Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census population of 143,328, and a 2008–2009 estimated population of 181,743. Considered the unofficial capital of North Queensland, Townsville hosts a significant number of governmental, community and major business administrative offices for the northern half of the state.

Popular attractions include 'The Strand', a long tropical beach and garden strip; Riverway, a riverfront parkland attraction located on the banks of Ross River; Reef HQ, a large tropical aquarium holding many of the Great Barrier Reef's native flora and fauna; the Museum of Tropical Queensland, built around a display of relics from the sunken British warship HMS Pandora; and Magnetic Island, a large neighbouring island, the vast majority of which is national park.

Conventional urban development continues to expand west, north and south into the former rural areas surrounding the city. Inner city high-density development has also created population growth and gentrification of the central business district (CBD). One significant contributor to CBD development was the construction of a new rail passenger terminal and moving the railway workshops, releasing prime real estate which formerly belonged to Queensland Rail for the development of residential units, retail projects and a new performing arts centre. The skyline of Townsville's central business district has undergone dramatic changes over the last few years, with a number of new highrise buildings, both commercial and residential, constructed.

In the short term, much of the urban expansion will continue to the west and the north, in the former City of Thuringowa. The most significant of these is North Shore Estate, a new AU$1 billion 5,000-lot housing estate, located close to the Bruce Highway, just north of the Bohle River. Medium term expansion of Townsville will be focused on two major urban developments anticipated to start soon. Rocky Springs, a satellite city to the south of Townsville, is expected to eventually be home to 55,000 people. Additionally, the State Government announced it will be offering 270ha of State-owned land (the former abbatoir reserve), just south of the Bohle River, for future urban expansion.

Townsville lies approximately 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) north of Brisbane, and 350 kilometres (220 mi) south of Cairns. It lies on the shores of Cleveland Bay, protected to some degree from the predominately south-east weather. Cleveland Bay is mostly shallow inshore, with several large beaches and continually shifting sand bars. Magnetic Island lies 8 km offshore, to the north of the city centre.

The Ross River flows through the city. Three weirs, fish stocking and dredging of the river in these reaches has resulted in a deep, stable and clean waterway used for many recreational activities such as waterskiing, fishing and rowing. Thirty kilometres from the mouth (at the junction of Five Head Creek) is the Ross River Dam, the major water storage for the urban areas.

The historic waterfront on Ross Creek, site of the original wharves and port facilities, has some excellent old buildings mixed with the later modern skyline. However, the central city is dominated by the mass of red granite called Castle Hill, 292 metres (958 ft) metres high (just 8 metres short of being a mountain). There is a lookout at the summit giving panoramic views of the city and its suburbs, including Cleveland Bay and Magnetic Island. There are a number of parks scattered throughout the city, including three botanical gardens – Anderson Park, Queens Gardens and The Palmetum.

Townsville is characterised as a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw). Owing to a quirk of its geographical location, Townsville's winter rainfall in particular is not as high as elsewhere in the tropics such as Cairns. The winter months are dominated by SE trade winds and mostly fine weather. Further north the coastline runs north/south and the trade winds are lifted to produce rainfall right through the year. Townsville however lies on a section of coastline that turns east/west, so the lifting effect is not present. As a result, winter months are dominated by blue skies, warm days and cool nights—although at times significant rainfall may occur.

Robinson summarised the climate as follows:

“ Rain is heavy, though [usually short], so that even in the wet season there is usually a high proportion of bright sunshine. This attracts many [younger workers]; but the high temperatures, brightness, lack of moisture in winter, and the prospect of flooding in summer have a profound impact on all the aspects of life and landscape. Special techniques are required for successful farming, sub-tropical crops are important items of production, pastures grow only in summer, and transport may be dislocated when it is needed most. Since the onset of white settlement, pastoralists and farmers of the North-East Coastlands Region have faced problems for which there are no answers in the agriculture practices of temperate lands [but intensive labour]. ”

The average annual rainfall is 1,143 millimetres (45.0 in) on an average 91 rain days, most of which falls during the six month "wet season" from November through April. Because of the "hit or miss" nature of tropical lows and thunderstorms, there is considerable variation from year to year. This millennium has seen the wettest year on record, with 2,400 millimetres (94 in) precipitation in 2000, and the second driest year on record, when Townsville received only 467 millimetres (18.4 in) in 2001 (driest year was 1969 – 464 millimetres (18.3 in)). Rainfall also varies considerably within the metropolitan area; it typically ranges from 1,136 millimetres (44.7 in) at central Townsville City to 853 millimetres (33.6 in) at Woodstock, a southwestern suburb.

The Australian Festival of Chamber Music is an international chamber music festival held over ten days each July in Townsville, North Queensland. The festival has been running since 1991, and attracts many acclaimed international and Australian musicians. Townsville also has its own orchestra, the Barrier Reef Orchestra, which presents concerts throughout North Queensland. The Townsville Entertainment Centre, seating over 5000 people, is host to many national and international music shows, as well as sporting and trade shows.

The region has many renowned festivals, many which celebrate the international heritage of many that call North Queensland home. The Annual Greek and Italian Festivals are popular with the locals and tourists alike. The Townsville South hotel and restaurant strip hosts an annual Palmer Street Jazz Festival, as does nearby Magnetic Island (The Great Tropical Jazz Party). The Stable on the Strand is celebrated each Christmas.

The Townsville Civic Theatre is North Queensland's premier cultural facility. Since its opening in 1978, the Theatre has been a centre of entertainment and performing arts, providing an environment to further develop the performing arts in Townsville and the North. The Tropic Sun Theatre Company is a professional theatre company based in Townsville. Tropic Sun showcases the talents of local actors, designers, directors and playwrights. It presents four major shows a year.

The Perc Tucker Regional Gallery is the public art gallery of Townsville. Located on the eastern end of Flinders Mall, the Gallery focuses on artwork relevant to North Queensland and the Tropics. Every second September the gallery presents sculpture artworks and art festival called Strand Ephemera, exhibited over the two kilometre beachfront strip.

The Townsville City Council and Townsville Intercultural Centre annually organises Cultural Fest in mid August in the Strand. The Cultural Fest showcases the cultural diversity of the city and dance, food, and music from different ethnic groups in the region bring the city to life.

The North Queensland Australian Computer Society based in Townsville hold monthly events relating to advancing computer knowledge.

The city has many restaurants, concentrated on Palmer Street in South Townsville, Flinders Street and to a lesser extend along the Strand. The city also has a vibrant pub and night-club scene, many of them located in Flinders Street East. Local and national music groups can often be found performing live in these venues.

Most Townsville residents travel by car through the system of roads and motorways. Townsville is the intersection point of the A1 (Bruce Highway), and the A6 (Flinders Highway National Highways. The Townsville Ring Road will eventually become part of the new A1 route bypassing the urban areas of the city. Townsville's public transport system consists of bus services operated by Sunbus, providing regular services between many parts of the city. Public transport is also available from the CBD to Bushland Beach. Regular ferry and vehicular barge services operate to Magnetic Island and Palm Island.

Rail services from Brisbane pass through Townsville and continue through to Cairns, including the regular Tilt Train service between Brisbane and Cairns. Townsville is a major destination and generator of rail freight services. The North Coast railway line, operated by Queensland Rail, meets the Western line in the city's south. Container operations are also common and the products of the local nickel and copper refineries, as well as minerals from the western line (Mount Isa), are transported to the port via trains. The Port of Townsville has bulk handling facilities for importing cement, nickel ore and fuel, and for exporting sugar and products from North Queensland's mines. The port has three sugar storage sheds, with the newest being the largest under-cover storage area in Australia.

The city is served by Townsville International Airport. The Airport handles direct domestic flights to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, and Canberra as well as direct regional flights to destinations such as Cairns, Mount Isa, Rockhampton and Mackay. As of Dec 2010 the city will again have direct international flights, initially to Bali Denpasar Airport. Airlines currently servicing the airport include Qantas, Virgin Blue, Jetstar, Regional Express, Qantaslink, Strategic, and Skytrans.