South Australia is a state of Australia, in the southern central part of the country, along the Southern Ocean. It covers an area of 984 377 kmē (380 070 square miles). South Australia is known as both the Festival State and the Wine State and its capital is Adelaide. South Australia became a British province in 1836 and joined the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 (see Federation of Australia). The state's population is approximately 1.54 million (2005). Most of those reside in the fertile coastal areas and in the valley of the Murray River.