Adelaide is in the state of South Australia, on the southern coast of the Australian mainland.

Quick Scoop: Where is Adelaide in Australia?

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia, one of the country’s six states. It sits in the central-southern part of the continent, not far from the southern coastline.

Geographically, Adelaide is:

  • On the Adelaide Plains in South Australia.
  • Between Gulf St Vincent (to the west) and the Mount Lofty Ranges (to the east).
  • In the central-southern part of Australia’s coastline, rather than on the far east (like Sydney) or west (like Perth).

In coordinates, it’s around 34.9° South, 138.6° East, which places it inland a short distance from the gulf but still very much a coastal-region city.

If You’re Visualising It

Think of the map of Australia as a big roughly oval shape:

  • Adelaide is about midway along the southern edge.
  • It faces a gulf (Gulf St Vincent) rather than the open Southern Ocean.
  • Hills sit just behind it, forming the Mount Lofty Ranges to the east.

So if someone asks, “Where is Adelaide in Australia?” the clean answer is:

It’s the capital of South Australia, on the southern coast of the mainland, between Gulf St Vincent and the Mount Lofty Ranges, in the central-southern part of the country.

TL;DR: Adelaide is in South Australia, on the southern coast of the Australian mainland, between Gulf St Vincent and the Mount Lofty Ranges.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.