South Australia
South Australia (SA) is Australia’s fourth largest state covering an area of around 984,000 km². If it were a country, it would be the world’s 31st largest, just behind Egypt. It is four times bigger than the United Kingdom and more than twice the size of California.
It has a population of around 1.6 million people. It is known as “The Festival State” and the people who live there are known as “Crow Eaters” – a reference to a time way back when, apparently, some settlers ate some crows.
Adelaide Central Market is the State’s most visited attraction, with the State Library of South Australia coming in second. But a visit to Belair National Park or Mount Lofty Summit may be more fun.
Being Australia’s second least populous state, it hasn’t been too easy to find famous Australians who originated from there. But I did find Anthony La Paglia, actor and Holly Brisley, actress. Not heard of them? Well, he played Jack Malone in the long running series “Without a Trace” and she plays Amanda Vale on Home and Away.
Still nothing? Sorry.
Places in South Australia
The capital city of South Australia is Adelaide, but there are quite a few other major towns, cities and localities to choose from within the state.
Here is a list of towns and localities in the state, with a population of over 10,000 people.
- Mount Gambier – about 23,000
- Whyalla – just over 21,000
- Gawler – about 20,000
- Murray Bridge – just over 14,000
- Crafers-Bridgewater – about 13,000
- Port Augusta- about 13,000
- Port Pirie – just over 13,000
- Port Lincoln – just over 13,000
- Mount Barker – about 11,000
- Victor Harbor – just over 10,000
And then there are all the towns with less than 10,000 population, we’ll be adding those as we get reviews for them. If you live in one any of these towns, or the smaller ones not yet listed, why not Own Your Town now!
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Famous people?
Leighton Hewitt! C’mon dude seriously….
Ah, Leighton Hewitt, yes, born in Adelaide. Thank you so much! My research didn’t uncover that one, but it sure beats my two.
Got any more?
Hello Bob,
Your site has been a wonderful tool in our research on Australia. Keep up the great work! We were recently sponsored by SA and received our PRV just this week, so maybe I can share a little more about SA after we arrive.
~Stephanie & Alan
Congratulations Stephanie & Alan and I hope your upcoming move goes smoothly. Glad my website has helped and yes, do tell me what you think when you get here.
Cheers
Bob
Bob,
I guess Julia Gillard grew up in Adelaide (even though she’s Welsh). Found your site and having recently moved to Oz finding it pretty entertaining….particularly enjoyed the fightclub/friends-making “rules”.
Cheers,
Jack
I wish she was in Wales now, they could have the carbon tax instead of us!
Anyway, welcome, and I hope you are enjoying Australia is much as I do.
Hi Bob,
Well we made it here to South Australia just 7 weeks ago. We’ve settled in a cute country town in the Adelaide Hills and absolutely love it here!! Belair Nat’l Park is beautiful, we even videotaped a Koala walking from one tree to another right in front of us! The Adelaide Hills are spectacular with flowing green vineyards, fruit orchards and livestock all around!! Feels like finally finding home…
Take Care,
Stephanie & Alan
Congratulations and welcome! I have been up them thar hills in Adelaide and they are truly stunning, aren’t they? They are almost certainly brimming with lots of wildlife and I’m sure you will enjoy many more special moments to add to your koala sighting.
I hope you settle in fast; be aware the first few months can be the toughest, just make sure you get through it.
Cheers
Bob
Thank you, and your advice to never turn down an invitation is so true. We’ve made great friends already. Had a busy Christmas with all the get togethers we were invited to. Makes all the difference when you’re not sitting at home missing your old friends or old life!
We truly love it here.
Sounds like you’re staying
Hi Stephanie
Am interested in hearing how you are finding Adelaide? Hubby has been offered a job in Adelaide and a job in Brisbane and we have 4 small children. Having never been to either and no time to do a reccie, we are interested in hearing from others who have made the leap. Does Adelaide have plenty of things to do/places to visit and distractions to keep children entertained???
Glad to hear you guys seem to have settled in!
Hi Karen,
Please feel free to visit my blog (www.willowtreereflections.blogspot.com.au/) as I have written quite a bit not only about our process of getting here, but how it’s been and why we chose it. Though we’ve only been here a little over 3 months, we have no regrets. We absolutely love it here in the Adelaide area. We really aren’t “city folk” so we chose the Adelaide Hills and it’s perfect for us, with only a 30 minute drive to Adelaide. We did visit Brisbane a few years back on our exploratory trip and while it is certainly beautiful as well and very tropical feeling, the heat and humidity was definitely not for us. We have 6 children (and 2 dogs) and there are so many things to do here, even lots of free stuff. Chocolate factory tours, zoos and wildlife parks, beautiful beaches and lots of activities and events geared towards kids/families.
Hope this helped and you find what you’re looking for wherever you end up in Oz!
Stephanie
And Karen, please keep in mind blogging is very new to me. My blog sucks compared to Bob’s, please don’t hold it against me
Your blog looks pretty good to me Stephanie
Anyone wanting to visit Stephanie’s blog, just click on her name (in blue) above any of her comments.
Thank you, nothing like pressure to improve!
It’s definitely a work in progress!
hi i am desperately wanting to move to adelaide, and just unsure how it all works, my husband is a mechanic and i myself a care assistant, we have 5 kids, can you tell me if i need set amount of money in bank to apply?
It doesn’t really work like that, although it is not cheap to move to Australia. Start by reading my series about how I moved to Australia, the link is in the main navigation menu at the top of the page.
Also, check out Visas
apparently South Australia esp Adelaide has one of the highest costs of living in the Country now in 2012. I too wish Julia Gillard stayed in Wales, she is the final nail in the coffin for Australia, and her SA counterparts are doing a fantastic job of ruining South Australia. I am in Whyalla, apparently there is going to be a mining boom, well IMHO I have had farts bigger than this so called boom, but if it does happen I am happy enough to sell my big 6 bedroom home to the highest bidder, and move interstate I have had enough of Whyalla, Regional SA and SA altogether. I do appreciate this website it gives me lots of information on potential homes. I want to be where it is GREEN, Wonderful Native birds, Cockies, parrots, lorikeets etc. Access to good medical and dental services. and HOPE that my kids can have a better chance of doing with their lives what they want to do. Job satisfaction is important. I have spent the last 3 years at Uni trying to get some reasonable recent education, but the courses are limited here. I want to be able to just get in my car and drive in any direction for day trips to discover new places. I have done the road trip via Barrier Hwy to Sydney and back via Hume Hwy and Sturt Hwy back to Whyalla and it was the best time of my life. This year I hope to head up to Longreach ( Stonehenge) to see where my father is buried, and also head along the east coast back down the Great Ocean Road, camping with my kids along the way.
I think we all wish Julia Gillard had stayed in Wales, apart from the Welsh.
Have you considered Tasmania? I went last year, thought it was fantastic. Some friends of ours went this year, they thought it was amazing! I think they are seriously tempted to move there at some point.
You don’t get much greener than Tasmania, apparently it has the cleanest air in the world.