Port Augusta, city in South Australia. Port Augusta lies on the most northerly point of the Spencer Gulf of the Indian Ocean. This area was first surveyed by Matthew Flinders in 1802, and has been settled since 1852 (designated a city in 1963). It is an important transport centre, lying on two major railways: the Central and Trans-Australian lines. Port Augusta is the processing, market, and service centre of a large agricultural region producing wool and wheat. Another local industry is salt extraction. There is a large regional power generation plant, burning coal from Leigh Creek. The town is the seat of a School of the Air, broadcasting radio lessons to children across the outback, and a Flying Doctor base. Mount Remarkable National Park, at the southern edge of the Flinders Ranges, is nearby to the south-east. Port Augusta's shallow harbour functioned as a port until 1973. Population (1991) 14,966.
