Darwin, Northern Territory

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(Redirected from Port Darwin)

Template:Infobox Australian City Darwin is the territorial capital and most populous city of the Northern Territory. It is a city of 109,478 (est. June 2004) people on Australia's far north-western coastline. Darwin has a tropical climate, and is subjected to tropical thunderstorms and cyclones; the first recorded cyclone to hit Darwin was the 1867 cyclone, and much of the city was destroyed by Cyclone Tracy in 1974. It is also the only Australian capital city to have come under substantial attack during any war: on February 19, 1942, Japanese planes made two major air raids on Darwin, the first of 63 air attacks experienced by the city during World War II.

Darwin has the largest proportional population of Indigenous Australians of any Australian capital city, and a significant percentage of its residents are recent immigrants from South and East Asia. As such, Darwin is often called the "multicultural capital of Australia" due to its proximity to Asia and has a Southern European community, mostly Greek and Italian. Darwin is an important port, particularly for the live export of sheep and cattle, and of minerals. It is also the site of a large Australian Army base and a naval facility supporting patrol boat activity off Australia's northern coastline.

1 History
2 Geography and climate
3 Government & Military
4 Economy
5 Education
6 Culture
- 6.1 Media
- 6.2 Sports
7 Sister cities
8 External links

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History

Template:Main Image:Darwin Palmerstone Town Hall DSC03578.jpg Darwin's harbour was first sighted in 1839 by John Lort Stokes of HMS Beagle. The ship's captain, John Clements Wickham, named the port after Charles Darwin, the British naturalist, who had sailed with him on an earlier expedition of Beagle.

The Northern Territory was initially settled and administered by South Australia, until its transfer to the Commonwealth in 1911. On 5 February 1869, George Goyder, the Surveyor-General of South Australia, established a small settlement of 135 men and women at Port Darwin. Goyder named the settlement Palmerston, after the British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston. 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 at Pine Creek in the 1880s further boosted the young colony's development. Upon Commonwealth administration in 1911, Darwin became the city's official name.

On 19 February 1942, during the Pacific War, 242 Japanese warplanes attacked Darwin in two waves. It was the same fleet that had bombed Pearl Harbor, though a considerably larger number of bombs were dropped on Darwin, than on Pearl Harbor. This aspect of Darwin's history is often overlooked when discussing World War II. The attack killed at least 243 people and caused immense damage to the town. 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.

On Australia Day , 26 January, 1959, Darwin was granted city status.[1]

Darwin was largely destroyed on 25 December 1974 by Cyclone Tracy, which killed 50 people and destroyed over 70% of the town's buildings, including many old stone buildings such as the Palmerston Town Hall, which could not withstand the lateral forces generated by the strong winds. After the disaster, an airlift evacuated 30,000 people. The town was subsequently rebuilt with newer materials and techniques during the late 1970s by the Darwin Reconstruction Commission. A satellite city of Palmerston was built 20 km south of Darwin in the early 1980s.

On 17 September 2003, the Adelaide-Darwin Railway was completed.

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Geography and climate

Darwin is situated in the Northern Territory, on the coast of the Timor Sea at geographic coordinates Template:Coor dm.

Darwin is closer to the capitals of three other countries than to the capital of Australia: Darwin is 3144 km away from Canberra. Dili (East Timor) is 656 km from Darwin, Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) is 1818 km, and Jakarta (Indonesia) is 2735 km from Darwin. Even Singapore is only slightly further away at 3360 km, and so is Manila (Philippines) at 3206 km.

Darwin has a tropical climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. The dry season runs from May to September and nearly every day is Sunny and daytime humidity is low 10-50%. In the coolest months of June and July, daily temperature range is 15 to 35°C. The Wet season is associated with tropical cyclones and monsoon rains. The majority of rainfall occurs between December and March when thunderstorms are common and humidity is regularly over 70 per cent. It does not rain every day but most days are very hot and cloud cover is plentiful. Some of its climatic averages:

**Climate Table**
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum temperature (°C)	32.4	32.2	32.7	33.5	32.6	31.2	30.6	31.7	33.0	34.0	34.2	33.6	32.7
Mean daily minimum temperature (°C)	25.2	25.0	25.0	24.4	22.6	20.8	19.8	20.9	23.3	25.1	25.5	25.6	23.6
Mean total rainfall (mm)	393.2	329.7	258.3	102.6	14.3	3.0	1.3	1.6	12.8	52.1	124.0	241.8	1534.7
Mean number of rain days	18.5	17.8	16.1	7.3	1.4	0.6	0.2	0.3	1.7	5.0	10.0	14.5	93.3
Source: Bureau of Meteorology

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Government & Military

Image:Darwin Legislative Assembly DSC03592.jpg Darwin has been administered by the Darwin City Council since 1957. The Darwin City Council consists of the Lord Mayor and 12 aldermen, 3 from each of the four electoral wards, Chan, Lyons, Richardson, and Waters. The current Lord Mayor is Peter Adamson.

The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory convenes in Darwin in a spectacular, colonial-inspired building.

Darwin is home to a large number of personnel from the Australian Defence Force. The main defence sites in Darwin are:

RAAF Base Darwin, Winnellie
Defence Establishment Berimah (former site of HMAS Coonawarra)
Larrakeyah Barracks (includes HMAS Coonawarra moved from Berimah)
Robertson Barracks, near Palmerston

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Economy

Image:Darwin CBD-2005.jpg The two largest economic sectors are mining and tourism. The mining and energy industry production exceeds $2.8 billion per annum. The most important mineral resources are gold and bauxite, along with manganese and many others. The energy production is mostly off shore with oil and natural gas from the Timor Sea, although there are significant uranium deposits near Darwin. Tourism employs 8% of Darwin residents, and is expected to grow as domestic and international tourists are now spending time in Darwin during the Wet and Dry seasons. Federal spending is a major contributor to the local economy as well.

A good example of this is the significant military presence that that is maintained both within Darwin, and the wider Northern Territory. This is both a substantial source of employment and an avenue for federal investment of infrastructure. The continued involvement of Australian Army in the stabilisation of East Timor has swelled the military population of Darwin to over 11,000 individual as of 2001. There is also a substantial United Nations' presence in Darwin since Darwin serves as the staging center for U.N. workers and contractors en route to nearby East Timor.

Darwin's importance as a port is forecasted to grow in the future, due in part to the increased exploitation of petroleum in the nearby Timor Sea, to the completion of the railway link and continued expansion of trade with Asia.

During 2005, a number of major construction projects broke soil in Darwin. One is the redevelopment of the Wharf Precinct which includes a large convention and exhibition centre, apartment housing, retail and entertainment outlets including a large wave pool and safe swimming lagoon. The Chinatown project has also broken soil with plans to construct multi-level carparks, Chinese-themed retail and dining outlets.

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Education

As of the 2001 census, there were 6,441 students attending primary schools within the area covered by the Darwin City Council. There were also 3,943 students engaged in secondary education; 2,825 in government schools and 1,118 in independent schools. There are currently 35 primary and pre-schools, and 12 secondary schools (including both government and non-government). Most schools in the city are secular, but there are a small number of Christian, Catholic and Lutheran institutions. Students intending to complete their secondary education work towards the Northern Territory Certificate of Education, which is recognised in all states and territories. Currently a lot of the schools are undergoing much-needed renovations and reconstruction.

The central provider of tertiary education in the Northern Territory is Charles Darwin University. It covers both vocational and academic courses, acting as both a university and an Institute of TAFE. While it has a number of campuses across the Northern Territory, its primary campus, where a large portion of the university's 19,000 students attend, is located in the Darwin suburb of Casuarina.

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Culture

Image:DarwinStreet.jpeg Darwin is known as the "Gateway to Asia", and the city's population is very multicultural. Seventy-five nationalities are represented in Darwin, and nearly a quarter of the population self-identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Darwin's Mitchell Street is lined with nightclubs, takeaways, and restaurants, many with al fresco-style dining.

The Darwin Festival [2] held annually includes comedy, dance, theatre, music, film and visual art and the NT Indigenous Music Awards.

The Beer Can Regatta [3], held in August, celebrates Darwin's love affair with beer and contestants race boats made exclusively of beer cans. Also in Darwin during the month of August, are the Darwin Cup horse race, and the Rodeo and Mud Crab Tying Competition.

In the past Darwin enjoyed a reputation as an unsophisticated hard-drinking town, backed-up by some of the highest per-capita alcohol consumption rates in Australia. These days with a less transient population, Darwin is better known for its asian influenced cuisine and as an adventure tourism destination.

Darwin is also home to Indo-Pacific Marine & Australian Pearling Exhibition which houses an aquarium complete with living coral, and its complementary sea life.

The Museum of the Northern Territory in Darwin gives an excellent overview of the history of the area, including exhibits on Cyclone Tracy and the boats of the Pacific Islands.

The Darwin Free Beach has nude sunbathing.

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Media

Darwin has only two commercial television channels, Southern Cross Darwin and the Nine Network, with the possibility of Network Ten coming from mid-2005, it has been confirmed that the two Commercial broadcasters (Southern Cross and Channel Nine) are now eligible to apply for the new TV licence. SBS and the ABC broadcast in Darwin as well. Darwin has two commercial radio stations, Hot 100 and Mix 104.9 along with other stations, including a uni-based TerritoryFM 104.1 that is relayed throughout the Territory, dance music station KIK FM, and ABC Radio.

Darwin has several newspapers. Northern Territory News, produced by News Corporation is the only daily news paper in Darwin. Community Newspaper, The Darwin and Palmerston Sun, The Territory Times, The Southeast Asian Times and the Top End Review are produced weekly.

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Sports

Every two years since 1991, (excluding 2003 due to the SARS outbreak), Darwin has played host to the Arafura Games, a major regional sporting event. In July 2003 and 2004, Darwin had the first cricket match as part of the 3 Mobile cricket tour. Australian Rules Football and Rugby league are played all year round. Melbourne's Western Bulldogs Australian Football League side plays several 'home' games at Marrara Oval each year. The ATSIC Aboriginal All-Stars also participate in the AFL pre-season competition. In 2003, a record crowd of 17,500 attended a pre-season game between the All-Stars and Carlton Football Club at Mararra Stadium.

One of the major events that occurs in Darwin is the V8 Supercars. This event attracts thousands of locals, interstaters and international tourists. This event occurs in the mid year period and lasts 3 days.

Darwin also has a horse racing cup carnival that starts in the last week of June and goes through to August. While it isn't as popular as the Melbourne Cup, it does draw a crowd and in 2003, Sky Racing began televising most of the races.

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