Portal:South Australia


The South Australia Portal

Flag of South Australia
Flag of South Australia
Location within Australia

South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of 984,321 square kilometres (380,048 sq mi), it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, and second smallest state by population. It has a total of 1.8 million people. Its population is the second most highly centralised in Australia, after Western Australia, with more than 77 percent of South Australians living in the capital Adelaide, or its environs. Other population centres in the state are relatively small; Mount Gambier, the second-largest centre, has a population of 33,233.

South Australia shares borders with all of the other mainland states, as well as the Northern Territory; it is bordered to the west by Western Australia, to the north by the Northern Territory, to the north-east by Queensland, to the east by New South Wales, to the south-east by Victoria, and to the south by the Great Australian Bight. The state comprises less than 8 percent of the Australian population and ranks fifth in population among the six states and two territories. The majority of its people reside in greater Metropolitan Adelaide. Most of the remainder are settled in fertile areas along the south-eastern coast and River Murray. The state's colonial origins are unique in Australia as a freely settled, planned British province, rather than as a convict settlement. Colonial government commenced on 28 December 1836, when the members of the council were sworn in near the Old Gum Tree.

As with the rest of the continent, the region has a long history of human occupation by numerous tribes and languages. The South Australian Company established a temporary settlement at Kingscote, Kangaroo Island, on 26 July 1836, five months before Adelaide was founded. The guiding principle behind settlement was that of systematic colonisation, a theory espoused by Edward Gibbon Wakefield that was later employed by the New Zealand Company. The goal was to establish the province as a centre of civilisation for free immigrants, promising civil liberties and religious tolerance. Although its history has been marked by periods of economic hardship, South Australia has remained politically innovative and culturally vibrant. Today, it is known for its fine wine and numerous cultural festivals. The state's economy is dominated by the agricultural, manufacturing and mining industries. (Full article...)

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Adelaide (/ˈædɪld/ AD-il-ayd; Kaurna: Tarntanya pronounced [ˈd̪̥aɳɖaɲa]) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The demonym Adelaidean is used to denote the city and the residents of Adelaide. The Traditional Owners of the Adelaide region are the Kaurna people. The area of the city centre and surrounding Park Lands is called Tarndanya in the Kaurna language.

Adelaide is situated on the Adelaide Plains north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, between the Gulf St Vincent in the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges in the east. Its metropolitan area extends 20 km (12 mi) from the coast to the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges, and stretches 96 km (60 mi) from Gawler in the north to Sellicks Beach in the south. (Full article...)
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Blue Lake.
Blue Lake.

Blue Lake is a large lake located in an extinct volcanic caldera in Mount Gambier. It is known as Waawor in the local Aboriginal language. During summer and the surrounding months, the lake takes on a vibrant blue colour, returning to a colder steely-grey colour for winter. The exact cause of this phenomenon is still a matter of conjecture but it is generally considered likely that it revolves around the warming of the surface layers of the lake during the summer months to around 25 degrees celsius, causing calcium carbonate to precipitate out of solution and enabling micro-crystallites of calcium carbonate to form. This results in a scatter of the blue wavelength of sunlight. The movement of planktonic life-forms within the lake during the seasons and during the day may also play a part in the visibility changes.

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O-Bahn busway

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WikiProjects

WikiProject Adelaide WikiProject South Australia WikiProject Australia

Major Topics

GeographyAdelaide Hills  Adelaide Plains  Barossa Valley  Clare Valley  Coonawarra  Eyre Peninsula  Fleurieu Peninsula  Flinders Ranges  Kangaroo Island  Limestone Coast  Mid North  Nullarbor Plain  Riverland  Yorke Peninsula

HistoryKaurna Indigenous people  European settlement  History of Adelaide  Proclamation Day  Australian Overland Telegraph Line  Timeline of South Australian history

Towns and CitiesAdelaide  Coober Pedy  Mount Gambier  Murray Bridge| Port Augusta  Port Lincoln  Port Pirie  Victor Harbor  Whyalla

Economy and PoliticsPremiers  Governors  Parliament  House of Assembly  Electoral districts  Legislative Council  State elections

CultureCroweater  Pie floater  Wine  The Advertiser  Adelaide Festival Centre  Adelaide Entertainment Centre  WOMADelaide  Adelaide Fringe  Elder Park  The Crows  The Power  The Reds  Redbacks  Hindmarsh Stadium  AAMI Stadium  Rundle Mall

PeopleKaurna Indigenous people  Matthew Flinders  William Light  Charles Sturt  Edward Gibbon Wakefield  John Hindmarsh  George Gawler  Playford family  Don Dunstan

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