Adelaide

Sister cities

• George Town
• Rio de Janeiro
• Ferrol
• Himeji
• Zapopan
• Christchurch
• Dalian

History

The amount of time Aboriginal people have been living in the area around modern-day Adelaide has been described as "millennia", "tens of thousands of years", "thousands of generations", or "innumerable generations". At Hallett Cove Conservation Park in Adelaide's southern suburbs, archaeological evidence of Aboriginal culture has been found dating back 40,000 years. The area was originally inhabited by the Kaurna people, one of many Aboriginal tribes in South Australia. The city and parklands area also known as Tarndanyangga Tandanya, Tarndanya or Tarntanya. The name means 'male red kangaroo rock', referring to a rock formation on the site that has now been destroyed. The surrounding area was an open, grassy plain with patches of trees and shrubs, which had been managed by hundreds of generations. Kaurna country encompassed the plains stretching north and south of Tarntanya, as well as the wooded foothills of the Mt Lofty Ranges. The River Torrens was known as the Karrawirra Pari (Red Gum forest river). About 300 Kaurna populated the Adelaide area, and were referred to by the settlers as the Cowandilla. The more than 20 local clans across the plain lived seminomadic lives, with extensive mound settlements where huts were built repeatedly over centuries and a complex social structure, including a class of sorcerers separated from regular society. Within a few decades of European settlement of South Australia, Kaurna culture was almost completely lost, with the last speaker of Kaurna language having died in 1929. Extensive documentation by early missionaries and other researchers has enabled a modern revival of both, which has included a commitment by local and state governments to rename or include Kaurna names for many local places. Based on the ideas of Edward…

Geography

Adelaide is north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, on the Adelaide Plains between the Gulf St Vincent and the relatively low-lying Mount Lofty Ranges (Mount Lofty, the highest point, is 710 metres above sea level). The city stretches from the coast to the foothills, and from Gawler at its northern extent to Sellicks Beach in the south. According to Regional Development Australia, an Australian government planning initiative, the "Adelaide Metropolitan Region" has a total land area of , while a more expansive definition by the Australian Bureau of Statistics defines a "Greater Adelaide" statistical area totalling . Much of Adelaide was bushland before British settlement, with some variation – sandhills, swamps and marshlands were prevalent around the coast. The loss of the sandhills to urban development had a particularly destructive effect on the coastline due to erosion. Where practical, the government has implemented programs to rebuild and vegetate sandhills at several of Adelaide's beachside suburbs. Tennyson Dunes is the largest contiguous, tertiary dune system contained entirely within Metropolitan Adelaide, providing refuge for a variety of remnant species formerly found along the entire coastline. Much of the original vegetation has been cleared with what is left to be found in reserves such as the Cleland National Park and Belair National Park. A number of creeks and rivers flow through the Adelaide region. The largest are the Torrens and Onkaparinga catchments. Adelaide relies on its many reservoirs for water supply with the Happy Valley Reservoir supplying around 40% and the much larger Mount Bold Reservoir 10% of Adelaide's domestic requirements respectively. Adelaide and its surrounding area is one of the most seismically active regions in Australia. On 1…

Most-observed species

• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  14,051
• Rainbow Lorikeet

  Trichoglossus haematodus (Linnaeus, 1771) · Aves
  13,661
• Noisy Miner

  Manorina melanocephala (Latham, 1801) · Aves
  10,685
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  10,606
• Blue-finned Leatherjacket

  Thamnaconus degeni (Regan, 1903) · Animalia
  9,631
• New Holland Honeyeater

  Phylidonyris novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  9,030
• Pacific Black Duck

  Anas superciliosa J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  8,237
• Crested Pigeon

  Ocyphaps lophotes (Temminck, 1822) · Aves
  8,090

Most recent

• M 3 — 2022-03-29
  3 km ESE of Macclesfield, Australia
• M 4 — 2022-03-05
  3 km SW of Mount Barker, Australia
• M 3.2 — 2018-08-08
  11 km WNW of Mannum, Australia
• M 3.9 — 2017-02-01
  9 km NW of Murray Bridge, Australia
• M 3.3 — 2011-10-18
  3 km ESE of Hawthorndene, Australia
• M 3.8 — 2010-04-16
  2 km N of Macclesfield, Australia