Encounter Bay is located on the south central coast of 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...

, some 100 km south of 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...

, South Australia. It is named after the encounter on 8 April 1802 between Matthew Flinders

Matthew Flinders

Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...

 and Nicolas Baudin

Nicolas Baudin

Nicolas-Thomas Baudin was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer.Baudin was born a commoner in Saint-Martin-de-Ré on the Île de Ré. At the age of fifteen he joined the merchant navy, and at twenty joined the French East India Company...

, both of whom were charting the Australian coastline for their respective countries (Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

). The encounter between the scientist

Scientist

A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...

s was peaceful, even though their countries were at war at the time.

Traditionally the land of the Ramindjeri

Ramindjeri

Ramindjeri are a clan of Australian Aboriginal people forming part of the Ngarrindjeri people. Ramindjeri land is the most westerly of the Ngarrindjeri, covering the area around Encounter Bay in southern South Australia, including Victor Harbor and Port Elliot, however an ongoing native title...

 clan of the Ngarrindjeri

Ngarrindjeri

The Ngarrindjeri are a nation of eighteen "tribes" consisting of numerous family clans who speak similar dialects of the Ngarrindjeri language and are the traditional Aboriginal people of the lower Murray River, western Fleurieu Peninsula, and the Coorong of southern, central...

 people, the bay is a wide curve of coastline extending from Newland Head along the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula

Fleurieu Peninsula

The Fleurieu Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia. It was named after the French explorer and hydrographer Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin as he mapped the south coast of Australia in 1802.Towns of interest in the...

 and southeast to Cape Jaffa, a distance of 180 km. Settlements along the bay include Victor Harbor

Victor Harbor, South Australia

Victor Harbor is a city located on the coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, about 80 km south of Adelaide, South Australia. The city is the largest population centre on the peninsula, with an economy based upon agriculture, fisheries and various industries...

, Port Elliot

Port Elliot, South Australia

Port Elliot is a town in South Australia toward the eastern end of the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. It is situated on the sheltered Horseshoe Bay, a small bay off the much larger Encounter Bay...

, Middleton

Middleton, South Australia

Middleton is a town in South Australia on the eastern end of the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. It is situated between the towns of Port Elliot and Goolwa. At the 2006 census, Middleton had a population of 818....

, Goolwa

Goolwa, South Australia

Goolwa is a historic river port on the Murray River near the Murray Mouth in South Australia, and joined by a bridge to Hindmarsh Island. The name "Goolwa" means "elbow" in Ngarrindjeri, the local Aboriginal language....

 and Kingston SE

Kingston SE, South Australia

Kingston SE is a town approximately 297 km southeast of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, and 44 km from the town of Robe. It is at the southeastern end of Encounter Bay and the Coorong. At the 2006 census, Kingston SE had a population of 1,443.-History:The town was named after...

. The Murray

Murray River

The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...

, Inman and Hindmarsh Rivers drain into the bay, and a long stretch of the shore south of the Murray Mouth

Murray Mouth

Murray Mouth is the point at which the River Murray meets the southern Southern Ocean. The Murray Mouth's location is changeable. Historical records show that the channel out to sea moves along the sand dunes over time...

 borders the Coorong National Park.