South Australia
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South Australia is a state of
Australia, in the southern central part of the country, along the
Southern Ocean. It covers an area of
984 377 kmē (380 070 square miles). The capital of South Australia is
Adelaide and is known as the City of Churches. South Australia became a
British colony in
1836 and joined the Commonwealth of Australia in
1901. The state's population is approximately 1.47 million (2001) and most of those reside in the fertile coastal areas and in the valley of the
Murray River. The first recorded sighting of the South Australian coast was in
1627 when the
Dutch ship the
Gulden Zeepaert, skippered by Francois Thijssen, examined the coastline. Thijssen named his discovery Pieter Nuyts Land, after the highest ranking individual on board.
South Australia was established as a commercial venture by the South Australia Company through the sale of land to free settlers. This differed from other Australian states, which were either established as penal colonies or made use of convict labour. Colonisation of South Australia was largely driven by
Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who developed a 'theory of colonisation' and George Fife Angas, the largest landowner in the new colony.
The terrain consists largely of arid and semi-arid rangelands, with several low mountain ranges in which the most important mountains are the Mt Lofty-Flinders Ranges system which extends north about 800 kilometres from Cape Jervis to the northern end of Lake Torrens and salt lakes. Its principal industries and export are wheat, wine and wool. More than half the nations wines are produced here.
South Australia has boundaries with every other contiguous Australian state and territory except the
Australian Capital Territory.
Western Australia lies (unsurprisingly) to its west; the
Northern Territory - which was originally the Northern Territory
of South Australia - lies (equally unsurprisingly) to its north. Its north eastern corner cuts a wedge into
Queensland, while
New South Wales and
Victoria also lie to its east.
Its south coast is flanked by the Southern Ocean. South Australia's mean temperature range is 29
°C in January and 15°C July. Daily temperatures in parts of the state in January can be up to 45°C.
The flag of South Australia was adopted on
January 13,
1904; it is a British Blue Ensign faced with the state badge. The badge is described as a piping shrike with wings outstretched on a yellow disc. There is actually no such bird as a piping shrike, it is often called a
White-backed Magpie but is more likely the
Magpie-lark. The state badge is believed to have been designed by Robert Craig of the Adelaide School of Arts.
South Australia is a
constitutional monarchy with the Queen of Australia as the
head of state. Its bicameral
parliament is made up of a House of Assembly and a Legislative Council. The current
Premier of South Australia is
Mike Rann, a member of the
Australian Labor Party.
Local Government Areas of South Australia
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