The Australian state of South Australia occupies an arid part of
the country. It has borders with the state of Western Australia
to the west; the Northern Territory to the north; the states of
Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria to the east; and the
Great Australian Bight of the Indian Ocean to the south. Its
land area is 379,725 square miles (983,482 square
kilometers)roughly four times the size of the U.S. state of
Michigan or the United Kingdom. Adelaide is the state capital
and chief port, and about three fourths of the state's people
live in its metropolitan area. The state's land is generally low
and flat, lying mostly less than 1,000 feet (300 meters) above
sea level. The Flinders and Mount Lofty ranges, with forests of
eucalyptus and pine, are in the south. The Great Victoria Desert
covers the northwestern part of the state. Scrub vegetation,
grasses, and cacti dot much of the outback (inland area), where
rainfall is too limited to support forests or large settlements.
Yet underlying the northea