The Sunshine Coast metropolitan area is the third most populated area in the Australian state of Queensland. Located 100 km north of the state capital Brisbane in South East Queensland on the Pacific Ocean coastline, its urban area spans approximately 60 km of coastline and hinterland from Pelican Waters to Tewantin. At the 2011 Australian Census the urban area's population was 209,263, and the metropolitan area's was 270,270, making it the 9th most populous in the country.