Area
1,349,130 square kilometres (520,902 square miles).
Population
195,500 (the official estimate for 2000).
Population Density
0.1 people per square kilometres.
Capital
Darwin.
Population of Darwin
88,100 (the official estimate for 1999)
Geography
A wilderness stretching roughly 1,670 kilometres
(1038 miles) north to south and 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) east
to west, the Northern Territory comprises nearly 1 sixth of Australia.
The geography of the Northern Territory is the nearest to the
popular image of the Great Australian Outback.
The northern area, centred on the capital, Darwin,
is tropical with rich green vegetation and a varied coastline. Beyond
Darwin, 251 kilometres (155 miles) east, is World
Heritage listed Kakadu National Park, which is part of the 12,600
square kilometres (4500 square miles) area of Arnhem Land.
It is an area of immense flood plains and rocky
escarpments steeped in natural and cultural heritage, and
Aboriginal people have lived here for at least 40,000 years. Katherine
township is 314 kilometres (195 miles) from Darwin and a further
30km (20 miles) northeast is Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National
Park with 13 gorges towering up to 60 metres (200 feet) high.
The southern part of the Northern Territory is
centred on the town of Alice Springs, which is almost at the geographical
centre of Australia and the starting point of many of the Red
Centre’s distinctive and natural wonders, including Uluru
(Ayers Rock) and the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park.
Other notable features of the Red Centre are
King’s Canyon, Trephina, Ross River, Ormiston and Glen Helen
Gorge, the Olgas near Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Devil’s
Marbles at Tennant Creek. There are also other parks and reserves
with plentiful bird and animal life.
Time Zone
Greenwich Mean Time + 9.5. |
