Template:Wp-Fraser Island

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Fraser Island (also known as K'gari and Gari) is a World Heritage-listed island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region, Queensland, Australia.^[1] The island is approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is within the Fraser Coast Region local government area.^[2] The world heritage listing includes the island, its surrounding waters and parts of the nearby mainland.^[3]

Fraser Island, and some satellite islands off the southern west coast and thus in the Great Sandy Strait, form the County of Fraser, which is subdivided into six parishes. Among the islands are Slain Island, Tooth Island, Roundbush Island, Moonboom Island, Gardner Island, Dream Island, Stewart Island, and the Reef Islands, all part of the southernmost parish of Talboor.

The island is about long and wide.^[4] It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1992. The island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at . It is also Queensland's largest island, Australia's sixth largest island and the largest island on the east coast of Australia.

Fraser Island has rainforests, eucalyptus woodland, mangrove forests, wallum and peat swamps, sand dunes and coastal heaths. It is made up of sand that has been accumulating for approximately 750,000 years on volcanic bedrock that provides a natural catchment for the sediment carried on a strong offshore current northwards along the coast. Unlike on many sand dunes, plant life is abundant due to the naturally occurring mycorrhizal fungi present in the sand, which release nutrients in a form that can be absorbed by the plants. The island is home to a small number of mammal species, as well as a diverse range of birds, reptiles and amphibians, including the occasional saltwater crocodile. The island is protected as part of the Great Sandy National Park, and is a popular tourism destination.

Fraser Island has been inhabited by humans for as long as 5,000 years.^[5] Explorer James Cook sailed by the island in May 1770. Matthew Flinders landed near the most northern point of the island in 1802. For a short period the island was known as Great Sandy Island before becoming Fraser Island, named after James Fraser who died there after become shipwrecked on a nearby reef.

In 1992 Fraser Island became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2021 the listing was updated to add the traditional Butchulla Aboriginal name of K'gari as well as the island's official of Fraser Island. In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, Fraser Island was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "Natural attraction".