South Australia, State, south-central Australia. Area: 379,725 sq mi (983,482 sq km). Population: (2021) 1,781,516. Capital: Adelaide. The Dutch visited the coast in 1627. British explorers arrived in the early 1800s, and it was colonized as a British province in 1836. Its vast interior, a large part of which is barren, includes Lake Eyre and the Flinders Ranges. It is a major world source of opals and also produces most of the wine and brandy consumed in Australia. It has the country’s largest shipyards. It became a state of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. Its southeastern part has become industrialized since World War II.
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