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 and the garden city movement, 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. Adelaidean society remained largely puritan up until the 1970s, when a set of social reforms under the premiership of Don Dunstan resulted in a cultural revival. 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 and in various districts of the metropolitan area.

Adelaide is sometimes referred to as the 'City of Churches', although this is a reflection more on Adelaide's past than its present. Rumour has it that for every church that was built in Adelaide, a pub was also built to serve the less pious. From its earliest, Adelaide attracted immigrants from many countries, particularly German migrants escaping religious persecution. They brought with them the vine cuttings that founded the acclaimed wineries of the Barossa Valley. After the Second World War Italians, Greeks, Dutch, Polish, and possibly every other European nationality came to make a new start. An influx of Asian immigrants following the Vietnam War added to the mix. These new arrivals have blended to form a rich and diverse cuisine and vibrant restaurant culture.

Adelaide's arts scene flourished in the 1970's under the leadership of premier Don Dunstan, removing some of the more puritanical restrictions on cultural activities then prevalent around Australia. Now the city is home to events such as the Barossa Music Festival, the Adelaide Festival of Arts, Adelaide Film Festival, Adelaide Festival of Ideas, Come Out youth arts festival, and the Fringe Festival, among others. WOMADelaide, Australia's premier world music event, is now annually held in the scenic surrounds of Botanic Park, emphasising Adelaide's dedication to the arts which has prevailed since the days of Don Dunstan.

The annual Royal Adelaide Show, first held in 1840, began as a simple event for the state's farmers to show off their produce. Over time, it grew into a more general commercial fair held in early September in the inner suburb of Wayville, with carnival rides, food and entertainment surrounding the more traditional agricultural exhibitions and competitions.

The music of Adelaide has produced various musicians who have achieved both national and worldwide fame. Notably the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Adelaide Youth Orchestra, The Mark of Cain, The Superjesus, Testeagles, Cold Chisel and Eric Bogle. American artist Ben Folds considers Adelaide his second home, epitomised in his song "Adelaide" and resides here with his Adelaide-born wife for a number of months each year. The first Australian Idol winner, Guy Sebastian hails from the Adelaide suburb of Golden Grove and the popular Australian hip-hop outfit Hilltop Hoods come from Blackwood.

Being centrally located on the Australian mainland, Adelaide forms something of a strategic transport hub for east-west and north-south routes. The city itself has a limited public transport system, which is managed by and known as the Adelaide Metro. The Adelaide Metro consists of a contracted bus system including the Adelaide O-Bahn (a guided busway), metropolitan railways, and the historic Adelaide-Glenelg Tram. Road transport in Adelaide has historically been comparatively easier than many of the other Australian cities, with a well-defined city layout and wide multiple-lane roads from the beginning of its development. Historically, Adelaide was known as a "twenty-minute city", with commuters having being able to travel from metropolitan outskirts to the city proper in roughly twenty minutes. However, these roads are now inadequate to cope with Adelaide's growing road traffic. ^[13]

Adelaide International Airport, located at West Beach, is Australia's newest and most advanced airport terminal and is designed to serve in excess of 5.4 million passengers annually. The new dual international/domestic terminal was to replace the old and ageing terminals known locally as the 'tin sheds', and incorporates new state-of-the-art features, such as glass aerobridges and the ability to cater for the new Airbus A380. The airport is designed to handle 27 aircraft simultaneously and it is capable of processing 3,000 passengers per hour. Unusually for a major city it is located only about seven kilometres (four miles) from the CBD

Source: Wikipedia