Comprising of 900 islands and 2,900 individual reefs, Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system that is listed among the 7 natural wonders of the present day world. Covering an area of 344,000 square kilometers and running as long as 2,300 kilometers, it is located off the coast of Queensland, Australia, in the Coral Sea. Made by organisms, this is the world's largest single structure that can also be viewed from the outer space. Back in the year 1981, it was selected as the World Heritage Site as it has been found to be supporting a very wide diversity of life. Given below are some of the most amazing facts about Great Barrier Reef that are based on research and, besides adding a great deal to your knowledge of geography, will also serve as a source of entertainment:

• Do you know it was CNN a basic cable and satellite television channel in the US that named the Great Barrier Reef as one of the 7 natural wonders of the world.
• The Queensland National Trust, Australia, has termed this world's largest coral reef system as the state icon of Queensland the third most populous and the second largest Australian state.
• An important economic activity at the region of Great Barrier Reef is that of tourism which fetches a large number of global visitors, generating over $3 billion per year.
• The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an official US journal, published a study in 2012, according to which more than half of the reef's coral cover has been lost since 1985.
• Larger in size than the Great Wall of China, the Great Barrier Reef is the only living thing found on the planet earth that can also be viewed from the outer space.
• The coral reefs can grow neither above the sea level nor below the depth of 150 meters in water, because favorable condition for their survival is the mild under water temperature with sunlight reaching the organism.
• Concerning the growth rate, their diameter and vertical growth reach up to 3 and 25 centimeters, respectively, per annum.
• Are you aware of the fact that the world's smallest continent, Australia, started drifting towards north during the Cenozoic period (the Age of Mammals) at the rate of 7 centimeter per year?
• According to the research findings of the CRC Reef Research Center, the age of the present living reef structure can be estimated to be 6,000 to 8,000 years.
• The six species of the sea turtle that come to the reef for breeding, include, flatback turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, hawksbill sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, olive ridley and green sea turtle.
• As many as 5,000 species of mollusks have been recorded on the world's largest coral reef system that also includes the giant clam.
• Among the primary threats to this reef system there include excessive fishing, increasing levels of pollution of the marine environment and rapid climate change.
• A disease of bony corals, known as the Skeletal Eroding Band, is caused by a protozoan and affects as many 31 coral species.
• On 3rd April 2010, Shen Neng 1, ran aground on Douglas Shoals, thus spilling up to 4 tons of oil into the water, which inflicted a large scale damage to the living mass of the reef.
• The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was created through the promulgation of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act in the year 1975.
• The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is greater than the collective size of Victoria and Tasmania.
• During an exploratory mission in 1768, a French admiral and explorer Louis de Bougainville located the reef but he did not claim for the French.
• The sinking of the HMS Pandora is considered to be one of the most famous wrecks in history, which sank in August 1791 and 35 men onboard were killed.
• The fishing industry in the Great Barrier Reef, worth one billion Australian dollars, is controlled by the government of Queensland that has employed about 2,000 individuals.
• The Native Title Act of 1993 allows the native title holders to hunt the green turtles, but only for personal, domestic and non-commercial communal needs.