Port Augusta is a natural harbour and seaport located at the head of the Spencer Gulf in outback South Australia, about 320 km north of the state capital, Adelaide. Port Augusta is the fifth largest city in South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier, Whyalla and Murray Bridge. In 2006, Port Augusta had a population of 13,257 inhabitants, of whom 17% were indigenous.
Port Augusta was settled on in 1852 by Alexander Elder and John Grainger. As was the custom at the time, the settlement like most landmarks was named after an English toff, in this case none less than Augusta Sophia, Lady Young, the wife of the Governor of South Australia, Sir Henry Edward Fox Young.
As coastal town, Port Augusta is, strictly speaking, probably not an outback town, but it has long been a crossroads and gateway for transport and travellers heading north and west into the outback,including destinations such as the Flinders Ranges, the Nullabor and Central Australia. In 1878, Port Augusta became the southern terminus of a planned north-south transcontinental railway line, with the northern terminus being Darwin some 2,500 km distant. By 1890 the railway had reached Oodnadatta, and in 1929 it was extended to Alice Springs in Northern Territory. A 2,000 km long east–west transcontinental railway (the Trans-Australian Railway) was built from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia between 1913 and 1917.
The Adelaide-Darwin railway was finally finished in 2003. Port Augusta is today a stop on the Indian Pacific trans-continental train service on the Sydney–Perth railway and also on the Ghan service between Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin. Port Augusta is also the southern terminus of the Stuart Highway, which crosses Australia via Alice Springs to Darwin.
Port Augusta has seen some benefit from a growing interest in eco-tourism industry, due to its close proximity to the Flinders Ranges. The Pichi Richi Railway is a major attraction, running from Port Augusta to the town of Quorn via the Pichi Richi Pass. Port Augusta also features the Wadlata Outback Centre which provides tourists with an introduction to life in the Australian outback. The Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden is located on the Stuart Highway north of Port Augusta, are . The gardens are adjacent to saltbush plains stretching across to Flinders Ranges escarpments.