Adelaide

Adelaide is famous for its wine, culture, festivals and riverbank parties. The city lying on the bank of the Murray River is the capital of South Australia, the biggest settlement in the state and the fifth-largest city in Australia was founded in 1836 with the purpose of establishing a developing civil town on the continent.

Adelaide in numbers

Population : 1, 304, 631 (2014)
Area : 3257.7 km
Distances :

  • 654 km from Melbourne
  • 958 km from Canberra
  • 1,161 km from Sydney
  • 1,600 km from Brisbane

Geography and climate

As far as climate and weather is concerned, it has a mediterranean climate with the same characteristics as you read in the South Australia section. Concerning its location, the city lies on the banks of the Murray river. Adelaide stretches 20 km from the coast to the foothills, and 90 km from Gawler at its northern extent to Sellicks Beach in the south. The beauty of the city is characterized by more than 25 km of sandy beach in the west and sheltered by Adelaide Hills with the highest point of 727 metres in the east.

Culture and lifestyle

Adelaide is the centre of the Australian wine regions. The wine coming from this area has been recently gaining reputation even in Europe. It is not a surprise as both the climate and geographical features are excellent for growing grapes. It means you can find several high-quality wine cellars in the Adelaide region. Beside its wine, the city is famous for its festivals. The most important programme of the autumn (March) festival season is the Adelaide Festival which is a collective name of such events as the Adelaide Film Festival, Adelaide Festival of Ideas, Adelaide Writers' Week etc…
Adelaide has a reputation for being calm and relaxed and this lifestyle is proudly protected by the local people.
It ranks very well according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2014 Liveability Survey, being placed as the fifth most liveable city in the world based on lifestyle, infrastructure, education etc.

Transport

Adelaide plays a significant role in the transport of Australia as almost all east-west and north-south main roads cross the area unless they want to cross the desert in the central part of the continent. It means that the road system in the area is of excellent quality and well-developed. The Adelaide Metro company is responsible for the transport system of the city which operates bus lines, local trains and the tram line. The latter one is a special feature of the area, as those trams which were put on the rails in the 1920s are still in operation. The air traffic of the city is not negligible either, as it has two airports with the Adelaide International Airport being the more important.

Sport

The traditional Australian sports like rugby, cricket and football can also be found in Adelaide. Beside these, however, there is a local speciality, basketball, which is not widely spread in Australia. Adelaide has two famous basketball teams : the Adelaide 36ers, which plays in the male league and the Adelaide Lightning playing in the female league. Finally, it is a colourful feature of the city that the World Solar Challenge ends here which is a 3021 km long solar panel car race starting from Darwin in the Northern Territory.

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