South Australia

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). South Australia is known as both the Festival State and the Wine State and its capital is Adelaide. South Australia became a British province in 1836 and joined the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The state's population is approximately 1.53 million (2004). Most of those reside in the fertile coastal areas and in the valley of the Murray River.

History

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 Nicolas Baudin in 1802.

Related Topics:
1627 - Dutch - Francois Thijssen - Matthew Flinders - Nicolas Baudin - 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. It is for this reason that South Australia was legally established as a "province" of Great Britain, as opposed to a colony http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/places/sa/sa1.htm. Commonly, South Australia was simply referred to as a "colony" and its history during this era is referred to as the "colonial" period. 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.

Related Topics:
1831 - South Australia Company - Australian states - Province - Great Britain - Edward Gibbon Wakefield - George Fife Angas

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~