Who we are, where we are...
South Australia is the southern, central state on the mainland of Australia.
Area: 984,377 square kilometres (12.8% of the total Australian land mass)
Population: 1.6 million (June 2009)
Capital city: Adelaide, population 1.2 million (June 2009).
Adelaide's sister cities:
- Christchurch, New Zealand
- Georgetown, Penang
- Austin, Texas
- Himeji, Japan.
Language: English
Currency: Australian Dollar
Domestic flying times:
- 1 hour 15 to Melbourne
- 1 hour 40 to Canberra
- 1 hour 50 to Sydney
- 2 hours 15 to Brisbane
- 3 hours to Perth
- 3 hours 35 to Darwin.
International flying times:
- 5 hours to Auckland
- 7 hours to Singapore
- 16 hours to Los Angeles
- 22 hours to London
- 14 hours to India
- 13 hours to China
- 17 hours to South Africa
- 12 hours to Korea.
Did you know?
- South Australia shares a border with all Australia’s mainland States, as well as the Northern Territory
- average maximum daily temperatures in Adelaide range from 29ºC in February to 15ºC in July
- prior to British settlement, the area now known as the Adelaide Plains was home to the Kaurna Aboriginal people
- named in honour of Queen Adelaide, the consort of King William IV, Adelaide was founded in 1836 as the planned capital for the only freely settled British province in Australia
- Adelaide was designed by the first surveyor-general of South Australia, Colonel William Light. His plan, now known as Light's Vision, arranged Adelaide in a grid of five squares surrounded by gardens and open spaces that form the Adelaide Parklands
- primarily a British colony, Adelaide nevertheless attracted early immigrants from many non-English speaking countries, including German Lutherans escaping religious persecution in Prussia. The first Lutherans arrived in 1838, bringing with them vine cuttings used to establish the acclaimed wineries of the Barossa Valley
- after the Second World War, Italians, Greeks, the Dutch and Poles arrived to make a new start in South Australia. An influx of Asian immigrants following the Vietnam War added to the mix. The multicultural population has contributed to Adelaide's vibrant restaurant and café culture
- the global media conglomerate News Corporation was founded in Adelaide. Headquarters were moved to New York in 2004, but Rupert Murdoch still considers the city the company's 'spiritual' home
- Adelaide International Airport is Australia's newest and most advanced airport terminal, located just 7km from most of the major hotels and convention facilities in central Adelaide.
