Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of the Australian state of South Australia. It is a coastal city on the Southern Ocean and was named in honour of Queen Adelaide, the consort of King William IV. It is situated on the Fleurieu Peninsula overlooking the Gulf St. Vincent, bordered by the low lying Mt Lofty Ranges to the east giving the suburbs a roughly north-south rectangular layout. The population is 1,072,585 (census 2001). In terms of population, it is the fifth-largest of the Australian capital cities.

Contents

1 Climate

2 History

Climate

Adelaide has a Mediterranean climate which generally means mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers.

Climatic Averages*:

Mean January maximum temperature — 28.8°C ( 83.8°F)
Mean January minimum temperature — 16.8°C (62.2°F)
Mean January daily sunshine — 10.5 hours
Mean July maximum temperature — 15.3°C (59.5°F)
Mean July minimum temperature — 7.4°C (45.3°F)
Mean July daily sunshine — 4.9 hours
Mean annual rainfall — 558.1mm (22.0 inches)
Wettest month on average — June, 83.1mm (3.3 inches)
Driest month on average — February, 13.7mm (0.5 inches)

Recorded extremes*:

Hottest temperature — 44.3°C (111.74°F)
Coldest temperature — minus 0.4°C (31.3°F)
Wettest month — June. 174.6 mm (6.9 inches)

(*Kent Town weather station 1977-present)

History

1888 German map of Adelaide

South Australia was officially settled as a new British province on December 28, 1836 (now commemorated as a public holiday, Proclamation Day) and the site of the new city was surveyed and laid-out by Colonel William Light, the first Surveyor-General of South Australia. Light chose, not without opposition, a site on rising ground close to the River Torrens, which became the chief early water supply for the fledgling colony. "Light's Vision", as it has been termed, has meant that the initial design of Adelaide required little modification as the city grew and prospered. Usually in an older city, it would be necessary to accommodate larger roads and add parks, whereas Adelaide had them from the start.

Adelaide was established as the centre of a planned colony of free immigrants, promising freedom from religious persecution and civil liberties and as such does not share the convict history of other Australian cities, like Sydney and Hobart. Coincidental to that fact, the name Adelaide comes from the German words meaning “Noble Birth”.

Culture

Satellite image of Adelaide

Adelaide is often referred to as the 'City Of Churches', although this is a reflection more on Adelaide's past than its present. Rumour has it that for every church that was built in Adelaide, a public house was also built to serve the less pious.

From its earliest, Adelaide attracted immigrants from many countries, particularly German migrants escaping religious persecution. They brought with them the vine cuttings that founded the acclaimed wineries of the Barossa Valley. After the Second World War Italians, Greeks, Dutch, Polish, and possibly every other European nationality came to make a new start. An influx of Asian immigrants following the Vietnam War added to the mix. These cultures have blended to form a rich and diverse cuisine and vibrant restaurant culture.

Much of the area around Adelaide was once used for wine grape production, so that wine growing districts (such as the Barossa Valley, for which Adelaide and South Australia are well known) remain within a short drive of the city outskirts.

Adelaide's cultural life flourished in the 1970s under the leadership of premier Don Dunstan, removing some of the more puritanical restrictions on cultural activities then prevalent around Australia. Now the city is home to events such as the Barossa Music Festival, the Adelaide Festival of Arts, Adelaide Film Festival, and the Fringe Festival, among others. Womadelaide, Australia's premier world music event, is now annually held in the scenic surrounds of Botanic Park, emphasising Adelaide's dedication to the arts which has prevailed since the days of Don Dunstan.

Adelaide hosted the Formula 1 Grand Prix from 1985 on 1995 on a street circuit in the city's eastern parklands. The Formula 1 Grand Prix became a source of pride and losing the Grand Prix to arch-rival Melbourne under questionable circumstances left a void that has since been filled for the most part with the highly successful Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar race event, held on a modified version of the same circuit.

Adelaide is the home of two Australian Football League teams: the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power. It is also the host of the annual Tour Down Under bicycle race.

Adelaide skyline as seen from Victoria Square

Prominent artists, bands, and musicians to hail from Adelaide include film directors Scott Hicks and Rolf de Heer, actors Anthony LaPaglia and Jonathan LaPaglia, and musicians Jimmy Barnes, John Farnham, The Mark of Cain, The Superjesus, Undertone, Guy Sebastian, Testeagles, and Snap to Zero. Of recent note are hip-hop outfit Hilltop Hoods, who have attained nationwide recognition. North Carolina pop pianist Ben Folds has been living in Adelaide since 1999.

Famous people who grew up in Adelaide include Alexander Downer (current Australian foreign minister), Sir Mark Oliphant (physicist and Governor of South Australia), Nobel Prize winners William Henry Bragg, his son William Lawrence Bragg and Howard Florey (honoured for his role in making penicillin readily available), Andy Thomas (astronaut), Lleyton Hewitt (former world number one tennis player), Ian, Greg, and Trevor Chappell (past international cricket players).

Adelaide was also home to pioneer Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson and Australia's first female judge and first female Governor, Dame Roma Mitchell.

Though born in Melbourne, media mogul Rupert Murdoch ran his first newspaper in Adelaide. In 1952 he took over management from his father of the afternoon paper "The News", turned it into a success and went on to build his now far-reaching media empire News Corporation.

The sole local daily newspaper is The Advertiser, a News Corporation property.

Infrastructure

Adelaide O-Bahn

The city is also home to the University of South Australia (UniSA), the University of Adelaide and the Flinders University, all respected research and teaching institutions. Adelaide has a comprehensive public transport system, known as the Adelaide Metro, which includes the unique Adelaide O-Bahn, a guided busway, and the historic Glenelg Tram which runs from the city to the beach at Glenelg.

Adelaide is the midpoint of the Indian Pacific railway between Perth and Sydney, as well as the terminus of the Overland to Melbourne and The Ghan via Alice Springs to Darwin. Adelaide is served by Adelaide International Airport.

Economy

Adelaide has large manufacturing and research zones. They contain car manufacturing plants for General Motors Holden and Mitsubishi, as well as the major military research institution DSTO (the Defence Science and Technology Organisation) at Salisbury (a suburb 20kms north of the Adelaide City centre). Other industries include ore refining, defence, and electronic component production.

The collapse of the State Bank in 1992 resulted in huge levels of state debt (as much as A$4 billion), which have only recently been reduced. This has meant that successive governments have enacted lean budgets, cutting spending, which has been a large setback to the further development of the city and state.

Sister cities

Adelaide has several sister cities. They are:

External links

City of Adelaide Homepage
SA Central A SA Government Portal to all things South Australian
A History of the Kingston plan of Adelaide
Houses in Magill

Capital cities of Australia
National	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA
Canberra	Sydney	Darwin	Brisbane	Adelaide	Hobart	Melbourne	Perth
Other Australian cities

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