Kangaroo Island (S.A.)

Kangaroo Island (Kaurna: Karta Pintingga, lit. 'Island of the Dead'), known colloquially as KI, is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, 112 km (70 mi) southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Point in Backstairs Passage, which is 13.5 km (8.4 mi) from the Fleurieu Peninsula. Receiving over 200,000 visitors annually, Kangaroo Island is one of Australia's most popular travel destinations, and was ranked as the second-best travel destination globally by Lonely Planet in 2024. The island has several nature reserves to protect the remnants of its natural vegetation and native animals, with the largest and best-known being Flinders Chase National Park at the western end. It is particularly known for the abundance of sea lions at Seal Bay, and for its population of little penguins. The native population that once occupied the island (sometimes referred to as the Kartan people) disappeared from the archaeological record sometime after the land became an island following the rising sea levels associated with the Last Glacial Period around 10,000 years ago. It was subsequently settled intermittently by sealers and whalers in the early 19th century, and from 1836 on a permanent basis during the British colonisation of South Australia. Since then the island's economy has been principally agricultural, with a southern rock lobster fishery and with tourism growing in importance. The island is subject to bushfires in the summer, and had two particularly devastating fires in 2007 and 2019. The largest town, and the administrative centre, is Kingscote.