Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, and is situated on the Timor Sea and is the largest city in the territory.

Darwin's city centre features a number of wide streets, leafy parks, retail outlets and outdoor dining. Modern structures mix with old colonial-style buildings. Buildings within the city vary greatly and a number of significant changes to the CBD have a occurred since it was established, both planned and as a result of natural disasters such as cyclones, like Cyclone Tracy that pummelled the city on Christmas Day, 1974.

The traditional owners of the Darwin area are the Larrakia (saltwater) people. In the 1839, European settlers arrived in the area aboard HMS Beagle in the area now known as Darwin Harbour.Darwin was originally founded as Palmerston in 1869 and is named after Charles Darwin, the former shipmate of Lt. John Lort Stokes, who sailed HMS Beagle into the region. In 1911, Palmerston was renamed Darwin. The port had always be known from the commencement of European settlement as Port Darwin prior to the renaming. In 1959, Darwin became a city. ¹ Before European settlers arrived, Darwin was called Garramilla. This was the name given by the local Aboriginal people. The name Garramilla comes from the translation of "white stone", which refers to the sea cliffs and stones near the city. ²

Population:

122 207 ³

Postcode:

0800

Location:

2616 km from Adelaide SA, 2651 km from Perth WA and 2846 km from Brisbane QLD

Main Roads:

Stuart Highway (A1) and Tiger Brennan Drive (A15)

Radio Stations:

DAB+:
ABC Classic, ABC Country, ABC Jazz, ABC Kids Listen, ABC News Radio, ABC Radio Darwin, ABC Radio National, ABC Sport, Classic Rock Digital, Double J, First Nations Digital, Hot 100, iHeartCountry Australia, Mix 104.9, SBS Arabic, SBS Chill, SBS PopAsia, SBS Radio 1, SBS Radio 2, SBS South Asian, Territory FM, Triple J, Triple J Unearthed and Vision Australia Radio

FM:
ABC Classic (107.3 MHz), ABC News Radio (102.5 MHz), ABC Radio Darwin (105.7 MHz), Darwin's 97 Seven (97.7 MHz), Faith FM (87.6 MHz), Hot 100 (100.1 MHz), Kix Country (92.3 MHz), Mix 104.9 (104.9 MHz), Palmerston FM88 (88.0 MHz), SBS Radio (100.9 MHz), Territory FM (104.1 MHz), Triple J (103.3 MHz) and XStream Radio Darwin FM 915 (91.5 MHz)

AM:
ABC Radio National (657 kHz), RadioTAB (1242 kHz) and Yolngu Radio (1530 kHz)

Knuckey Street:

Knuckey Street from the Darwin Innovation Centre, 2003.

Image © Jamie Scuglia

Knuckey Street:

Knuckey Street looking towards Smith Street and The Mall from the Darwin Innovation Centre, 2003.

Image © Jamie Scuglia

Bennett Street:

Looking southwest along Bennett St from Cavenagh St, Darwin, 2003.

Image © Jamie Scuglia

Mitchell Street & Peel Street:

Looking southeast at the corner of Mitchell and Peel Streets, Darwin. 2003.

Image © Jamie Scuglia

Mitchell Street:

Looking northwest along Mitchell St, Darwin, 2003.

Image © Jamie Scuglia

ABC Studios:

Studios of the national broadcaster, ABC, at the corner of Cavenagh and Bennett Streets, Darwin, 2003.

Image © Jamie Scuglia

Parliament House:

Parliament House, Darwin, July 2017. The Northern Territory Legislative Assembly operates from this building, and has done so since 1994. ⁴

Image © Michael Greenslade

The Mall:

The Mall, Darwin, July 2017. The Mall is a section of Smith St that has been pedestrianised and turned into a shopping precinct. The Mall was completed in 1979.

Image © Michael Greenslade

Stokes Hill Wharf:

Overlooking Stokes Hill Wharf, Darwin, July 2017. The first wharf built in 1885-86 was called the Port Darwin Jetty or Railway Jetty, it closed in 1897 due to the risk of collapse. The second wharf was built in 1903 and was called the Town Wharf, the bridge section was destroyed in 1942 by a Japanese bombing raid, but the Australian Army built a temporary bridge so it could remain in service. The third wharf, which is the current wharf, was built and completed in 1956 and was the main wharf for Darwin until the Darwin Port at East Arm was completed in 2000.

Image © Michael Greenslade