Darwin, Northern Territory

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, and is a city of 109,420 people (2001 Australian Census), 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.

Economy

The two largest economic sectors are mining and tourism. The mining and energy industry production exceeds $2.8 billion per annum. The most common minerals mined are gold, 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. 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.

Related Topics:
Mining - Tourism - Bauxite - Manganese - Natural gas - Uranium - Wet - Dry - Australian Army - East Timor - 2001 - Petroleum - Timor Sea

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