Global Study Group

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of South Australia, and is the fifth largest city in Australia, with a population of over 1.1 million in 2004. It is a coastal city situated on eastern side of Gulf St. Vincent on the Adelaide Plains, north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, and west of the low-lying Mount Lofty Ranges.
Named in honour of Queen Adelaide, the consort of King William IV, the city was founded in 1836 as the planned capital for the only freely-settled British province in Australia. Colonel William Light, one of Adelaide's founding fathers, designed the city and chose its location close to the River Torrens. Inspired by William Penn, Light's design set out Adelaide in a grid layout, interspaced by wide boulevards and large public squares, and entirely surrounded by parkland. Early Adelaide was shaped by religious freedom and a commitment to political progressivism and civil liberties, which led to world-first reforms. Today Adelaide is known for its many festivals as well as for its wine, arts and sports.
As South Australia's seat of government and commercial centre, Adelaide is the site of many governmental and financial institutions. Most of these are concentrated in the city centre along the cultural boulevard of North Terrace, King William Street and in various districts of the metropolitan area.

Climate
Adelaide has a Mediterranean climate, where most of the rain falls in the winter months. Of the Australian capital cities, Adelaide is the driest. Rainfall is unreliable, light and infrequent throughout summer. In contrast, the winter has fairly reliable rainfall with June being the wettest month of the year, averaging around 80 mm. Frosts are rare, with the most notable occurrences having occurred in July 1908 and July 1982. There is usually no appreciable snowfall, except at Mount Lofty and some places in the Adelaide Hills.

Education
School education in Adelaide is provided by a variety of public and private schools, which are the responsibility of the State Government. These schools operate under the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE), or with the International Baccalaureate(IB) Diploma Programme. Adelaide has the highest number of IB schools in Australia. The higher education system in Adelaide is extensive, with five out of eight centres of TAFE South Australia in the city itself. They specialise in non-university higher education offering a viable alternative. Adelaide is home to campuses of all three of South Australia's universities. The University of Adelaide is a member of the Group of Eight and is the third-oldest university in Australia. It has five campuses in the Adelaide area; one being its primary campus on North Terrace and another being the National Wine Centre. The University of South Australia was formed in 1991 from a merger between the South Australian Institute of Technology and the South Australian Colleges of Advanced Education. Four of its five campuses are located in Adelaide, with two in the city-centre itself. Flinders University, located in Bedford Park, is named after British navigator and explorer Matthew Flinders and was founded in 1966. It is a mid-sized institution with a medical school at the adjacent Flinders Medical Centre. Leading US private university Carnegie Mellon established two Adelaide campuses in 2006 offering both Australian and US degrees. The Heinz School Australia specialises in IT and government management and is based in Victoria Square, while another campus at Light Square will specialises in new media and entertainment. These institutions attract students from across Australia and around the world, contributing to Adelaide?s international recognition as a ?City of Education?.
The SABRENet optical fibre network interconnects Adelaide's university campuses, technology parks, research precincts, TAFE colleges and some high schools.