Editing South Australia (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of South Australia}}
[[File:Alexander Schramm - A scene in South Australia - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=0.95|left|European settlers with Aboriginal Australians, 1850]]

Evidence of human activity in South Australia dates back as far as 20,000 years, with [[flint]] mining activity and rock art in the [[Koonalda Cave]] on the [[Nullarbor Plain]]. In addition wooden spears and tools were made in an area now covered in [[peat]] [[bog]] in the South East. [[Kangaroo Island]] was inhabited long before the island was cut off by [[Sea level rise|rising sea levels]].<ref>R.J. Lampert (1979): Aborigines. '''In''' Tyler, M.J., [[Charles Rowland Twidale|Twidale, C.R.]] & Ling, J.K. (Eds) ''Natural History of Kangaroo Island.'' Royal Society of South Australia Inc. {{ISBN|0-9596627-1-5}}</ref> According to [[mitochondrial DNA]] research, Aboriginal people reached [[Eyre Peninsula]] 49,000-45,000 years ago from both the east (clockwise, along the coast, from northern Australia) and the west (anti-clockwise).<ref>[[Ghil'ad Zuckermann|Zuckermann, Ghil'ad]] (2020), [[Revivalistics|''Revivalistics: From the Genesis of Israeli to Language Reclamation in Australia and Beyond'']], [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/revivalistics-9780199812790 Oxford University Press]. {{ISBN|9780199812790}} / {{ISBN|9780199812776}}</ref>{{rp|189}}

The first recorded European sighting of the South Australian coast was in 1627 when the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] ship the ''Gulden Zeepaert'', captained by [[François Thijssen]], examined and mapped a section of the coastline as far east as the [[Nuyts Archipelago]]. Thijssen named the whole of the country eastward of the Leeuwin "Nuyts Land", after a distinguished passenger on board; the Hon. [[Pieter Nuyts]], one of the [[Governor of Formosa|Councillors of India]].<ref>{{Citation 
  | author1=Australian Geographical Society.
  | author2=Australian National Publicity Association.
  | author3=Australian National Travel Association. 
  | title=Walkabout 
  | date=1934 
  | publisher=Australian National Travel Association 
  | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-714111795
  | access-date=7 January 2019
}}</ref>

The coastline of South Australia was first mapped by [[Matthew Flinders]] and [[Nicolas Baudin]] in 1802, excepting the inlet later named the [[Port River|Port Adelaide River]] which was first discovered in 1831 by Captain [[Collet Barker]] and later accurately charted in 1836–37 by Colonel [[William Light]], leader of the South Australian Colonization Commissioners' 'First Expedition' and first Surveyor-General of South Australia.

The land which now forms the state of South Australia was claimed for Britain in 1788 as part of the colony of [[New South Wales]]. Although the new colony included almost two-thirds of the continent, early settlements were all on the eastern coast and only a few intrepid explorers ventured this far west. It took more than forty years before any serious proposal to establish settlements in the south-western portion of New South Wales were put forward.

On 15 August 1834, the [[British Parliament]] passed the [[South Australia Act 1834]] (''Foundation Act''), which empowered His Majesty to erect and establish a province or provinces in southern Australia. The act stated that the land between 132° and 141° east longitude and from 26° south latitude to the southern ocean would be allotted to the intended colony, and it would be convict-free.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/resources/transcripts/sa1_doc_1834.pdf |title=Transcript of the South Australia Act, 1834 |publisher=Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House|access-date=27 December 2018}}</ref>

[[File:S. T. Gill - Sturt's Overland Expedition leaving Adelaide, 10th August, 1844 - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|240px|[[Charles Sturt]]'s expedition leaving Adelaide for central Australia, 1844]]
In contrast to the rest of Australia, ''[[terra nullius]]'' did not apply to the new province. The [[Letters Patent]],<ref name="Letters Patent establishing the Province of South Australia 19 February 1836 (UK)">{{Cite web | url=https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid-38.html | title=Documenting Democracy}}</ref> which used the enabling provisions of the South Australia Act 1834 to fix the boundaries of the Province of South Australia, provided that "nothing in those our Letters Patent shall affect or be construed to affect the rights of any Aboriginal Natives of the said Province to the actual occupation and enjoyment in their own Persons or in the Persons of their Descendants of any Lands therein now actually occupied or enjoyed by such Natives."<ref name="Letters Patent establishing the Province of South Australia 19 February 1836 (UK)"/> Although the patent guaranteed land rights under force of law for the indigenous inhabitants, it was ignored by the South Australian Company authorities and squatters.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Ngadjuri Walpa Juri Lands and Heritage Association | date = n.d. | title = Gnadjuri | publisher=SASOSE Council Inc | isbn = 978-0-646-42821-5 }}</ref> Despite strong reference to the rights of the native population in the initial proclamation by the Governor, there were many conflicts and deaths in the [[Australian frontier wars|Australian Frontier Wars]] in South Australia.
[[File:Nicolas Baudin 2.jpeg|thumb|right|upright|[[Nicolas Baudin]], who mapped the coastline of South Australia, along with [[Matthew Flinders]]]]

Survey was required before settlement of the province, and the Colonization Commissioners for South Australia appointed William Light as the leader of its 'First Expedition', tasked with examining 1500 miles of the South Australian coastline and selecting the best site for the capital, and with then planning and surveying the site of the city into one-acre Town Sections and its surrounds into 134-acre Country Sections.

Eager to commence the establishment of their whale and seal fisheries, the South Australian Company sought, and obtained, the Commissioners' permission to send Company ships to South Australia, in advance of the surveys and ahead of the Commissioners' colonists.

The company's settlement of seven vessels and 636 people was temporarily made at Kingscote on Kangaroo Island, until the official site of the capital was selected by William Light, where the City of Adelaide is currently located. The first [[Immigration to Australia|immigrants]] arrived at [[Holdfast Bay]] (near the present day [[Glenelg, South Australia|Glenelg]]) in November 1836.

The commencement of colonial government was proclaimed on 28 December 1836, now known as [[Proclamation Day (South Australia)|Proclamation Day]].

South Australia is the only Australian state to have never received British convicts. Another free settlement, [[Swan River colony]] was established in 1829 but [[Western Australia]] later sought convict labour, and in 1849 Western Australia was formally constituted as a penal colony. Although South Australia was constituted such that convicts could never be transported to the Province, some emancipated or escaped convicts or expirees made their own way there, both prior to 1836, or later, and may have constituted 1–2% of the early population.<ref>Sendziuk, P. (2012): No convicts here: reconsidering South Australia's foundation myth. '''In:''' Foster, R. & Sendziuk, P. (Eds.) ''Turning points: chapters in South Australian history.'' Wakefield Press. {{ISBN|978 1 74305 119 1}}</ref>

The plan for the province was that it would be an experiment in reform, addressing the problems perceived in British society. There was to be religious freedom and no established religion. Sales of land to colonists created an Emigration Fund to pay the costs of transferring a poor young labouring population to South Australia. In early 1838 the colonists became concerned after it was reported that convicts who had escaped from the eastern states may make their way to South Australia. The [[South Australia Police]] was formed in April 1838 to protect the community and enforce government regulations. Their principal role was to run the first temporary gaol, a two-room hut.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/adelaidegaol/free-settlement.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091024014707/http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/adelaidegaol/free-settlement.html|url-status=dead|title=History of Adelaide Gaol|archive-date=24 October 2009|access-date=19 November 2020}}</ref>

The current [[flag of South Australia]] was adopted on 13 January 1904, and is a British blue ensign [[Defacement (flag)|defaced]] with the state badge. The badge is described as a [[piping shrike]] with wings outstretched on a yellow disc. The state badge is believed to have been designed by Robert Craig of Adelaide's [[School of Design (Adelaide)|School of Design]].