Multicultural community

The migrant state

South Australia is made up of people from all ethnic, religious and national backgrounds. More importantly, it's friendly, cohesive and inclusive.

• South Australians were born in more than 200 different countries

• those born overseas number approximately 300,000 or 20% of the State's total population.

• Adelaide has seen several 'waves' of migration since European settlement in 1836: principally, these waves have been made up of British, Irish, Germans, Eastern Europeans, Mediterranean Europeans, Asians, peoples from the Middle East and (most recently) East Africans.

• migrant groups continue to make South Australia a richer place, strengthening the State's culture, its links with the wider world and (not least!) influencing its cuisine

• new arrivals from overseas will find plenty of support groups, cultural assimilation programs and community resources to assist with your move to the state

• in 1836, European settlers established South Australia on the principle that people of all religions should be allowed to practise openly and freely. Subsequently, all types of religious structures came to be built in the capital (including the first mosque to be built in the southern hemisphere). This is one of the reasons Adelaide has come to be known as 'The City of Churches'

According to the 2001 Census, the largest groupings by ancestry are:

For a real taste of Multicultural SA, visit the website: multicultural.sa.gov.au.