainland by a channel that can be up to 160 kilometers (100 miles) wide in places
. This massive coral reef system covers an area of approximately 344,000 square kilometers (133,000 square miles) and includes around 2,900 individual reefs and about 900 islands
. It is the largest coral reef ecosystem in the world and can even be seen from outer space
. In summary, the Great Barrier Reef is situated in the Coral Sea, northeast of Queensland, Australia, running parallel to the coast for over 2,300 km and separated from the mainland by a wide marine channel.
