Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital & most populous city of South Australia & the fifth largest city in Australia with a population of approximately 1.2 million people. Situated on the eastern side of the Gulf of St Vicent & the western side of the Mount Lofty Ranges with the city close by to the banks of the Torrens River, Adelaide's area extends approx 20km from the foothills to the ocean & approximately 90km from the Northern outskirts of Gawler to the southern regions such as Sellicks Beach.

Adelaide is well known for it's many festivals as well as it's wineries, arts & sports. To some it is regarded as the city of churches because of it's many places of worship.

Arts & Entertainment

 Adelaide is renowned for the arts & it's festivals with such events as the Adelaide Fringe Festival, Festival of the Arts, Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Adelaide Film Festival & Womadelaide. Adelaide is also home to the worlds largest Christmas parade the Adelaide Christmas Pageant.

Health & Education

 Adelaide boasts a wide range of Health & Education facilities. Education is is increasingly becoming more prominent with the South Australian Government attempting to position Adelaide as the education hub of Australia. The number of International students has increased in recent years to approximately 24,000. The tertiary education system in Adelaide is rather extensive. There are many TAFE colleges throughout the city along with three Public & 2 Private Universities. The Adelaide University accommodates approx 20,500 students, the University of South Australia with approximately 30,900 students and the Flinders University with approximately 17,000 students.

The city is well known for its major health organisations with the main one being the RAH (Royal Adelaide Hospital). Not only is the RAH a general Hospital it is also a teaching Hospital for the University of Adelaide. The RAH also consists of two other campuses being the Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre & the Glenside mental health service. Other major health facilities consist of the Womans & Childrens Hospital in North Adelaide, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woodville and the Flinders Medical Centre in Bedford Park. 

Economy

Adelaide's economy is primarily based around manufacturing, defence technology  research & commodity export. The country regions are heavily reliant on the farming & agriculture where some of the best areas in Australia are located for the production of wheat, barley & livestock.

 General Motors Holden which is a car manufacturing plant in the Northern suburbs produces many cars that are driven on Australian roads. Almost half the cars produced in Australia are made in Adelaide. There are many other manufacturing plants that produce electronic systems that are sold worldwide for medical, communication, defence & food & wine processing purposes.

Adelaide is home to Australia's largest oil company SANTOS, Coopers Brewery, & Australia's second largest listed Investment company Argo Investments.

 The South Australian economy which is closely tied with Adelaide still enjoys trade surplus and has a higher per capita growth than Australia on a whole.

 The city is home to a large proportion of Adelaide's defence industries which contribute over $1 Billion to South Australia's gross state product. 70% of Australian Defence companies are located in Adelaide. Adelaide is also the home of the Edinburgh RAAF base in the Northern Suburbs, the Australian Submarine Corporation in Osborne which was awarded with the construction of the Collins class submarines as well a $6 Billion contract to construct the Royal Australian Navy's Air Warfare Destroyers.

Development

 South Australia has recently emerged as one of Australia's leading states in Infrastructure & Development, which is currently riding high on an economic wave with approximately $30 Billion in Major developments approved or underway with many of them being within the Adelaide region.

 Adelaide is predicted to be the next boom city over the coming years, currently according to leading economist it is being classed as the dark horse & sleeping giant. Adelaide's potential certainly has not matched that of other cities in other states & territories.

Adelaide's housing & living costs are substantially lower than that of other Australian cities, with house prices notably cheaper. The current median house price in Adelaide is approximately $350,000. There are currently approximately 700,000 existing dwellings with another 275,000 needed with the anticipated migration of around 400,000 people to the city by 2050. Some economists believe that the population for the city could reach 2 Million by 2050 with the potential that this could happen even sooner. Along with this across Australia there is a need to produce more housing with shortages seen across the country with demand still exceeding supply.  Adelaide's rental market is currently very tight with a vacancy rate around 1.5%.

 In recent years Adelaide has seen some very good growth along with other major cities.  A lot of the metropolitan areas have seen growth of 40% or more since June 2007. Adelaide's main growth corridors extend to the south & the north and according to leading economists the Northern corridor is an area to look out for in which the Elizabeth area has been highlighted for significant growth.

South Australia is well known also for it's mining and resources & is currently ranked fourth in the world in terms of mining potential. In December 2007 South Australia's mineral exploration expenditure reached $328 Million making it Australia's second highest level of exploration investment after Western Australia. Currently it has the world largest known Uranium deposits mostly at Roxby Downs north of Adelaide, the fourth largest Copper deposits in the world and has considerable Gold & Silver deposits that are accessible. The mining sector is expected to go through considerable expansion in the coming years which will have a major impact on housing throughout the state. Mineral production in the state is expected to increase to approx $3 Billion per year.

Olympic Dam at Roxby Downs currently produces 2.2 Million tonnes of Uranium per year, 10 times larger than the next biggest producer Siberia & hold 55% of the worlds Uranium deposits. An expected future expansion of the mine will increase productivity from producing 10 Million tonnes of ore up to 70 Million once complete. $7 Billion will be the cost of the expansion which will also create approx 23,000 new jobs.

Transport

 Adelaide is served very well by the public transport system, which connects from all parts of the inner city to the outer suburbs. Adelaide connects itself with the southern regions such as Victor Harbour through the Southern Expressway and Northern areas through Main North Road, Port Wakefield Road and the soon to be constructed Northern Expressway.

Adelaide's international Airport is located a short distance away from the city & is classed as a major hub for travel within Australia & a key stop over for international visitors.

Climate

Adelaide is considered to have a mediterranean climate with four distinctive seasons. Most of Adelaide's rainfall comes in the winter months, especially June & July. Although there is plenty of rainfall, Adelaide is considered to be the driest city in Australia. Temperatures range from 20 degrees C to 40 degrees C in the summer months & becoming quite cool in the winter months with anything between 10 degrees C to 22 degrees being the normal.

Sports 

Adelaide is home to many national sporting teams such as the Adelaide Crows & Port power in the Australian Football League, Adelaide United in the A-League soccer competition, the Southern Redbacks in the first class domestic cricket competition, Adelaide 36ers & Adelaide Lightning in the NBL & WNBL, Adelaide Thunderbirds in the trans tasman netball competition to name a few.

 The city was the origional home of the formula 1 Grand Prix until lost to Melbourne but the course is now home to the Clipsal 500 for V8 Super racing.