AUSTRALIA, South, one of the original states in the Commonwealth of Australia. It occupies the middle of Australia, and at first, as the colony of South Australia, extended be tween long. 132° and 141° E., and from South ern Ocean to lat. 26° N., having then an area of about 300,000 square miles. In 1861 a dis trict lying to the west of the colony was added to it, so that its western boundary was shifted to the meridian of 129°. In 1863 it received in addition the country between its northern boundary and the opposite coast (this portion being now known as the Northern Territory), so that South Australia now possesses a tern tory extending across Australia, and occupying an area estimated at 903,690 square miles. It is bounded on the east by Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland; on the west by West Australia. Its greatest length from north to south is 1,850 miles, and its width 650 miles. The south coast, for the first 120 miles east of where it begins at Port Eucla, is backed by steep limestone ranges from 400 to 600 feet in height, but as a whole the coast is low and desolate-looking. In a straight line from Port Eucla on the west to Cape Northumberland, near the boundary of Victoria, the distance is 850 miles, but the coast-line between these points extends to nearly twice that distance, owing to the indentations of Spencer Gulf and the Gulf of Saint Vincent. Opposite the latter is Kangaroo Island, the largest island on the Australian coast, excepting Tasmania. The coast of the Northern Territory is thickly strewn with islands, three of which are of large size. There are also some excellent ports, one of these, Port Darwin, where the overland tele graph and the cable from Batavia and the East meet, being among the finest harbors in Aus tralia. On the eastern side of the Gulf of Saint Vincent lie the most populous portions of the state, and here is situated Adelaide, the state capital, with a population in 1911 of 189646.
The interior formation of South Australia widely differs from that of the most eastern states. The mountains here run from the sea
to the interior, ending somewhat abruptly among the lakes. The principal chain, the Mount Lofty Rang; begins at Cape Jervis, and follows the shore of the Gulf of Saint Vincent past Adelaide, meeting at the head of the gulf, the ridges forming the backbone of Yorke Peninsula. The range still running north is called Flinders Range, and ends in a wide mass of mountain 3,000 feet separating the lakes Torrens, Eyre, Frome and Blanche. All these so-called lakes are huge expanses of salt water swamp and mud. On the west of Spen cer Gulf is Eyre Peninsula, through the heart of which runs the Gawler Range, attaining an elevation of 2,000 feet, and ending on the shores of another series of lakes of the same character as Lake Torrens. The principal summits of the Mount Lofty Range are Razor-back, in lati tude 33° 20', and immediately north of it Mount Bryan, close to which is the celebrated Burra Burra copper mine. The highest peaks of the Flinders Range are Mount Remarkable. 3179 feet, Brown 3,174 feet, and Arden 3,000 feet. None of the peaks in the Gawler Range attain more than a moderate elevation. On the left bank of the Murray, and near its mouth, a range of moderately elevated heights proceed south-southeast, skirting the coast to its ex tremity near Cape Northumberland. Through out these ranges the existence of volcanic agency at a former period is everywhere ap parent. The Warburton Range and the Stuart ranges lie beyond and to the north and west of the lakes; further north on the Tropic of Capricorn are the MacDonell ranges, rising to a height of 4,000 feet, from which the ex treme western afliuents of the Lake Eyre River system take their rise. The other portions of the territory to the north and west are almost level, and consist of either waterless plains or plains of sandstone boulders, with desert grass and spini f ex.