The largest living structure on Earth is big enough to be seen from space. The Great Barrier Reef, off the northeastern coast of Australia, is the largest coral reef system in the world — not one reef, but nearly 3,000 of them.
A satellite photograph of the Great Barrier Reef, off the northeastern coast of Australia. Credit: NOAA.
By the numbers
| Length | 1,429 miles |
| Area | approximately 133,000 square miles |
| Individual reefs | nearly 3,000 |
| Location | the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia |
Protecting it
Much of the Great Barrier Reef is a marine protected area, managed by Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Sources
Based on "What is the Great Barrier Reef?" from NOAA's National Ocean Service, a work of the United States government in the public domain.
LanguagesEnglish
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from oceanservice.noaa.gov
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