Great Dividing Range
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The Great Dividing Range, also known as the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range. The ranges were home to aboriginal tribes such as the Kulin and were central to European exploration of Australia.
The range stretches more than 3500km from the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through New South Wales, then into Victoria and turning west, before finally fading into the central plain at the Grampians in western Victoria.
The central core of the Great Dividing Range is dotted with hundreds of peaks and is surrounded by many smaller mountain ranges or spurs, canyons, gorges, valleys and plains of regional significance. Some of the major plains include the High Plains of South-Eastern Australia, the Central highlands and Bogong High Plains of Victoria.
Australia's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 metres AHD), and all of mainland Australia's alpine areas are part of this range. The highest areas in southern New South Wales and eastern Victoria are known as the Australian Alps.
The Great Dividing Range divides the drainage basins of streams and rivers which flow directly into the Pacific Ocean on the eastern coast of Australia, from streams and rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin which flow inwards, away from the coast into the interior plains. Because of this, the native freshwater fish faunas of the Murray-Darling Basin and East Coast river systems are very different. The many valleys of the range have produced river capture events that have shaped the biogeography of many freshwater fish species.
In some areas, such as the Snowy Mountains, Victorian Alps and the eastern escarpments of the New England region, the highlands form a significant barrier. In other areas the slopes are gentle and in places the range is barely perceptible.
Whilst some of the peaks of the highlands reach respectable heights of a little over 2000 metres, the age of the range and its erosion mean that most of the mountains are not outrageously steep, and virtually all peaks can be reached without mountaineering equipment.
Many of Australia's highways such as the Hume Highway, Great Western Highway, Capricorn Highway, Warrego Highway and the Murray Valley Highway traverse parts of the range.
Much of the range lies within a succession of national parks and other reserves including the Alpine National Park, Blue Mountains National Park, Heathcote-Greytown National Park and Mount Worth State Park. The lower reaches are used for forestry, an activity that causes much friction with conservationists. The ranges is also the source of virtually all of eastern Australia's water supply, both through runoff caught in dams, and, throughout much of Queensland, through the Great Artesian Basin.
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ar:غريت ديفايدينغ da:Great Dividing Range de:Great Dividing Range et:Suur Veelahkmeahelik fr:Cordillère australienne nl:Groot Australisch Scheidingsgebergte ja:大分水嶺山脈 pl:Wielkie Góry Wododziałowe
