Bulman is a town in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

of Australia. It is 400km (by air) from Darwin. Along with the

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

community of Weemol, away, Bulman is considered a

closed community A closed community intentionally limits links with outsiders and outside communities. Closed communities may be of a religious, ethnic, or political nature. Governance of closed societies varies. Typically, members of closed communities are either ...

meaning all visitors require a permit from the

Northern Land Council The Northern Land Council (NLC) is a land council representing the Aboriginal peoples of the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia, with its head office in Darwin. While the NLC was established in 1974, its origins began in the strug ...

to transit or visit the town. The combined population of Bulman and Weemol at the 2011 census was 291 and is one of few significant settlements on the Central Arnhem Road between

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

and

Nhulunbuy Nhulunbuy () is a township that is the sixth largest population centre in the Northern Territory of Australia. Nhulunbuy was created on the Gove Peninsula in north-east Arnhem Land when a bauxite mine and a deep water port were establishe ...

. Facilities in the town include a school, health clinic, police station and an all weather airstrip. Languages spoken in Bulman include Kriol, English and

Rembarrnga The Rembarrnga people, also spelt Rembarunga and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory. Language The Rembarrnga language is a non-Pama-Nyungan language belonging to the Gunwinyguan language family. Coun ...

. Bulman is extremely isolated and during the wet season all access can be cut off, such as following Tropical Cyclone Paul in 2010, with the community having received 443 millimetres of rain in a 24-hour period, closing all roads out of town and the airport.

Notable residents

Actor

Chris Hemsworth Christopher Hemsworth (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian actor. He rose to prominence playing Kim Hyde in the Australian television series '' Home and Away'' (2004–2007) before beginning a film career in Hollywood. In the Marvel Cinem ...

, who was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia, lived both in that city and in Bulman. As he recalled, "My earliest memories were on the cattle stations up in the

Outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a ...

, and then we moved back to Melbourne and then back out there and then back again. Certainly most of my childhood was in Melbourne but probably my most vivid memories were up there n Bulmanwith crocodiles and buffalo. Very different walks of life."

Geobotanical/Geochemical Mapping

The limestone bedrock at Bulman hosts a small lead/zinc deposit. In 1962 Bulman and the Weemol Springs area was the scene of a pilot study to investigate the feasibility of using certain plants, as well as analysis of plant- and soil-samples, to map the extent and gauge of ore bodies in the region. The study included mapping of the vegetation assemblages in the area and their relation to the underlying soils. The study was published in the Transactions of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy.Cole MM; Provan DMJ; Tooms JS (1968) Geobotany, biogeochemistry and geochemistry in the Bulman-Waimuna springs area, Northern territory, Australia. ''Transactions of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy Section B. Applied Earth Science'' 77, pp. 81–104.

References

Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory Towns in the Northern Territory {{NorthernTerritory-geo-stub