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South Australia

South Australia
alt text for flag alt text for coat of arms
Flag Coat of arms
Slogan or nickname The Festival State;
The Wine State
Map of Australia with South Australia highlighted
Other Australian states and territories
Coordinates 30°S 135°E / 30°S 135°E / -30; 135Coordinates: 30°S 135°E / 30°S 135°E / -30; 135
Capital city Adelaide
Demonym South Australian, Croweater (colloquial), South Aussie
Government Constitutional monarchy
 • Governor Hieu Van Le
 • Premier Jay Weatherill (ALP)
Australian state  
 • Declared as Colony 1834
 • Proclaimed 28 December 1836
 • Responsible
   government
22 April 1857
 • Became state 1901
 • Australia Act 3 March 1986
Area  
 • Total 1,043,514 km² (4th)
402,903 sq mi
 • Land 983,482 km²
379,725 sq mi
 • Water 60,032 km² (5.75%)
23,178 sq mi
Population
(March 2016)
 
 • Population 1,706,500 (5th)
 • Density 1.74/km² (6th)
4.5 /sq mi
Elevation  
 • Highest point Mount Woodroffe
1,435 m (4,708 ft)
 • Lowest point Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre
−16 m (−52 ft)
Gross state product
(2010–11)
 
 • Product ($m) $86,323 (5th)
 • Product per capita $52,318 (7th)
Time zone(s) UTC+9:30 (ACST)
UTC+10:30 (ACDT)
Federal representation  
 • House seats 11/150
 • Senate seats 12/76
Abbreviations  
 • Postal SA
 • ISO 3166-2 AU-SA
Emblems  
 • Floral Sturt's Desert Pea
(Swainsona formosa)
 • Animal Southern hairy-nosed wombat
(Lasiorhinus latifrons)
 • Bird Piping shrike
 • Fish Leafy seadragon
(Phycodurus eques)
 • Mineral or gemstone Opal
 • Colours Red, blue, and gold
Website www.sa.gov.au

South Australia (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 983,482 square kilometres (379,725 sq mi), it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories. It has a total of 1.7 million people, and its population is the most highly centralised of any state in Australia, with more than 75 percent of South Australians living in the capital, Adelaide, or its environs. Other population centres in the state are relatively small.

South Australia shares borders with all of the other mainland states, and with 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 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. Official settlement began on 28 December 1836, when the colony was proclaimed at the Old Gum Tree by Governor John Hindmarsh.

As with the rest of the continent, the region had been long occupied by Aboriginal peoples, who were organised into numerous tribes and languages. The first British settlement to be established was 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 is marked by 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. The state has an increasingly significant finance sector as well.


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