The history of South Australia refers to the history of the Australian State of South Australia and it is preceding Indigenous and British colonial societies. Aboriginal Australians have lived in South Australia for tens of thousands of years, while British colonists arrived in the 19th century to establish a free colony, with no convict settlers. European explorers were sent deep into the interior, discovering some pastoral land but mainly large tracts of desert terrain.
The colony became a cradle of democratic reform in Australia. The Parliament of South Australia was formed in 1857 when the colony was granted self-government. Women were granted the vote in the 1890s. South Australia became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 following a vote to federate with the other British colonies of Australia. While it has a smaller population than the eastern States, South Australia has often been at the vanguard of political and social change in Australia.
A group of people known as Aborigines had lived in Australia for thousands of years. But in 1770m Australia was claimed by The British Empire around the same time the United States claimed independence. The discovery of gold in the early 1950s started a gold rush that brought thousands of people to Australia. Later, in 1901 the Commonwealth of Australia was formed and made it an independent Country.
Australia is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area.
