117-546: 30°01′19″S 138°02′49″E / 30.022°S 138.047°E / -30.022; 138.047 ( Witchelina ) Witchelina Nature Reserve , in South Australia , is situated on a former pastoral lease known as Witchelina that had operated as both a sheep station and cattle station , before being converted into a nature reserve by the Nature Foundation . The station gave its name to
234-668: A Learning City . The number of international students studying in Adelaide has increased rapidly in recent years to 30,726 in 2015, of which 1,824 were secondary school students. Foreign institutions have been attracted to set up campuses to increase its attractiveness as an education hub. Adelaide is the birthplace of three Nobel laureates, more than any other Australian city : physicist William Lawrence Bragg and pathologists Howard Florey and Robin Warren , all of whom completed secondary and tertiary education at St Peter's College and
351-519: A concrete slab foundation , lined with Gyprock , and with an outer skin of brickwork, to cope with Adelaide's reactive soils , particularly Keswick Clay, black earth and some red-brown earth soils. The use of precast concrete panels for floor and wall construction has also increased. In addition to this, a significant factor in Adelaide's suburban history is the role of the South Australian Housing Trust . Adelaide has
468-564: A 20th-century motor city. The Mannum–Adelaide pipeline brought River Murray water to Adelaide in 1955 and an airport opened at West Beach in 1955. Flinders University and the Flinders Medical Centre were established in the 1960s at Bedford Park, south of the city. Today, Flinders Medical Centre is one of the largest teaching hospitals in South Australia. In the post-war years around the early 1960s, Adelaide
585-462: A class of sorcerers separated from regular society. Within a few decades of European settlement of South Australia , Kaurna culture was almost completely destroyed. The last speaker of Kaurna language died in 1929. Extensive documentation by early missionaries and other researchers has enabled a modern revival of both, which has included a commitment by local and state governments to rename or include Kaurna names for many local places. Based on
702-413: A four-yearly basis, are responsible for local roads and stormwater management, waste collection, planning and development, fire prevention and hazard management, dog and cat management and control, parking control, public health and food inspections, and other services for their local communities. Councils have the power to raise revenue for their activities, which is mostly achieved through "council rates",
819-536: 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
936-655: A hectic era of land booms and tumultuous expansionism. Financial institutions in Melbourne and banks in Sydney closed. The national fertility rate fell and immigration was reduced to a trickle. The value of South Australia's exports nearly halved. Drought and poor harvests from 1884 compounded the problems, with some families leaving for Western Australia. Adelaide was not as badly hit as the larger gold-rush cities of Sydney and Melbourne, and silver and lead discoveries at Broken Hill provided some relief. Only one year of deficit
1053-491: A hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Csa ) under the Köppen climate classification . The city has hot, dry summers and cool winters with moderate rainfall. Most precipitation falls in the winter months, leading to the suggestion that the climate be classified as a "cold monsoon". Rainfall is unreliable, light and infrequent throughout summer, although heavy falls can occur. The winter has fairly reliable rainfall with June being
1170-539: A significant increase in the state government's spending on Adelaide's infrastructure occurred. The Rann government invested A$ 535 million in a major upgrade of the Adelaide Oval to enable Australian Football League to be played in the city centre and more than A$ 2 billion to build a new Royal Adelaide Hospital on land adjacent to the Adelaide Railway Station. The Glenelg tramline
1287-619: A substantial majority of the South Australian House of Assembly. Of the 47 seats in the chamber, 34 seats (three-quarters of the legislature) are based in Adelaide, and two rural seats include Adelaide suburbs. The Adelaide metropolitan area is divided between nineteen local government areas . At its centre, the City of Adelaide administers the Adelaide city centre , North Adelaide , and the surrounding Adelaide Parklands . It
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#17327932112231404-735: A tax based on property valuations. Council rates make up about 70% of council revenue, but account for less than 4% of total taxes paid by Australians. As at December 2021 the population of South Australia was 1,806,599. A majority of the state's population lives within Greater Adelaide 's metropolitan area which had an estimated population of 1,333,927 in June 2017. Other significant population centres include Mount Gambier (29,505), Victor Harbor - Goolwa (26,334), Whyalla (21,976), Murray Bridge (18,452), Port Lincoln (16,281), Port Pirie (14,267), and Port Augusta (13,957). At
1521-644: A team of men to set out Adelaide, using various templates for city plans going back to Ancient Greece , including Italian Renaissance designs and the similar layouts of the American cities Philadelphia and Savannah –which, like Adelaide, follow the same layout of a central city square, four complementing city squares surrounding it and a parklands area that surrounds the city centre. The benefits of Light's design are numerous: Adelaide has had wide multi-lane roads from its beginning, an easily navigable cardinal direction grid layout and an expansive green ring around
1638-569: A total land area of 870 km (340 sq mi), while a more expansive definition by the Australian Bureau of Statistics defines a "Greater Adelaide" statistical area totalling 3,259.8 km (1,258.6 sq mi). The city sits at an average elevation of 50 metres (160 ft) above sea level. Mount Lofty , east of the Adelaide metropolitan region in the Adelaide Hills at an elevation of 727 metres (2,385 ft),
1755-457: 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, which includes some of the most arid parts of the continent, and with 1.8 million people it is the fifth-largest of the states and territories by population. This population is the second-most highly centralised in the nation after Western Australia , with more than 77% of South Australians living in
1872-478: Is also the world's fourth-largest remaining copper deposit, and the world's fifth largest gold deposit. There was a proposal to vastly expand the operations of the mine, making it the largest open-cut mine in the world, but in 2012 the BHP Billiton board decided not to go ahead with it at that time due to then lower commodity prices. The remote town of Coober Pedy produces more opal than anywhere else in
1989-602: Is flanked by the Southern Ocean , but official international consensus defines the Southern Ocean as extending north from the pole only to 60°S or 55°S, at least 17 degrees of latitude further south than the most southern point of South Australia. Thus the south coast is officially adjacent to the south-most portion of the Indian Ocean. See Southern Ocean: Existence and definitions . The southern part of
2106-538: Is known for its fine wine and numerous cultural festivals. The state's economy is dominated by the agricultural, manufacturing and mining industries. Evidence of human activity in South Australia dates back as far as 20,000 years, with flint mining activity and rock art in the Koonalda Cave on the Nullarbor Plain . In addition wooden spears and tools were made in an area now covered in peat bog in
2223-662: Is left to be found in reserves such as the Cleland National Park and Belair National Park . A number of creeks and rivers flow through the Adelaide region. The largest are the Torrens and Onkaparinga catchments. Adelaide relies on its many reservoirs for water supply with the Happy Valley Reservoir supplying around 40% and the much larger Mount Bold Reservoir 10% of Adelaide's domestic requirements respectively. Adelaide and its surrounding area
2340-717: Is north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, on the Adelaide Plains between the Gulf St Vincent and the low-lying Mount Lofty Ranges. The city stretches 20 km (12 mi) from the coast to the foothills, and 90 km (56 mi) from Gawler at its northern extent to Sellicks Beach in the south. According to the Regional Development Australia, an Australian government planning initiative, the "Adelaide Metropolitan Region" has
2457-493: Is now the suburb of Glenelg North . The event is commemorated in South Australia as Proclamation Day . The site of the colony's capital was surveyed and laid out by Colonel William Light , the first surveyor-general of South Australia, with his own original, unique, topographically sensitive design. The city was named after Queen Adelaide . Adelaide was established as a planned colony of free immigrants, promising civil liberties and freedom from religious persecution, based upon
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#17327932112232574-544: Is one of the most seismically active regions in Australia. On 1 March 1954 at 3:40 am Adelaide experienced its largest recorded earthquake to date, with the epicentre 12 km from the city centre at Darlington , and a reported magnitude of 5.6. There have been smaller earthquakes in 2010, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2022. The uplands of the Adelaide Hills , part of the southern Mount Lofty Ranges to
2691-560: Is the Mount Lofty - Flinders Ranges system, which extends north about 800 kilometres (500 mi) from Cape Jervis to the northern end of Lake Torrens . The highest point in the state is not in those ranges; Mount Woodroffe (1,435 metres (4,708 ft)) is in the Musgrave Ranges in the extreme northwest of the state. The south-western portion of the state consists of the sparsely inhabited Nullarbor Plain , fronted by
2808-484: Is the tallest point of the city and in the state south of Burra . The city borders the Temperate Grassland of South Australia in the east, an endangered vegetation community. Much of Adelaide was bushland before British settlement, with some variation – sandhills, swamps and marshlands were prevalent around the coast. The loss of the sandhills to urban development had a particularly destructive effect on
2925-592: 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 . 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
3042-675: The Adelaide Hills . Tomatoes , capsicums , cucumbers , brassicas , lettuce and carrots are grown on the Northern Adelaide Plains at Virginia . Almonds , citrus and stone fruit are grown in the Riverland . Potatoes , onions and carrots are grown in the Murray Mallee region. Potatoes are grown on Kangaroo Island . South Australia produces more than half of all Australian wine, including almost 80% of Australia's premium wines. South Australia has
3159-589: The Adelaide city centre and a ring of parks, known as the Adelaide Parklands , surrounding it. Light's selection of the location for the city was initially unpopular with the early settlers, as well as South Australia's first governor, John Hindmarsh, due to its distance from the harbour at Port Adelaide, and the lack of fresh water there. Light successfully persisted with his choice of location against this initial opposition. Recent evidence suggests that Light worked closely with George Kingston as well as
3276-548: The Caring for Our Country program, with strong assistance from some private donors and State Government land purchase funds. The station was reported as being the state's largest private nature reserve, forming "a vital habitat link for Lake Torrens into the Northern Territory ". South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA ) is a state in the southern central part of Australia . With
3393-800: The Dutch ship the Gulden Zeepaert , captained by François Thijssen , examined and mapped a section of the coastline as far east as the Nuyts Archipelago . Thijssen named the whole of the country eastward of the Leeuwin "Nuyts Land", after a distinguished passenger on board; the Hon. Pieter Nuyts , one of the Councillors of India . The coastline of South Australia was first mapped by Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin in 1802, excepting
3510-680: The Governor of South Australia as his representative. It is a state of the Commonwealth of Australia . The bicameral Parliament of South Australia consists of the lower house known as the House of Assembly and the upper house known as the Legislative Council . General elections are held every four years, the last being the 2022 election . Initially, the Governor of South Australia held almost total power, derived from
3627-606: 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. Named in honour of Queen Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen , wife of King William IV , the city was founded in 1836 as
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3744-578: The Hornsdale Wind Farm in South Australia's Mid-North region. At the time of construction in late 2017, it was billed as the largest lithium-ion battery in the world. The Olympic Dam mine near Roxby Downs in northern South Australia is the largest deposit of uranium in the world, possessing more than a third of the world's low-cost recoverable reserves and 70% of Australia's. The mine, owned and operated by BHP , presently accounts for 9% of global uranium production. The Olympic Dam mine
3861-744: The Riverland and the Adelaide Hills . See South Australian wine . South Australia has boundaries with every other Australian mainland state and territory except the Australian Capital Territory and the Jervis Bay Territory . The Western Australia border has a history involving the South Australian government astronomer, G.F. Dodwell, and the Western Australian Government Astronomer , H.B. Curlewis , marking
3978-561: The SA Government announced plans for a network of transport-oriented developments across the Adelaide metropolitan area and purchased a 10 hectare industrial site at Bowden for $ 52.5 million as the first of these developments. Historically, Adelaide's suburban residential areas have been characterised by single-storey detached houses built on 1,000-square-metre ( 1 ⁄ 4 -acre) blocks. A relative lack of suitable, locally-available timber for construction purposes led to
4095-482: The South Australia Act 1834 ( Foundation Act ), which empowered His Majesty to erect and establish a province or provinces in southern Australia. The act stated that the land between 132° and 141° east longitude and from 26° south latitude to the southern ocean would be allotted to the intended colony, and it would be convict-free. In contrast to the rest of Australia, terra nullius did not apply to
4212-1172: The Torrens Building in Victoria Square as the Adelaide campus for Carnegie Mellon University, University College London, and Torrens University; the Stock Exchange building as the Science Exchange of the Royal Institution Australia; and the Glenside Psychiatric Hospital as the Adelaide Studios of the SA Film Corporation . The government invested more than A$ 2 billion to build a desalination plant , powered by renewable energy, as an "insurance policy" against droughts affecting Adelaide's water supply . The Adelaide Festival , Fringe , and Womadelaide became annual events. Adelaide
4329-525: The University of Adelaide . Adelaide is home to research institutes, including the Royal Institution of Australia , established in 2009 as a counterpart to the two-hundred-year-old Royal Institution of Great Britain. Most of the research organisations are clustered in the Adelaide metropolitan area: South Australia is a constitutional monarchy with King Charles III as sovereign, and
4446-485: The city centre along the cultural boulevards of North Terrace and King William Street . The area around modern-day Adelaide was originally inhabited by the Indigenous Kaurna people, one of many Aboriginal tribes in South Australia. The city and parklands area was known as Tarntanya, Tandanya, now the short name of Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute , Tarndanya, or Tarndanyangga , now
4563-577: The lower house known as the House of Assembly and the upper house known as the Legislative Council . General elections are held every four years, the last being the 2022 South Australian state election . As Adelaide is South Australia's capital and most populous city, the State Government co-operates extensively with the City of Adelaide . In 2006, the Ministry for the City of Adelaide
4680-527: The planned capital for the only freely-settled British province in Australia. Colonel William Light , one of Adelaide's founding fathers, designed the city centre and chose its location close to the River Torrens . Light's design, now listed as national heritage , set out the city centre in a grid layout known as " Light's Vision ", interspaced by wide boulevards and large public squares, and entirely surrounded by park lands. Early colonial Adelaide
4797-570: The 1970s, deep red and brown bricks became popular. Until the 1970s, roofs tended to be clad with (painted) corrugated iron or cement or clay tiles, usually red "terracotta". Since then, Colorbond corrugated steel has dominated. Most roofs are pitched. Flat roofs are not common. Up to the 1970s, most houses were of "double brick" construction on concrete footings, with timber floors laid on joists supported by "dwarf walls". Later houses have mainly been of " brick veneer " construction – structural timber or, more recently, lightweight steel frame on
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4914-534: The 2016 census, 78.2% of the population spoke only English at home. The other languages most commonly spoken at home were Italian (1.7%), Standard Mandarin (1.7%), Greek (1.4%), Vietnamese (1.1%), and Cantonese (0.6%). At the 2016 census , overall 53.9% of responses identified some variant of Christianity . 9% of respondents chose not to state a religion. The most commonly nominated responses were 'No Religion' (35.4%), Catholicism (18%), Anglicanism (10%) and Uniting Church (7.1%). South Australia
5031-417: The 2016 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were: 28.9% of the population was born overseas at the 2016 census. The five largest groups of overseas-born were from England (5.8%), India (1.6%), China (1.5%), Italy (1.1%) and Vietnam (0.9%). 2% of the population, or 34,184 people, identified as Indigenous Australians ( Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders ) in 2016. At
5148-580: The 2020–21 financial year. This was the first time since the Australian Bureau of Statistics began collecting data in 1990 that South Australia had outperformed the other states. The recovery was driven in part by growth in the agricultural sector, which increased its production by almost 24% thanks to the end of a drought. Wheat , barley , oats , rye , peas , beans , chickpeas , lentils and canola are grown in South Australia. Apples , pears , cherries and strawberries are grown in
5265-403: The 21st century, at one stage being named Australia's most liveable city, third in the world. Its aesthetic appeal has also been recognised by Architectural Digest , which ranked Adelaide as the most beautiful city in the world in 2024. As South Australia's government and commercial centre, Adelaide is the site of many governmental and financial institutions. Most of these are concentrated in
5382-573: The Australian states were established after the Murray River was successfully navigated in 1853 by Francis Cadell , an Adelaide resident. South Australia became a self-governing colony in 1856 with the ratification of a new constitution by the British parliament. Secret ballots were introduced, and a bicameral parliament was elected on 9 March 1857, by which time 109,917 people lived in
5499-549: The City of Adelaide is currently located. The first immigrants arrived at Holdfast Bay (near the present day Glenelg ) in November 1836. The commencement of colonial government was proclaimed on 28 December 1836, now known as Proclamation Day . South Australia is the only Australian state to have never received British convicts. Another free settlement, Swan River colony was established in 1829 but Western Australia later sought convict labour, and in 1849 Western Australia
5616-558: The German Lutheran church to this day. South Australia was the location of the first Muslim mosque in Australia. Adelaide Adelaide ( / ˈ æ d ɪ l eɪ d / AD -il-ayd , locally [ˈædəlæɪd] ; Kaurna : Tardanya , pronounced [ˈd̪̥aɳɖaɲa] ) is the capital and most populous city of South Australia , and the fifth-most populous city in Australia . The name "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including
5733-597: The Imperial Parliament enacted the Australian Colonies Government Act , which allowed for the election of representatives to each of the colonial legislatures and the drafting of a constitution to properly create representative and responsible government in South Australia. Later that year, propertied male colonists were allowed to vote for 16 members on a new 24 seat Legislative Council. Eight members continued to be appointed by
5850-544: The Resident Commissioner, James Hurtle Fisher . The rural area surrounding Adelaide was surveyed by Light in preparation to sell a total of over 405 km (156 sq mi) of land. Adelaide's early economy started to get on its feet in 1838 with the arrival of livestock from Victoria , New South Wales and Tasmania . Wool production provided an early basis for the South Australian economy. By 1860, wheat farms had been established from Encounter Bay in
5967-468: The South East. Kangaroo Island was inhabited long before the island was cut off by rising sea levels . According to mitochondrial DNA research, Aboriginal people reached Eyre Peninsula 49,000-45,000 years ago from both the east (clockwise, along the coast, from northern Australia) and the west (anti-clockwise). The first recorded European sighting of the South Australian coast was in 1627 when
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#17327932112236084-519: The area had good rains, although several miles of boundary fence at Witchelina were washed away. Kidman estates disposed of Witchelina, Mount Nor' West , Myrtle Springs and Ediacra stations with a combined area of over 2,000 square miles (5,180 km) in 1950. The purchasers were A. S. Toll, E. G. and J. L. Boynthon, who had established the Myrtle Springs Pastoral company. The 4,219-square-kilometre (1,629 sq mi) property
6201-474: The arts, building upon the biennial " Adelaide Festival of Arts " that commenced in 1960. The State Bank collapsed in 1991 during an economic recession. The effects lasted until 2004, when Standard & Poor's reinstated South Australia's AAA credit rating. Adelaide's tallest building, completed in 2020, is called the Adelaidean and is located at 11 Frome Street. In the early years of the 21st century,
6318-509: The border on the ground in the 1920s. In 1863, that part of New South Wales to the north of South Australia was annexed to South Australia, by letters patent, as the "Northern Territory of South Australia", which became shortened to the Northern Territory on 6 July 1863 . The Northern Territory was handed to the federal government in 1911 and became a separate territory. According to Australian maps, South Australia's south coast
6435-463: The boundary of both the groups' traditional lands. The property was first established as a sheep station by John Ragless in 1873. Ragless' sons, Frederick and Richard, left Witchelina in 1882 with 2,500 sheep and three station hands to open up a property east of Lake Callabonna; after some poor seasons, the brothers abandoned the run in 1886. In 1915 the property was carrying a flock of approximately 4,000 sheep. The Ragless brothers placed Witchelina on
6552-406: 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 26,878. South Australia shares borders with all the other mainland states. 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
6669-507: The city centre. There are two sets of ring roads in Adelaide that have resulted from the original design. The inner ring route ( A21 ) borders the parklands, and the outer route ( A3 / A13 / A16 / A17 ) completely bypasses the inner city via (in clockwise order) Grand Junction Road , Hampstead Road, Ascot Avenue, Portrush Road , Cross Road and South Road . Suburban expansion has to some extent outgrown Light's original plan. Numerous former outlying villages and "country towns", as well as
6786-399: The city. The plan involved the construction of freeways, expressways and the upgrade of certain aspects of the public transport system. The then premier Steele Hall approved many parts of the plan and the government went as far as purchasing land for the project. The later Labor government elected under Don Dunstan shelved the plan, but allowed the purchased land to remain vacant, should
6903-618: The cliffs of the Great Australian Bight . Features of the coast include Spencer Gulf and the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas that surround it. The Temperate Grassland of South Australia is situated to the east of Gulf St Vincent . The principal industries and exports of South Australia are wheat, wine and wool. More than half of Australia's wines are produced in the South Australian wine regions which principally include Barossa Valley , Clare Valley , McLaren Vale , Coonawarra ,
7020-505: The coastline due to erosion. Where practical, the government has implemented programs to rebuild and vegetate sandhills at several of Adelaide's beachside suburbs. Tennyson Dunes is the largest contiguous, tertiary dune system contained entirely within Metropolitan Adelaide, providing refuge for a variety of remnant species formerly found along the entire coastline. Much of the original vegetation has been cleared with what
7137-477: The colony of New South Wales . Although the new colony included almost two-thirds of the continent, early settlements were all on the eastern coast and only a few intrepid explorers ventured this far west. It took more than forty years before any serious proposal to establish settlements in the south-western portion of New South Wales were put forward. On 15 August 1834, the British Parliament passed
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#17327932112237254-581: The community and enforce government regulations. Their principal role was to run the first temporary gaol, a two-room hut. The current flag of South Australia was adopted on 13 January 1904, and is a British blue ensign defaced with the state badge. The badge is described as a piping shrike with wings outstretched on a yellow disc. The state badge is believed to have been designed by Robert Craig of Adelaide's School of Design . The terrain consists largely of arid and semi-arid rangelands, with several low mountain ranges . The most important (but not tallest)
7371-458: The downthrown St Vincent Basin and its embayments, including the Adelaide Plains Sub-basin, and the Golden Grove, Noarlunga and Willunga Embayments. These basins contain deposits of Tertiary marine and non-marine sands and limestones, which form important aquifers. These deposits are overlain by Quaternary alluvial fans and piedmont slope deposits, derived from erosion of the uplands, consisting of sands, clays and gravels, interfingering to
7488-400: The dual name for Victoria Square, in the Kaurna language . The name means 'male red kangaroo rock', referring to a rock formation on the site that has now been destroyed. The surrounding area was an open grassy plain with patches of trees and shrubs which had been managed by hundreds of generations. Kaurna country encompassed the plains which stretched north and south of Tarntanya as well as
7605-536: The early development of a brick-making industry, as well as the use of stone, for houses and other buildings. By 1891, 68% of houses were built of stone, 15% of timber, and 10% of brick, with brick also being widely used in stone houses for quoins, door and window surrounds, and chimneys and fireplaces. There is a wide variety in the styles of these houses. Until the 1960s, most of the more substantial houses were built of red brick, though many front walls were of ornamental stone. Then cream bricks became fashionable, and in
7722-399: The east of Adelaide, are defined on their western side by a number of arcuate faults (the Para, Eden, Clarendon and Willunga Faults), and consist of rocks such as siltstone , dolomite and quartzite , dating from the Neoproterozoic to the middle Cambrian , laid down in the Adelaide Rift Complex, the oldest part of the Adelaide Superbasin . Most of the Adelaide metropolitan area lies in
7839-433: The establishment of their whale and seal fisheries, the South Australian Company sought, and obtained, the Commissioners' permission to send Company ships to South Australia, in advance of the surveys and ahead of the Commissioners' colonists. The company's settlement of seven vessels and 636 people was temporarily made at Kingscote on Kangaroo Island, until the official site of the capital was selected by William Light, where
7956-424: The first in the world to allow women to stand for election. In 1897 Catherine Helen Spence was the first woman in Australia to be a candidate for political office when she was nominated to be one of South Australia's delegates to the conventions that drafted the constitution. South Australia became an original state of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. Although the lower house had universal suffrage,
8073-473: The future need for freeways arise. In 1980, the Liberal party won government and premier David Tonkin committed his government to selling off the land acquired for the MATS plan, ensuring that even when needs changed, the construction of most MATS-proposed freeways would be impractical. Some parts of this land have been used for transport, (e.g. the O-Bahn Busway and Southern Expressway), while most has been progressively subdivided for residential use. In 2008,
8190-449: The government is the party or coalition that exerts a majority in the House of Assembly. The Legislative Council remained a predominantly conservative chamber elected by property owners. Women's suffrage in Australia took a leap forward – enacted in 1895 and taking effect from the 1896 colonial election , South Australia was the first government in Australia and only the second in the world after New Zealand to allow women to vote, and
8307-416: The governor. The main responsibility of this body was to draft a constitution for South Australia. The body drafted the most democratic constitution ever seen in the British Empire and provided for universal manhood suffrage . It created the bicameral Parliament of South Australia . For the first time in the colony, the executive was elected by the people, and the colony used the Westminster system , where
8424-519: The ideas of Edward Gibbon Wakefield about colonial reform, Robert Gouger petitioned the British government to create a new colony in Australia, resulting in the passage of the South Australia Act 1834 . Physical establishment of the colony began with the arrival of the first British colonisers in February 1836. The first governor proclaimed the commencement of colonial government in South Australia on 28 December 1836, near The Old Gum Tree in what
8541-599: The ideas of Edward Gibbon Wakefield . Wakefield had read accounts of Australian settlement while in prison in London for attempting to abduct an heiress, and realised that the eastern colonies suffered from a lack of available labour, due to the practice of giving land grants to all arrivals. Wakefield's idea was for the Government to survey and sell the land at a rate that would maintain land values high enough to be unaffordable for labourers and journeymen. Funds raised from
8658-636: The inlet later named the Port Adelaide River which was first discovered in 1831 by Captain Collet Barker and later accurately charted in 1836–37 by Colonel William Light , leader of the South Australian Colonization Commissioners' 'First Expedition' and first Surveyor-General of South Australia. The land which now forms the state of South Australia was claimed for Britain in 1788 as part of
8775-403: The lead over other Australian states for its commercialisation and commitment to renewable energy . It is now the leading producer of wind power in Australia. Renewable energy is a growing source of electricity in South Australia, and there is potential for growth from this particular industry of the state's economy. The Hornsdale Power Reserve is a bank of grid-connected batteries adjacent to
8892-461: The least amount of federal funding for its local road network of all states on a per capita and a per kilometre basis. During 2019-20: South Australia's gross state product (GSP) fell 1.4% in chain volume (real) terms (nationally, gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.3%). South Australia came out of the COVID-19 recession better than the other Australian states, with the economy growing by 3.9% in
9009-683: The letters patent of the imperial government to create the colony. He was accountable only to the British Colonial Office , and thus democracy did not exist in the colony. A new body was created to advise the governor on the administration of South Australia in 1843 called the Legislative Council. It consisted of three representatives of the British Government and four colonists appointed by the governor. The governor retained total executive power. In 1851,
9126-498: The locality of Witchelina . The property is situated approximately 72 kilometres (45 mi) northwest of Leigh Creek and 664 kilometres (413 mi) north of Adelaide . The country comprises gibber plains , red river gum and coolibah woodlands, bluebush shrubland, saltbush plains, and acacia dunefields. The traditional owners of the area are the Adnyamathanha and Arabunna peoples; Witchelina straddles of
9243-399: The market in 1916, at this time it occupied an area of 485 square miles (1,256 km) with a 10-room homestead, a 20-stand shearing shed and a complete boundary fence. Sidney Kidman acquired the property in partnership with Lewis and Pearce. Following a heat wave in 1932, the station manager, Mr. Gourlay, trapped an estimated 100,000 rabbits, including 5,000 in a single night. In 1949,
9360-676: The new province. The Letters Patent , which used the enabling provisions of the South Australia Act 1834 to fix the boundaries of the Province of South Australia, provided that "nothing in those our Letters Patent shall affect or be construed to affect the rights of any Aboriginal Natives of the said Province to the actual occupation and enjoyment in their own Persons or in the Persons of their Descendants of any Lands therein now actually occupied or enjoyed by such Natives." Although
9477-409: The only transport infrastructure developed to cope with the urban growth. The O-Bahn Busway is an example of a unique solution to Tea Tree Gully's transport woes in the 1980s. The development of the nearby suburb of Golden Grove in the late 1980s followed a planned approach to urban growth. In the 1960s, a Metropolitan Adelaide Transport Study Plan was proposed to cater for the future growth of
9594-695: The original host of the Australian Grand Prix in the FIA Formula One World Championship from 1985 to 1995. Today, Adelaide is known by its many festivals and sporting events, its food and wine , its coastline and hills, its large defence and manufacturing sectors, and its emerging space sector, including the Australian Space Agency being headquartered here. Adelaide's quality of life has ranked consistently highly in various measures through
9711-611: The patent guaranteed land rights under force of law for the indigenous inhabitants, it was ignored by the South Australian Company authorities and squatters. Despite strong reference to the rights of the native population in the initial proclamation by the Governor, there were many conflicts and deaths in the Australian Frontier Wars in South Australia. Survey was required before settlement of
9828-481: The province, and the Colonization Commissioners for South Australia appointed William Light as the leader of its 'First Expedition', tasked with examining 1500 miles of the South Australian coastline and selecting the best site for the capital, and with then planning and surveying the site of the city into one-acre Town Sections and its surrounds into 134-acre Country Sections. Eager to commence
9945-552: The province. In 1860, the Thorndon Park reservoir was opened, providing an alternative water source to the now turbid River Torrens. Gas street lighting was implemented in 1867, the University of Adelaide was founded in 1874, the South Australian Art Gallery opened in 1881 and the Happy Valley Reservoir opened in 1896. In the 1890s Australia was affected by a severe economic depression, ending
10062-409: The reports of visitors in the early 20th century, noting that "many visitors to Adelaide admired the foresighted planning of its founders", as well as pondering the riches of the young city. Adelaide enjoyed a postwar boom, entering a time of relative prosperity. Its population grew, and it became the third most populous metropolitan area in the country, after Sydney and Melbourne . Its prosperity
10179-403: The sale of land were to be used to bring out working-class emigrants, who would have to work hard for the monied settlers to ever afford their own land. As a result of this policy, Adelaide does not share the convict settlement history of other Australian cities like Sydney , Brisbane and Hobart . As it was believed that in a colony of free settlers there would be little crime, no provision
10296-581: The satellite city of Elizabeth , have been enveloped by its suburban sprawl . Expanding developments in the Adelaide Hills region led to the construction of the South Eastern Freeway to cope with growth, which has subsequently led to new developments and further improvements to that transport corridor. Similarly, the booming development in Adelaide's South led to the construction of the Southern Expressway . New roads are not
10413-693: The south to Clare in the north. George Gawler took over from Hindmarsh in late 1838 and, despite being under orders from the Select Committee on South Australia in Britain not to undertake any public works, promptly oversaw construction of a governor's house, the Adelaide Gaol , police barracks, a hospital, a customs house and a wharf at Port Adelaide . Gawler was recalled and replaced by George Edward Grey in 1841. Grey slashed public expenditure against heavy opposition, although its impact
10530-439: The south-east by Victoria , and to the south by the Great Australian Bight . The state comprises less than 8% 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
10647-547: The state has a Mediterranean climate , while the rest of the state has either an arid or semi-arid climate . South Australia's main temperature range is 29 °C (84 °F) in January and 15 °C (59 °F) in July. The highest maximum temperature ever recorded was 50.7 °C (123.3 °F) at Oodnadatta on 2 January 1960, which is the highest official temperature recorded in Australia. The lowest minimum temperature
10764-603: The state's upper house with the balance of power controlled by a variety of minor parties and independents. Local government in South Australia is established by the Constitution Act 1934 (SA), the Local Government Act 1999 (SA), and the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999 (SA). South Australia contains 68 councils and 6 Aboriginal and outback communities . Local councils, elected on
10881-609: The summer typically range from 8 to 10 °C (46 to 50 °F). There are usually several days in summer where the temperature reaches 40.0 °C (104.0 °F) or above; the frequency of these temperatures has been increasing in recent years . Temperature extremes range from −0.4 °C (31.4 °F), 8 June 1982 to 47.7 °C (117.9 °F), 24 January 2019. The city features 90.6 clear days annually. The average sea temperature ranges from 13.7 °C (56.7 °F) in August to 21.2 °C (70.2 °F) in February. Adelaide
10998-529: The upper house, the Legislative Council, remained the exclusive domain of property owners until the Labor government of Don Dunstan managed to achieve reform of the chamber in 1973. Property qualifications were removed and the Council became a body elected via proportional representation by a single state-wide electorate. Since the following 1975 South Australian state election , no one party has had control of
11115-407: The west with transgressive Pleistocene to Holocene marine sands and coastal sediments of the shoreline of Gulf St Vincent. Adelaide is a planned city, designed by the first Surveyor-General of South Australia, Colonel William Light . His plan, sometimes referred to as "Light's Vision" (also the name of a statue of him on Montefiore Hill ), arranged Adelaide in a grid , with five squares in
11232-455: The wettest month of the year, averaging around 80 mm. Frosts are occasional, with the most notable occurrences in 1908 and 1982. Hail is common in winter. Adelaide is a windy city with significant wind chill in winter, which makes the temperature seem colder than it actually is . Snowfall in the metropolitan area is extremely rare, although light and sporadic falls in the nearby hills and at Mount Lofty occur during winter. Dewpoints in
11349-621: The wooded foothills of the Mt Lofty Ranges . The River Torrens was known as the Karrawirra Pari (Red Gum forest river). About 300 Kaurna populated the Adelaide area, and were referred to by the settlers as the Cowandilla. There were more than 20 local clans across the plain who lived semi-nomadic lives, with extensive mound settlements where huts were built repeatedly over centuries and a complex social structure including
11466-589: The world's second National Park City, after the state government had lobbied for this title. It was ranked the most liveable city in Australia by the Property Council of Australia , based on surveys of residents' views of their own city, between 2010 and 2013, dropping to second place in 2014. Adelaide, as the capital of South Australia, is the seat of the Government of South Australia . The bicameral Parliament of South Australia consists of
11583-447: The world. Opal was first discovered near the town in 1915, and the town became the site of an opal rush, enticing immigrants from southern and eastern Europe in the aftermath of World War II . Higher education and research in Adelaide forms an important part of South Australia's economy. The South Australian Government and educational institutions have attempted to position Adelaide as Australia's education hub and have marketed it as
11700-481: Was consistently ranked in the world's 10 most liveable cities through the 2010s by The Economist Intelligence Unit . In June 2021, The Economist ranked Adelaide the third most liveable city in the world, behind Auckland and Osaka . In June 2023, Adelaide was ranked the twelfth most liveable city in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit. In December 2021, Adelaide was named
11817-629: Was created to facilitate the State Government's collaboration with the Adelaide City Council and the Lord Mayor to improve Adelaide's image. The State Parliament's Capital City Committee is also involved in the governance of the City of Adelaide, being primarily concerned with the planning of Adelaide's urban development and growth. Reflecting South Australia's status as Australia's most centralised state, Adelaide elects
11934-444: Was expanded at the nearby port of Whyalla . The South Australian Government in this period built on former wartime manufacturing industries but neglected cultural facilities which meant South Australia's economy lagged behind. International manufacturers like Holden and Chrysler made use of these factories around the Adelaide area in suburbs like Elizabeth , completing its transformation from an agricultural service centre to
12051-410: Was extended through the city to Hindmarsh down to East Terrace and the suburban railway line extended south to Seaford. Following a period of stagnation in the 1990s and 2000s, Adelaide began several major developments and redevelopments. The Adelaide Convention Centre was redeveloped and expanded at a cost of A$ 350 million beginning in 2012. Three historic buildings were adapted for modern use:
12168-442: Was formally constituted as a penal colony. Although South Australia was constituted such that convicts could never be transported to the Province, some emancipated or escaped convicts or expirees made their own way there, both prior to 1836, or later, and may have constituted 1–2% of the early population. The plan for the province was that it would be an experiment in reform, addressing the problems perceived in British society. There
12285-559: 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
12402-816: Was made for a gaol in Colonel Light's 1837 plan. But by mid-1837 the South Australian Register was warning of escaped convicts from New South Wales and tenders for a temporary gaol were sought. Following a burglary, a murder, and two attempted murders in Adelaide during March 1838, Governor Hindmarsh created the South Australian Police Force (now the South Australia Police ) in April 1838 under 21-year-old Henry Inman . The first sheriff, Samuel Smart,
12519-458: Was negligible at this point: silver was discovered in Glen Osmond that year, agriculture was well underway, and other mines sprung up all over the state, aiding Adelaide's commercial development. The city exported meat, wool, wine, fruit and wheat by the time Grey left in 1845, contrasting with a low point in 1842 when one-third of Adelaide houses were abandoned. Trade links with the rest of
12636-418: Was on the market in 2009. The property boasts a stone two-story homestead, a three bedroom manager's house, a ten-room shearers' quarters, a six-stone shearing shed, and significant shedding around the holding. The property is rated to carry either 6,600 head of cattle or 33,000 sheep. In 2010, Nature Foundation SA purchased the property with two-thirds of the funds provided by a Federal Government grant via
12753-469: Was recorded, but the price paid was retrenchments and lean public spending. Wine and copper were the only industries not to suffer a downturn. Adelaide was Australia's third largest city for most of the 20th century. Electric street lighting was introduced in 1900 and electric trams were transporting passengers in 1909. 28,000 men were sent to fight in World War I . Historian F. W. Crowley examined
12870-450: Was shaped by the diversity and wealth of its free settlers, in contrast to the convict history of other Australian cities. It was Australia's third most populated city until the post-war era. It has been noted for its leading examples of religious freedom and progressive political reforms, and became known as the " City of Churches " due to its diversity of faiths. The city has also been renowned for its automotive industry , as well as being
12987-591: Was short-lived, with the return of droughts and the Great Depression of the 1930s. It later returned to fortune under strong government leadership. Secondary industries helped reduce the state's dependence on primary industries . World War II brought industrial stimulus and diversification to Adelaide under the Playford Government, which advocated Adelaide as a safe place for manufacturing due to its less vulnerable location. Shipbuilding
13104-411: Was surpassed by Brisbane as Australia's third largest city. The Dunstan Governments of the 1970s saw something of an Adelaide "cultural revival", establishing a wide array of social reforms. The city became noted for its progressivism as South Australia became the first Australian state or territory to decriminalise homosexuality between consenting adults in 1975. Adelaide became a centre for
13221-468: Was the first Australian colony not to have an official state religion, and the colony became attractive to people who had experienced religious discrimination, including Methodists and Unitarians . South Australia also had thousands of Prussian Old Lutheran immigrants, some of whom established their own form of Lutheranism. As a result, the Lutheran Church of Australia remains separate from
13338-422: Was to be religious freedom and no established religion. Sales of land to colonists created an Emigration Fund to pay the costs of transferring a poor young labouring population to South Australia. In early 1838 the colonists became concerned after it was reported that convicts who had escaped from the eastern states may make their way to South Australia. The South Australia Police was formed in April 1838 to protect
13455-570: Was upgraded to AAA by Standard & Poor's in September 2004 and to AAA by Moody's in November 2004, the highest credit ratings achievable by any company or sovereign. The state had previously lost these ratings in the State Bank collapse. However, in 2012 Standard & Poor's downgraded the state's credit rating to AA+ due to declining revenues, new spending initiatives and a weaker than expected budgetary outlook. South Australia receives
13572-552: Was wounded during a robbery, and on 2 May 1838 one of the offenders, Michael Magee, became the first person to be hanged in South Australia. William Baker Ashton was appointed governor of the temporary gaol in 1839, and in 1840 George Strickland Kingston was commissioned to design Adelaide's new gaol. Construction of Adelaide Gaol commenced in 1841. Adelaide's early history was marked by economic uncertainty and questionable leadership. The first governor of South Australia, John Hindmarsh , clashed frequently with others, in particular
13689-786: Was −8.2 °C (17.2 °F) at Yongala on 20 July 1976. The region's overall dry weather is owed to the Australian High on the Great Australian Bight. As of 2016, South Australia had 746,105 people employed out of a total workforce of 806,593, giving an unemployment rate of 7.5%. South Australia's largest employment sector is health care and social assistance, making up 14.8% of the state's total employment, followed by retail (10.7%), education and training (8.6%), manufacturing (8%), and construction (7.6%). South Australia's economy relies on exports more than any other state in Australia. South Australia's credit rating
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