Darwin City (also referred to as ''Darwin city centre'' or ''The CBD'') is a suburb in metropolitan Darwin which comprises the original settlement, the central business district, parkland and other built-up areas. It is the traditional country and waterways of the

Larrakia people The Larrakia people are a group of Aboriginal Australian people in and around Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin in the Northern Territory. The Larrakia, who refer to themselves as "Saltwater People", have a vibrant traditional society based ...

. It is original site of occupation and includes many of the city's important institutions and landmarks, such as

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and British Overseas Territories. The name is also used in some other countries. Government Houses in th ...

, the

Northern Territory Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the Northern Territory is the superior court for the Australian States and territories of Australia, Territory of the Northern Territory. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in civil law (common law), civil m ...

, Bicentennial Park and the

George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens The George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden located 2 km north of the CBD of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. History The gardens were established on their present site in 1886; this wa ...

. The city centre is located in the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

s of the

City of Darwin The City of Darwin is a local government area of the Northern Territory, Australia. It includes the central business district of the capital, Darwin City, and represents two-thirds of its metropolitan population. Located on the traditional la ...

and the

Darwin Waterfront Precinct The Darwin Waterfront Precinct is a tourist area in the Northern Territory of Australia in Darwin City. Restaurants, bars, a wave pool and a man-made beach are available for local community and tourists. It is located five minutes’ walk fr ...

. Although the city centre is one of the most developed areas of Darwin, demographically it is one of the less densely populated, due to its core being commercial.

History

The Larrakia people are the traditional owners of the lands and waters in and surrounding the Darwin local government area. Darwin is known as Garramilla in Gulumirrgin, one of the languages of the Larrakia people, but there are many place names within the area. The first

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

person to see Darwin harbour appears to have been Lieutenant

John Lort Stokes Admiral John Lort Stokes (1 August 1811 – 11 June 1885) was a Royal Navy officer who served onboard for almost eighteen years.Although 1812 is frequently given as Stokes's year of birth, it has been argued by author Marsden Hordern that Stok ...

of HMS ''Beagle'' on 9 September 1839. The ship's captain, Commander

John Clements Wickham John Clements Wickham (21 November 17986 January 1864) was a Scotland, Scottish explorer, naval officer, magistrate and administrator. He was first lieutenant on during its Second voyage of HMS Beagle, second survey mission, 1831–1836, un ...

, named the port after

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

, the British naturalist who had sailed with them both on the earlier second expedition of the ''Beagle''. In the early 1870s, Darwin felt the effects of a

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

at Pine Creek after employees of the

Australian Overland Telegraph Line The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was an electrical telegraph system for sending messages the between Darwin, in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia, and Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. Completed in 1872 (with a li ...

found gold while digging holes for telegraph poles. On 5 February 1869,

George Goyder George Woodroffe Goyder (24 June 1826 – 2 November 1898) was a surveyor in the Colony of South Australia during the latter half of the nineteenth century. He rose rapidly in the civil service, becoming Assistant Surveyor-General by 1856 ...

, the

Surveyor General of South Australia The Surveyor General of South Australia (also stylised Surveyor-General) is a position originally created for the Surveyor General for the colony of South Australia. The post is held by an official responsible for government surveying Sur ...

, established a small settlement of 135 people at Port Darwin. Goyder named the settlement Palmerston, after the

British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pri ...

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865), known as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman and politician who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1855 to 1858 and from 1859 to 1865. A m ...

. In 1870, the first poles for the

Overland Telegraph The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was an electrical telegraph system for sending messages the between Darwin, in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia, and Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. Completed in 1872 (with a li ...

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 territory's development. Upon Commonwealth administration in 1911, Darwin became the city's official name.

Geography

The city centre is bordered by Daly Street to the north and extends east to the

Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; it has a distance of . Its northern and souther ...

McMinn Street to the east which borders Stuart Park. The border extends and east along Darwin Harbour it extends South the Darwin Waterfront and to the

Darwin Convention Centre The Darwin Convention Centre is a convention centre located in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (contin ...

. It extends West along the Esplande and Bicentennial Park.

Demographics

According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 6,464 people in Darwin City. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.4% of the population. * 41.7% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 4.7%, Philippines 3.3%, Japan 3.3%, India 2.9% and Taiwan 2.8%. * 53.6% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 5.0%, Japanese 3.3%, Nepali 2.2%, Tagalog 1.8% and Korean 1.6%. * The most common response for religion was No Religion at 34.9%. File:Darwin, Australia (March 2017).jpg, Darwin central business district File:Manunda Place, opened in 2020.jpg, Manunda Place, opened in 2020 File:Darwin (AU), Darwin Waterfront -- 2019 -- 4429-31.jpg, Darwin waterfront and CBD

References

{{Capital city central business districts of Australia Central business districts in Australia Tourist attractions in Darwin, Northern Territory Places in the unincorporated areas of the Northern Territory