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The Great Barrier Reef is the biggest group of coral reefs in the world. It stretches along the coast on the north-east part of Australia. It is called the Great Barrier Reef because it creates a barrier between the Pacific Ocean and the coast. The Great Barrier Reef is a scattering of thousands of individual reefs. The reefs is on the World Heritage List made by UNESCO, because of its size and its many different plants and fishes. The reef lies in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, the world's largest marine park. It has an area of nearly 350 000 square kilometres. The reef region is 260 000 square kilometres. The reef region is a popular tourist attraction because of its warm climate, sandy beaches, colourful wildlife, tropical islands and idea
Almost 1500 of 3000 kinds of fish known to live in the seas around Australia are found in the reef region. A coral reef includes many species of corals, such as staghorn coral, brain coral, honeycomb coral and mound coral. The coral reef is built up by dead corals, with a thin outside of living corals. In the south it is cooler, subtropical to temperate conditions. There are 616 islands in the reef region. The sea level started to raise about 18 000 years ago, and the hills were covered with water. Location and size The Great Barrier Reef stretches north and north-west from Gladstone, Queensland, to a point in the Gulf of Papua. When the land was covered by the rising sea, a number of mountain ranges were cut of from the main land to become continental islands. The area that The Great Barrier Reef lies in has relatively shallow waters of about 40 metres deep. Marine Life The Great Barrier Reef consists of billions of smal animals called coral polyps and plants called coralline algae. In the north there is tropical conditions and high humidity and a wet season around January. Climate The climate of the Great Barrier Reef varies. The water temperature in the south seldom falls below 20 C.
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