Darwin Garramilla (Laragia) Northern Territory
Darwin CBD Darwin Waterfront Convention Centre Parliament House Government House
Darwin Location in Australia
Coordinates	12°26′17″S 130°50′28″E / 12.43806°S 130.84111°E / -12.43806; 130.84111
Population	139,902 (2021)[1] (17th)
• Density	44.2196/km2 (114.5283/sq mi)
Established	1869
Area	3,163.8 km2 (1,221.6 sq mi)[2] (2011 urban)
Time zone	ACST (UTC+9:30)
Location	2,616 km (1,626 mi) from Adelaide[3] 2,652 km (1,648 mi) from Perth[4] 2,846 km (1,768 mi) from Brisbane[5] 3,127 km (1,943 mi) from Canberra[6] 1,679 km (1,043 mi) from Cairns[7]
LGA(s)	Darwin, Palmerston, Litchfield
County	Palmerston County
Territory electorate(s)	Port Darwin (and 14 others)
Federal division(s)	Solomon, Lingiari
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 32.2 °C 90 °F 23.4 °C 74 °F 1,811.7 mm 71.3 in

Darwin (Larrakia: Garramilla)^{[8][better source needed]} is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With a population of 139,902 at the 2021 census, the city contains most of the sparsely populated Northern Territory's residents.^[1] It is the smallest, wettest, and most northerly of the Australian capital cities and serves as the Top End's regional centre.

Darwin's proximity to Southeast Asia makes it a key link between Australia and countries such as Indonesia and East Timor. The Stuart Highway begins in Darwin and extends southerly across central Australia through Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, concluding in Port Augusta, South Australia. The city is built upon a low bluff overlooking Darwin Harbour. Darwin's suburbs begin at Lee Point in the north and stretch to Berrimah in the east. The Stuart Highway extends to Darwin's eastern satellite city of Palmerston and its suburbs.

The Darwin region, like much of the Top End, has a tropical climate, with a wet and dry season. A period known locally as "the build up" leading up to Darwin's wet season sees temperature and humidity increase. Darwin's wet season typically arrives in late November to early December and brings with it heavy monsoonal downpours, spectacular lightning displays, and increased cyclone activity.^[9] During the dry season, the city has clear skies and mild sea breezes from the harbour.

The Larrakia people are the traditional owners of the Darwin area and Aboriginal people are a significant proportion of the population. On 9 September 1839, HMS Beagle sailed into Darwin Harbour during its survey of the area. John Clements Wickham named the region "Port Darwin" in honour of their former shipmate Charles Darwin, who had sailed with them on the ship's previous voyage. The settlement there became the town of Palmerston in 1869, but was renamed Darwin in 1911.^[10] The city has been almost entirely rebuilt four times, following devastation caused by a cyclone in 1897, another one in 1937, Japanese air raids during World War II, and Cyclone Tracy in 1974.^[11][12]

History

Indigenous History

The Aboriginal people of the Larrakia language group are the traditional custodians and earliest known inhabitants of the greater Darwin area.^[13] Their name for the area is Garramilla,^[8] pronounced /ɡɑːrəmɪlə/ and meaning "white stone", referring to the colour of rock and sea cliffs found in the area.^[14] They had trading routes with Southeast Asia (see Macassan contact with Australia) and imported goods from as far afield as South and Western Australia. Established songlines penetrated throughout the country, allowing stories and histories to be told and retold along the routes. The extent of shared songlines and history of multiple clan groups within this area is contestable.^{[citation needed]}

Pre-20th century

The Dutch visited Australia's northern coastline in the 1600s and landed on the Tiwi Islands only to be repelled by the Tiwi peoples.^[15] The Dutch created the first European maps of the area. This accounts for the Dutch names in the area, such as Arnhem Land and Groote Eylandt. During this period, Dutch explorers named the region around Darwin—sometimes including nearby Kimberley—variations of "Van Diemen's Land",^[16] after the VOC governor-general Anthony van Diemen. This should not be confused with the more general and prolonged use of the same name for Tasmania.

The first British person to see Darwin harbour appears to have been Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of HMS Beagle on 9 September 1839. The ship's captain, Commander John Clements Wickham, named the port after Charles Darwin, the British naturalist who had sailed with him when he served as first lieutenant on the earlier second expedition of the Beagle.^[17]

In 1863, the Northern Territory was transferred from New South Wales to South Australia. In 1864 South Australia sent B. T. Finniss north as Government Resident to survey and found a capital for its new territory. Finniss chose a site at Escape Cliffs, near the entrance to Adelaide River, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) northeast of the modern city. This attempt was short-lived, and the settlement abandoned by 1865.^[18] On 5 February 1869, George Goyder, the Surveyor-General of South Australia, established a small settlement of 135 people at Port Darwin between Fort Hill and the escarpment. Goyder named the settlement Palmerston after British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston.^[19] In 1870, the first poles for the Overland Telegraph were erected in Darwin, connecting Australia to the rest of the world. The discovery of gold by employees of the Australian Overland Telegraph Line digging holes for telegraph poles at Pine Creek in the 1880s spawned a gold rush, which further boosted the colony's development.^[a][b][c]

In February 1872 the brigantine Alexandra was the first private vessel to sail from an English port directly to Darwin, carrying people many of whom were coming to recent gold finds.^[21]

In early 1875 Darwin's white population had grown to approximately 300 because of the gold rush. On 17 February 1875 the SS Gothenburg left Darwin en route for Adelaide. The approximately 88 passengers and 34 crew (surviving records vary) included government officials, circuit-court judges, Darwin residents taking their first furlough, and miners. While travelling south along the north Queensland coast, the Gothenburg encountered a cyclone-strength storm and was wrecked on a section of the Great Barrier Reef. Only 22 men survived, while between 98 and 112 people perished. Many passengers who perished were Darwin residents, and news of the tragedy severely affected the small community, which reportedly took several years to recover.^[22]

In the 1870s, relatively large numbers of Chinese settled at least temporarily in the Northern Territory; many were contracted to work the goldfields and later to build the Palmerston to Pine Creek railway. By 1888 there were 6,122 Chinese in the Northern Territory, mostly in or around Darwin. The early Chinese settlers were mainly from Guangdong Province. The Chinese community established Darwin Chinatown. At the end of the 19th century, anti-Chinese feelings grew in response to the 1890s economic depression, and the White Australia policy meant many Chinese left the territory. But some stayed, became British subjects, and established a commercial base in Darwin.^[23]

Early 20th century

The Northern Territory was initially settled and administered by South Australia, until its transfer to the Commonwealth in 1911. In the same year, the city's official name changed from Palmerston to Darwin.^[24]

The period between 1911 and 1919 was filled with political turmoil, particularly with trade union unrest, which culminated on 17 December 1918. Led by Harold Nelson, some 1,000 demonstrators marched to Government House at Liberty Square in Darwin, where they burnt an effigy of the Administrator of the Northern Territory, John Gilruth, and demanded his resignation. The incident became known as the Darwin Rebellion. Their grievances were against the two main Northern Territory employers: Vestey's Meatworks and the federal government. Both Gilruth and the Vestey company left Darwin soon afterward.^{[citation needed][25][26]}

On 18 October 1918, during the Spanish flu pandemic, the SS Mataram sailing from Singapore with infectious diseases arrived in Darwin.^[27]

In 1931, the 17 remaining patients from the leprosarium at Cossack, Western Australia were moved to Darwin, after it closed down. It was at a time when many Aboriginal people who were thought to have leprosy or other infectious diseases were sent to lock hospitals and leprosariums under the Aborigines Act 1905,^[28][29] which gave the Chief Protector of Aborigines powers to arrest and send any Indigenous person suspected of having a range of diseases to one of these institutions.^[28]

Around 10,000 Australian and other Allied troops arrived in Darwin at the outset of World War II to defend Australia's northern coast. On 19 February 1942 at 0957, 188 Japanese warplanes attacked Darwin in two waves. It was the same fleet that had bombed Pearl Harbor, though considerably more bombs were dropped on Darwin than on Pearl Harbor. The attack killed at least 243 people and caused immense damage to the town, airfields, and aircraft. These were by far the most serious attacks on Australia in time of war, in terms of fatalities and damage. They were the first of many raids on Darwin.^{[citation needed]}

Darwin Chinatown which lay within the heart of Darwin was razed to the ground by the Japanese bombing and was never rebuilt. Northern Territory administrator Aubrey Abbott wanted to eliminate the Chinese community and forcibly seized their land as it was considered prime real estate.

Darwin was further developed after the war, with sealed roads constructed connecting the region to Alice Springs to the south and Mount Isa to the southeast, and Manton Dam built in the south to provide the city with water. On Australia Day (26 January) 1959, Darwin was granted city status.^[30]

1970–present

On 25 December 1974, Darwin was struck by Cyclone Tracy, which killed 71 people and destroyed over 70% of the city's buildings, including many old stone buildings such as the Palmerston Town Hall, which could not withstand the lateral forces the winds generated. After the disaster, 30,000 of the population of 46,000 were evacuated in the biggest airlift in Australia's history.^[11] The town was rebuilt with newer materials and techniques during the late 1970s by the Darwin Reconstruction Commission, led by former Brisbane Lord mayor Clem Jones. A satellite city of Palmerston was built 20 km (12 mi) east of Darwin in the early 1980s.

On 17 September 2003, the Adelaide–Darwin railway was completed, with the opening of the Alice Springs–Darwin standard gauge line.

Aviation history

Darwin hosted many of aviation's early pioneers. On 10 December 1919, Captain Ross Smith and his crew landed in Darwin and won a £10,000 prize from the Australian government for completing the first flight from London to Australia in under 30 days. Smith and his crew flew a Vickers Vimy, G-EAOU, and landed on an airstrip that has become Ross Smith Avenue.

Other aviation pioneers include Amy Johnson, Amelia Earhart, Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Bert Hinkler. The original QANTAS Empire Airways Ltd Hangar, a registered heritage site,^[31] was part of the original Darwin Civil Aerodrome in Parap and is now a museum that still bears scars from the bombing of Darwin during World War II.^[32]

Darwin was home to Australian and U.S. pilots during the war, with airstrips built in and around Darwin. Today Darwin provides a staging ground for military exercises.

Darwin was a compulsory stopover and checkpoint in the London-to-Melbourne Centenary Air Race in 1934. The official name of the race was the MacRobertson Air Race. Winners of the race were Tom Campbell Black and C. W. A. Scott.

The following is an excerpt from Time magazine, 29 October 1934:

Third Day. Biggest sensation of the race came just before dawn on the third day, when burly Lieutenant Scott and dapper Captain Black flew their scarlet Comet into Darwin. They had covered the last 300 miles over water on one motor, risked death landing on a field made soggy by the first rain in seven months. Said sandy-haired Lieutenant Scott: "We've had a devil of a trip." But they had flown 9000 miles in two days, had broken the England to Australia record of 162 hr. in the unbelievable time of 52hr. 33 min., were only 2000 miles from their goal at Melbourne.

The Darwin Aviation Museum is about 8 km (5 mi) from the city centre on the Stuart Highway and is one of only three places outside the United States where a B-52 bomber (on permanent loan from the United States Air Force) is on public display.^[33]

Geography

Darwin is a coastal city, situated along the western shoreline of the Northern Territory. The water meets the land from the Beagle Gulf, which extends out into the Timor Sea. The central business district occupies a low bluff overlooking Darwin Harbour to the south, beyond which lie East Arm, Middle Arm, Northern Territory, and, across the gulf, West Arm. Middle Arm has an industrial precinct on the peninsula, which is being promoted as a sustainable development area that will include plants for industries such as low-emission petrochemicals, renewable hydrogen, and carbon capture storage.^[34] The city is flanked by Frances Bay to the east and Cullen Bay to the west.

The rest of the city is relatively flat and low-lying, and areas bordering the coast are home to recreational reserves, extensive beaches, and excellent fishing.

City and suburbs

Darwin and its suburbs spread in an approximately triangular shape, with the older southwestern suburbs—and the city itself—forming one corner, the newer northern suburbs another, and the eastern suburbs, progressing towards Palmerston, forming the third.

The older part of Darwin is separated from the newer northern suburbs by Darwin International Airport and RAAF Base Darwin. Palmerston is a satellite city 20 km (12 mi) east of Darwin that was established in the 1980s and is one of Australia's fastest-growing municipalities.^[35] Darwin's rural areas, including Howard Springs, Humpty Doo and Berry Springs, are experiencing strong growth.^[36]

Darwin's central business district (CBD) is bounded by Daly Street in the northwest, McMinn Street in the northeast, Mitchell Street on the southwest, and Bennett Street on the southeast. The CBD has been the focus of a number of major projects, such as the billion-dollar redevelopment of the Stokes Hill wharf waterfront area, including a convention centre with seating for 1,500 people and approximately 4,000 square metres (43,000 sq ft) of exhibition space. The developers announced that this includes hotels, residential apartments, and public space.^[37] The city's main industrial areas are along the Stuart Highway toward Palmerston, centred on Winnellie. The area'a largest shopping precinct is Casuarina Square.

The most expensive residential areas stand along the coast in suburbs such as the marina of Cullen Bay, Larrakeyah, Bayview and Brinkin.^[38] These low-lying regions are at risk during cyclones and higher tides, but adequate drainage and stringent building regulations have reduced the potential damage to buildings or injury to residents.^[39] The inner northern suburbs are home to lower-income households, although low-income Territory Housing units are scattered throughout the metropolitan area.^[40] The suburb of Lyons was part of a multi-stage land release and development in the Northern Suburbs; planning, development and construction took place from 2004 to 2009. More recent developments near Lyons subdivision includes the suburb of Muirhead.

Climate

Darwin has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw)^[41][42] with distinct wet and dry seasons, and the average maximum temperature is similar year round. The Australian Building Codes Board classifies it as Climate Zone 1^[d] based on its very humid summers and warm winters.^[44] The dry season runs from about May to September, during which nearly every day is sunny, and afternoon relative humidity averages around 30%.^[45]

The driest period of the year, seeing about 5 mm (0.20 in) of monthly rainfall on average, is between May and September. In the coolest months, June and July, the daily minimum temperature may dip as low as 14 °C (57 °F), but very rarely lower, and a temperature lower than 10 °C (50 °F) has never been recorded in the city centre. Outer suburbs away from the coast occasionally record temperatures as low as 5 °C (41 °F) in the dry season. For a 147‑day period during the 2012 dry season, from 5 May to 29 September, Darwin recorded no precipitation. Prolonged periods of no precipitation are common in the dry season in Northern Australia (particularly in the Northern Territory and northern regions of Western Australia), although a no-rainfall event of this extent is rare. The 3pm dewpoint average in the wet season is around 24.0 °C (75.2 °F).^[45]

Extreme temperatures at the Darwin Post Office Station have ranged from 40.4 °C (104.7 °F) on 17 October 1892 to 13.4 °C (56.1 °F) on 25 June 1891; extreme temperatures at the Darwin Airport station (which is farther from the coast and routinely records cooler temperatures than the post office station, which is in Darwin's CBD) have ranged from 38.9 °C (102.0 °F) on 18 October 1982 to 10.4 °C (50.7 °F) on 29 July 1942. The highest minimum temperature on record is 30.7 °C (87.3 °F) on 18 January 1928 for the post office station and 29.7 °C (85.5 °F) on both 25 November 1987 and 17 December 2014 for the airport station. The lowest maximum temperature on record is 18.4 °C (65.1 °F) on 3 June 1904 for the post office station and 21.1 °C (70.0 °F) on 14 July 1968 for the airport station.^[45][46]

The wet season is associated with tropical cyclones and monsoon rains.^[47] Most rainfall occurs between December and March (the summer), when thunderstorms are common and afternoon relative humidity averages over 70 percent during the wettest months.^[45] It does not rain every day during the wet season, but most days have plentiful cloud cover; January averages under six hours of bright sunshine daily. Darwin's highest daily rainfall verified by the Bureau of Meteorology is 367.6 millimetres (14.47 in), which fell when Cyclone Carlos bore down on the Darwin area on 16 February 2011.^[48] February 2011 was also Darwin's wettest month ever recorded, with 1,110.2 millimetres (43.71 in) at the airport.^[45]

The hottest months are October and November, just before the onset of the main rain season. The temperature is usually below 35 °C (95 °F), but the heat index sometimes rises above 45 °C (113 °F), because of humidity levels that most find uncomfortable. Because of its long dry season, Darwin has the second-highest average daily hours of sunshine (8.4) of any Australian capital, with the most sunshine from April to November; only Perth, Western Australia, averages more (8.8). The sun passes directly overhead in mid-October and mid-February.^[49]

The average temperature of the sea ranges from 25.8 °C (78.4 °F) in July to 31.5 °C (88.7 °F) in December.^[50]

Darwin occupies one of the most lightning-prone areas in Australia. On 31 January 2002 an early-morning squall line produced over 5,000 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes within a 60-kilometre (37 mi) radius of Darwin alone—about three times the amount of lightning that Perth experiences on average in an entire year.^[9][51]