Bordertown is a small South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

n town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 near the Victorian

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 border. It is where the Dukes Highway

Dukes Highway

The Dukes Highway is an important 189 kilometre highway corridor in South Australia which links the Australian cities of Adelaide and Melbourne. It is part of the National Highway system spanning Australia, and is signed as National Highway A8....

 and the railway line, the two main routes between Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

 and Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, cross Tatiara Creek.

Bordertown is the commercial and administrative centre of the Tatiara District Council

Tatiara District Council

Tatiara District Council is a local government area located in eastern South Australia, about 100 km north of the Limestone Coast. The name Tatiara is said to mean "the good country", a phrase which dates back to the area's first inhabitants. It is also one of the largest local government...

. Tatiara is the local Aboriginal

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

 word for "Good Country". Bordertown was established in 1852 when a direct route across the 90-mile desert was being planned for gold escorts from the Victorian goldfields to Adelaide. Police Inspector Alexander Tolmer

Alexander Tolmer

Alexander Tolmer was a South Australian police officer and Police Commissioner. He migrated to the new colony in 1840 and was made sub-inspector by Governor George Gawler....

 was instructed to create a town as close as practical to the border.

Governance

Bordertown is in the state electoral district of MacKillop

Electoral district of MacKillop

MacKillop is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia. Named in 1991 after Mary MacKillop , who served the local area, it is a 24,358.3 km² rural electorate in the south-east of the state, stretching from the mouth of the Murray River...

 and the federal

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 Division of Barker

Division of Barker

The Division of Barker is an Australian Electoral Division in the south-east of South Australia.The division was created in 1903 and is named for Collet Barker, an early explorer of the region at the mouth of the Murray River...

. It is the birthplace of former Prime Minister of Australia

Prime Minister of Australia

The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...

, Bob Hawke

Bob Hawke

Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....

.

Landmarks

Bordertown is home to the historic Clayton Farm Heritage Museum. It is also famous for its white Kangaroos

KangaROOS

KangaROOS are an American brand of sneaker originally produced from 1979 through the 1980s, with a later revival that continues in present. They were notable for having a small zippered pocket on the side of the shoe, large enough for a small amount of loose change, keys, or more recently,...

which have been bred for zoos and animal shelters around Australia.