South Australia: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

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 km² (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 European 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.

The coastline of South Australia was first mapped by Matthew Flinders and Nicholas Baudin in 1802.

However, South Australia was only established as a commercial venture in 1831 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 in July. Daily temperatures in parts of the state in January can be up to 48°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

Australia
States and mainland territories
Australian Capital Territory | New South Wales | Northern Territory | Queensland | South Australia | Tasmania | Victoria | Western Australia
Jervis Bay Territory
External territories
Ashmore and Cartier Islands | Australian Antarctic Territory | Christmas Island | Cocos (Keeling) Islands | Coral Sea Islands | Heard Island and McDonald Islands | Norfolk Island