The Murray Mallee is the grain-growing and sheep-farming area of South Australia. It is bounded to the north and west by the Murray River, called the "River Murray" in South Australia, to the east by the Victorian border, and extending about 50 km south of the Mallee Highway.
The Murray Mallee's topography is mainly flat, punctuated with gentle undulating sandy rises
Murray Mallee country in winter
South Australia is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of 984,321 square kilometres (380,048 sq mi), it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, and second smallest state by population. It has a total of 1.8 million people. Its population is the second most highly centralised in Australia, after Western Australia, with more than 77 percent of South Australians living in the capital Adelaide, or its environs. Other population centres in the state are relatively small; Mount Gambier, the second-largest centre, has a population of 26,878.
European settlers with Aboriginal Australians, 1850
Charles Sturt's expedition leaving Adelaide for central Australia, 1844
A satellite image of eastern South Australia. Note the dry lakes (white patches) in the north.
The Barossa Valley, northeast of Adelaide. South Australia's wine industry is the largest in Australia.