The Far North is the region 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...

 that is close to the border with the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

. Colloquial usage in South Australia tends to use the term "Far North" as referring to that part of South Australia north of a line roughly from Ceduna

Ceduna, South Australia

Ceduna is a small town in the West Coast region of South Australia. It is situated in the northwest corner of Eyre Peninsula, facing the islands of the Nuyts Archipelago. It lies west of the junction of the Flinders and Eyre Highways around 786 km northwest of the capital Adelaide. The port...

 through Port Augusta

Port Augusta, South Australia

-Electricity generation:Electricity is generated at the Playford B and Northern power stations from brown coal mined at Leigh Creek, 250 km to the north...

 to Broken Hill

Broken Hill, New South Wales

-Geology:Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the...

.

It is both the largest and also the least populated part of the state and much of the region is desert

Desert

A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...

, as a consequence from some perspectives the area can also be known as the Arid Lands of the state.

Desert

The Deserts in the north east are the Simpson Desert

Simpson Desert

The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth largest Australian desert, with an area of 176,500 km² ....

, Tirari Desert

Tirari Desert

The Tirari Desert is a desert in the eastern part of the Far North region of South Australia.-Location and description:The Tirari Desert features salt lakes and large north-south running sand dunes....

, Painted Desert

Painted Desert (South Australia)

Created over 80 million years, the Painted Desert in South Australia, distinct from Painted Desert in Arizona, is just as spectacular with its multi-hued terrain. The effects of erosion on the residue from an ancient inland sea and the leaching of minerals in the soil, together lend the myriad...

 and the Pedirka Desert

Pedirka Desert

The Pedirka Desert is an Australian desert, located about north-west of Oodnadatta and north-east of Coober Pedy in South Australia. Mount Deane and Witjira National Park are just to the north.The desert is relatively small, occupying about .-References:...

. To the north and north west the Great Victoria Desert

Great Victoria Desert

The Great Victoria Desert is a barren and sparsely populated desert area of southern Australia.-Location and description:The Great Victoria is the biggest desert in Australia and consists of many small sandhills, grassland plains, areas with a closely packed surface of pebbles and salt lakes...

 predominates the landscape.

Attractions

The region has scattered tourist attractions and facilities as well as national parks and reserves.

Permits are required to enter Aboriginal reserves, the Woomera Prohibited Area and several National Park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

s in the region, including Lake Eyre National Park

Lake Eyre National Park

Lake Eyre National Park is located in South Australia , 697 km north of Adelaide. It contains both the North and South sections of Lake Eyre as well as sections of the Tirari Desert....

 and Witjira National Park

Witjira National Park

Witjira is a national park in South Australia , 987 km north of Adelaide. It is in the Simpson Desert, and one of the major features of the park is the Dalhousie Springs.-External links:*...

.

Transport

Some significant roads in the area include the Stuart Highway

Stuart Highway

The Stuart Highway is one of Australia's major highways. It is a segment of Australia's Highway 1 extending from Darwin, Northern Territory, in the north, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta, South Australia, in the south—a distance of...

 from Port Augusta

Port Augusta, South Australia

-Electricity generation:Electricity is generated at the Playford B and Northern power stations from brown coal mined at Leigh Creek, 250 km to the north...

 to Alice Springs

Alice Springs, Northern Territory

Alice Springs is the second largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Popularly known as "the Alice" or simply "Alice", Alice Springs is situated in the geographic centre of Australia near the southern border of the Northern Territory...

, the Oodnadatta Track

Oodnadatta Track

The Oodnadatta Track , Australia is an unsealed 620 kilometre track between Marree and Marla via Oodnadatta in South Australia. It passes the southern lake of the Lake Eyre National Park....

, and both the Birdsville Track

Birdsville Track

The Birdsville Track is a notable outback road in Australia. The 517 km track runs from Marree, a small town in northern South Australia, north across the Tirari Desert and Sturt Stony Desert, ending in Birdsville in south western Queensland....

 and the Strzelecki Track

Strzelecki Track

The Strzelecki Track is an outback track in South Australia, mostly unsealed but with a few short sealed sections to facilitate overtaking, linking Innamincka to Lyndhurst...

to Queensland.