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Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest 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 Aust ...
of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Alice Gillam Bell), wife of the telegraph pioneer Sir Charles Todd. Known colloquially as 'The Alice' or simply 'Alice', the town is situated roughly in Australia's geographic centre. It is nearly
equidistant A point is said to be equidistant from a set of objects if the distances between that point and each object in the set are equal. In two-dimensional Euclidean geometry, the locus of points equidistant from two given (different) points is the ...
from
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
and Darwin. The area is also known locally as Mparntwe to its original inhabitants, the Arrernte, who have lived in the Central Australian desert in and around what is now Alice Springs for tens of thousands of years. Alice Springs had an urban population of 26,534 Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. in June 2018, having declined an average of 1.16% per year the preceding five years. The town's population accounts for approximately 10 per cent of the population of the Northern Territory. The town straddles the usually dry
Todd River The Todd River (Arrernte language, Arrernte: ''Lhere Mparntwe'') is an Ephemeral, ephemeral river in the southern Northern Territory, central Australia. The origins of the Todd River are in the MacDonnell Ranges, where it flows past the Alice ...
on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges. The surrounding region is known as Central Australia, or the
Red Centre Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and i ...
, an arid environment consisting of several deserts. Temperatures in Alice Springs can vary, with an average maximum in summer of and an average minimum in winter of .


History


Traditional owners

The Arrernte people are the traditional owners of the Alice Springs area and surrounding MacDonnell Ranges. They have lived in the area for at least 30,000 years. The traditional name for the township area is ''Mparntwe''. Their name has been spelt in various forms, including Aranda, Arrarnta, and Arunta. There are five dialects of the
Arrernte language Arrernte or Aranda (; ) or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte (Upper Aranda), is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are ...
: South-eastern, Central, Northern, Eastern and North-eastern. Arrernte country is rich with mountain ranges, waterholes and gorges, which create a variety of natural habitats. According to Arrernte traditional histories, the landscape was shaped by the Yeperenye, Ntyarlke, Utnerrengatye caterpillars and Akngwelye or wild dogs. The numerous sites of traditional importance in and around Alice Springs include Anthwerrke (Emily Gap), Akeyulerre (Billy Goat Hill), Ntaripe (
Heavitree Gap The Heavitree Gap, or ''Ntaripe'' in the Arrernte language, is a water gap in the Northern Territory of Australia in the MacDonnell Ranges. It is the southern entrance to the city of Alice Springs and in addition to the Todd River it carries the ...
), Atnelkentyarliweke (
ANZAC Hill ANZAC Hill, at 608 meters (1995 feet), is located in Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Arrernte name of ANZAC Hill have been recorded as both Untyeyetwelye and Atnelkentyarliweke. A popular walk in Alice Springs is along ...
) and Alhekulyele (Mt Gillen).


European settlement

In 1861–62, John McDouall Stuart led an expedition through Central Australia, to the west of what later became Alice Springs, thereby establishing a route from the south of the continent to the north. A settlement named after Stuart was necessitated ten years later with the construction of a repeater station on the Australian Overland Telegraph Line (OTL), which linked
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
to Darwin and
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
. The OTL was completed in 1872. It traced Stuart's route and opened up the interior for permanent settlement. The
Alice Springs Telegraph Station The Alice Springs Telegraph Station is located within the Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve, four kilometres north of the Alice Springs town centre in the Northern Territory of Australia. Established in 1872 to relay messages be ...
was sited near what was thought to be a permanent waterhole in the normally dry
Todd River The Todd River (Arrernte language, Arrernte: ''Lhere Mparntwe'') is an Ephemeral, ephemeral river in the southern Northern Territory, central Australia. The origins of the Todd River are in the MacDonnell Ranges, where it flows past the Alice ...
, named Alice Springs by W.W. Mills after the wife of the Superintendent of Telegraphs and Postmaster General of South Australia, Sir Charles Todd, who was the driving force for constructing the OTL. The nearby settlement of Stuart was renamed as Alice Springs on 31 August 1933. The Todd River and its tributary the Charles River, which meet near the telegraph station, were named after Sir Charles. It was not until
alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. All ...
gold was discovered at Arltunga, east of the present Alice Springs, in 1887 that any significant European settlement occurred. The town's first substantial building was the
Stuart Town Gaol Stuart Town Gaol in Alice Springs (formerly Stuart), Northern Territory, Australia, located on 9 Parson Street, was constructed in 1907, when Alice Springs had a European population of approximately 30 people, and held its first prisoner in 1909 ...
in Parson's Street; this was built in 1909, when the town had a European population of fewer than 20 people. Many of the gaol's first prisoners were first-contact Aboriginal men incarcerated for killing cattle. The first aircraft, piloted by
Francis Stewart Briggs Francis Stewart Briggs (18 September 1897 – 21 July 1966) was a pioneering Australian aviator. Frank Briggs learnt to fly with the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War. During the Peace Conference in 1919 he flew delegates between Lond ...
landed in 1921. Central Australia's first hospital, Adelaide House, was built in 1926 when the European population of the town was about 40. It was not until 1929, when the train line to Alice was built, that the town's European population began to grow. Aboriginal Centralians outnumbered European Centralians until the mid-1930s.Kelham, Megg 'Flynn's Alice' – a pictorial history of Alice Springs with documents available on line at From 1926 to 1931, Alice Springs was the seat of government for the now-defunct Territory of Central Australia. Until 31 August 1933, the town was officially known as Stuart. The original mode of British-Australian transportation in the outback were camel trains, operated by immigrants from
Pathan Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
tribes in the North-West Frontier of then-
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
(present-day Pakistan), known locally as Afghan cameleers based at Hergott Springs, or Marree as it is now known. Many cameleers moved to Alice Springs in 1929 when the railway finally reached the town. They lived on the block where the town council is now, transporting goods from the rail head to stations and settlements to the north. A gold rush in Tennant Creek in 1932 kept the wheels of the Alice Springs economy turning until the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Alice Springs was connected to Darwin by rail on 4 February 2004, when the first passenger train arrived in Darwin from Adelaide.


World War II

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
brought significant changes to Alice Springs. Prior to the war, Alice Springs was an extremely isolated settlement of fewer than 500 people. During the war, however, the town was an extremely active staging base, known as No. 9 Australian Staging Camp, and a depot base for the long four-day trip to Darwin. The railway hub in Alice Springs was taken over by military operations and the number of soldiers posted in Alice Springs grew rapidly, as did the number of personnel passing through on their way to and from Darwin. When Darwin was threatened by Japanese forces, the sea routes—the Northern Territory capital's primary means of transportation and resupply—were cut off. The evacuation of Darwin first brought a large number of civilians including elected officials and many of the territory government's records. Alice Springs became the war-time civilian capital of the Northern Territory. When Darwin was bombed by Japanese air forces, a large number of military personnel and their heavy equipment were rapidly moved south to Alice Springs. The number of soldiers posted in Alice Springs peaked at around 8,000 and the number of personnel passing through totalled close to 200,000. Once the war ended, the military camps and the evacuees departed, and Alice Springs' population declined rapidly. After being visited by nearly 200,000 people, including the American General Douglas MacArthur, Alice Springs gained considerable fame. The war years also left behind many structures. The historically listed
Totem Theatre The Totem Theatre is a theatre located in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the home to the Alice Springs Theatre Group who manage the venue and produce amateur theatre productions. The Totem Theatre is a heritage li ...
, created for the entertainment of this camp, still exists today. The
Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...
set up the 109th Australian General Hospital at Alice Springs. Seven Mile Aerodrome was constructed by the
Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
. War-related operations necessitated the first sealing of the road between Alice Springs and Larrimah, expansion and improvement of Alice Springs' water supply, and improving the rail head. The war-related operations left behind thousands of pieces of excess military equipment and vehicles, and a marked increase in Alice Springs' population. During World War II, Alice Springs was the location of RAAF No. 24 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed on 20 May 1942 and closed in November 1944. Each usually consisting of four tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the
RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
and the
US Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
, at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).


After World War II

During the 1960s Alice Springs became an important defence location with the development of the US/Australian
Pine Gap Pine Gap is a satellite surveillance base and Australian Earth station approximately south-west of the town of Alice Springs, Northern Territory in the center of Australia. It is jointly operated by Australia and the United States, and sinc ...
joint defence
satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...
monitoring base, home to about 700 workers from both countries. By far the major industry in recent times is tourism. Almost in the exact centre of the continent, Alice Springs is some from the nearest ocean and from the nearest major cities, Darwin and Adelaide. Alice Springs is at the midpoint of the Adelaide–Darwin Railway.


Modern town

The modern town of Alice Springs has both European and Aboriginal influences. The town's focal point, the
Todd Mall The Todd Mall is a mostly pedestrian mall in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia which serves as its "main street" and is one of the primary locations for shopping and leisure in the town. It contains many of the town's restau ...
, hosts a number of Aboriginal art galleries and community events. Alice Springs' desert lifestyle has inspired several unique events, such as the Camel Cup, the
Henley-on-Todd Regatta The Henley-on-Todd Regatta (also called the Todd River Race) is a "boat" race held annually in the typically dry sandy bed of the Todd River in Alice Springs, Australia. It began – and continues – cautiously as a joke at the expense of the ...
, Beanie Festival and the Tatts Finke Desert Race.


Built environment

Alice Springs has many historic buildings, including the Overland Telegraph Station, the Old Courthouse and
Residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgra ...
and the Hartley Street School. Adelaide House, a beautiful stone building in the middle of the Mall, Central Australia's first hospital, was designed and built by the Rev. John Flynn, founder of the world's first flying doctor service, in 1926. It was also the site of the world's first successful portable wireless radio experiment conducted by Alf Traeger. Today it is a museum, one of several significant tourist attractions which form part of 'The Flynn Trail' a self-guided urban heritage trail. Today, the town is an important tourist hub and service centre for the surrounding area. It is a well-appointed town for its size, with several large hotels, a world-class convention centre, and a good range of visitor attractions, restaurants, and other services.


Geography

The region around Alice Springs is part of the Central Ranges xeric scrub area of dry scrubby grassland and includes the MacDonnell Ranges which run east and west of the town and contain a number of hiking trails and swimming holes such as Ormiston Gorge, Ormiston Gorge Creek, Red Bank Gorge and Glen Helen Gorge. The Larapinta Trail follows the West MacDonnell Ranges and is considered among the world's great walking experiences. The
Simpson Desert The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Australian desert, with an area of . The desert is underlain by the ...
, southeast of Alice Springs is one of Australia's great wilderness areas containing giant, red sand dunes and rock formations such as Chambers Pillar and Rainbow Valley.


Climate

Under the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
, Alice Springs has a subtropical
hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(''BWh''), featuring extremely hot, dry summers and short, mild winters. Located just south of the
Tropic of Capricorn The Tropic of Capricorn (or the Southern Tropic) is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point at the December (or southern) solstice. It is thus the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. It also reac ...
, the town of Alice Springs straddles the usually dry
Todd River The Todd River (Arrernte language, Arrernte: ''Lhere Mparntwe'') is an Ephemeral, ephemeral river in the southern Northern Territory, central Australia. The origins of the Todd River are in the MacDonnell Ranges, where it flows past the Alice ...
on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges. Alice Springs is located in Central Australia, also called the Red Centre, an arid environment consisting of several different deserts. The annual average rainfall is which would make it a
semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...
except that its high
evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) is the combined processes by which water moves from the earth’s surface into the atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies, and water bodies) and transpi ...
, or its aridity, makes it a
desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in deser ...
. Annual precipitation is erratic, varying year to year in Alice Springs. In 2001 fell and in 2002 only fell. The highest daily rainfall is , recorded on 31 March 1988. Temperatures in Alice Springs vary widely, and rainfall can vary quite dramatically from year to year. In summer, the average maximum temperature is in the mid-30s, whereas in winter the average minimum temperature can be , with an average of 12.4 nights below freezing every year, providing frost. The elevation of the town is about , which contributes to the cool nights in winter. The highest temperature on record is first recorded on 24 December 1891, whilst the record low is , recorded on 17 July 1976. This is also the lowest temperature recorded in the Northern Territory.


Demographics

According to the 2016 census of population, there were 23,726 people in the Alice Springs Urban Area. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 18.1% of the population. * 64.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were New Zealand 3.6%, United States of America 2.8%, India 2.8%, England 2.6% and Philippines 2.1%. * 68.3% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included
Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...
1.7%, Arrernte 1.0%, Tagalog 1.0%,
Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...
0.8% and
Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
0.8%. * The most common responses for religion were No Religion at 32.5%,
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
at 24.5%, and
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
at 18.8%.


Aboriginal population

As Alice Springs is the regional hub of Central Australia, it attracts Aboriginal people from all over that region and well beyond. Many Aboriginal people visit regularly to use the town's services. Aboriginal residents usually live in the suburbs, on special purpose leases (or town camps), or further out at
Amoonguna Amoonguna is a community in Rodinga Ward of the MacDonnell Region in the Northern Territory of Australia, southeast of Alice Springs. The community features in the 2022 SBS Television The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian h ...
to the south and on the small family outstation communities on Aboriginal lands in surrounding areas. The traditional owners of the Alice Springs area are the Central Arrernte people. As it is the largest town in central Australia, there are also speakers of Warlpiri,
Warumungu The Warumungu (or Warramunga) are a group of Aboriginal Australians of the Northern Territory. Today, Warumungu are mainly concentrated in the region of Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. Language Their language is Warumungu, belonging to th ...
, Kaytetye, Alyawarre, Luritja,
Pintupi The Pintupi are an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose traditional land is in the area west of Lake Macdonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. These people moved (or were moved) into ...
,
Pitjantjatjara The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are va ...
,
Yankunytjatjara The Yankunytjatjara people, also written Yankuntjatjarra, Jangkundjara, and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of South Australia. Language Yankunytjatjara is a Western Desert language belonging to the Wati la ...
,
Ngaanyatjarra The Ngaanyatjarra, also known (along with the Pini) as the Nana, are an Indigenous Australian cultural group of Western Australia. They are located in the Goldfields-Esperance region, as well as Northern Territory. Language Ngaanyatjarra is ...
, Pertame,
Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...
, and
Western Arrernte Arrernte or Aranda (; ) or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte (Upper Aranda), is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are A ...
among others.


Foreign and itinerant populations


American population

Americans Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim Ame ...
have lived in Alice Springs continuously since the establishment of the United States Air Force Detachment 421, in 1954. Currently located on Schwarz Crescent, it is part of a joint American–Australian project called the Joint Geological and Geographical Research Station (JGGRS). The unit is locally known as "Det 421" or "The Det" and has sponsored as many as 25 American families to live as temporary residents of the Alice Springs district. To mark the longstanding friendship with the community, on 1 July 1995, the Alice Springs Town Council granted Detachment 421 honorary Freedom of Entry to Alice Springs. Since the early 1970s, the majority of the American population in Alice Springs has been associated with proximity to
Pine Gap Pine Gap is a satellite surveillance base and Australian Earth station approximately south-west of the town of Alice Springs, Northern Territory in the center of Australia. It is jointly operated by Australia and the United States, and sinc ...
, a joint Australian-US satellite tracking station, located south-west of Alice Springs, that employs about 700 Americans and Australians. Currently, 2,000 residents of the Alice Springs district hold American citizenship. Many of these, joined by some Australians, celebrate major American public holidays, including the 4th of July and
Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...
. Americans in Alice Springs are also known to participate in a variety of associations and sporting teams, including baseball, basketball and soccer competitions.The American Connection


Other cultures

Several small immigrant communities of other foreign cultures have found a home in Alice Springs, including Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, Sudanese and Indian ethnic groups. The most obvious impact of their presence in such a small and isolated town has been the opening of various restaurants serving their traditional cuisines.


Itinerant population

Alice Springs has a large
itinerant An itinerant is a person who travels habitually. Itinerant may refer to: *"Travellers" or itinerant groups in Europe * Itinerant preacher, also known as itinerant minister *Travelling salespeople, see door-to-door, hawker, and peddler *Travelli ...
population. This population is generally composed of foreign and Australian tourists, Aboriginal Australians visiting from nearby Central Australian communities, and Australian or international workers on short-term contracts (colloquially referred to as "blow-ins"). The major sources of work that recruit workers into town are the stations, mines, healthcare and law enforcement. Foreign tourists usually pass through on their way to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, whilst Australian tourists usually come through as a part of an event such as the Masters Games and the Finke Desert Race. These events can cause the population of the town to fluctuate by several thousand within a matter of days.


Government

The
Alice Springs Town Council The Alice Springs Town Council is a local government area in the Northern Territory. On 1 July 1971, Alice Springs was gazetted as a Municipality with the town council elected on 25 July 1971. It is situated south of Darwin. The council govern ...
governs the Alice Springs area, which takes in the town centre, its suburbs and some rural area. The Alice Springs Town Council has governed Alice Springs since 1971. The Alice Springs council consists of nine members: the mayor and eight
aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members the ...
. The town is not divided up into wards. The current mayor of Alice Springs is Matt Paterson. Council Meetings are held on the last Monday of each month. The Alice Springs Region is governed by the newly created MacDonnell Region local government area, for which Alice Springs serves as council seat. Alice Springs and the surrounding region have four elected members to the
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method f ...
. Araluen and Braitling are entirely within Alice Springs, while the mostly rural seats of Gwoja (known as Stuart before 2020) and Namatjira spill into the town. Historically, Alice Springs has tilted conservative. It was a stronghold for the
Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP) is a centre-right political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In local politics it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal ...
for many years; only the northeast (part of which is in Stuart) leans
Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...
. However, these trends were dramatically altered at the 2016 election. Former Chief Minister and Alice Springs resident
Adam Giles Adam Graham Giles (born 10 April 1973) is an Australian former politician and former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (2013–2016) as well as the former leader of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) in the unicameral Northern Territory P ...
lost Braitling to Labor, Araluen was retained by CLP-turned-independent Robyn Lambley, and Namatjira and Stuart fell to Labor. As a result, the CLP was completely shut out of Alice Springs for the first time ever. The CLP regained Braitling and Namatjira in 2020, while Lambley retained Araluen for her party at the time, the
Territory Alliance Territory Alliance is an Australian political party based in the Northern Territory. It was founded in 2019 by Terry Mills, an incumbent member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly and former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory. H ...
. In the
Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...
, Alice Springs is part of the
Division of Lingiari The Division of Lingiari is an Australian electoral division in the Northern Territory that covers the entirety of the territory outside of the Division of Solomon, which covers Darwin and surrounding areas. The division also includes the C ...
, which includes all of the Territory outside the Darwin/Palmerston area. Lingiari is currently held by Labor member
Marion Scrymgour Marion Rose Scrymgour (born 13 September 1960) is an Australian politician and the current MP for Lingiari. She was a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2012, representing the electorate of Arafura. She was th ...
.


Economy

Alice Springs began as a service town to the pastoral industry that first came to the region. The introduction of the rail line increased its economy. Today the town services a region of and a regional population of 38,749. The region includes a number of mining and pastoral communities, the Joint Defence Space Research Facility at
Pine Gap Pine Gap is a satellite surveillance base and Australian Earth station approximately south-west of the town of Alice Springs, Northern Territory in the center of Australia. It is jointly operated by Australia and the United States, and sinc ...
and tourist attractions at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park,
Watarrka National Park Watarrka National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia located about 1,316 kilometres (817 miles) south of the territory capital of Darwin and southwest of Alice Springs. It contains the much visited Kings Canyon a ...
and the MacDonnell Ranges. The largest employer in Alice Springs is the Northern Territory Government, with 8% of employed people working in government administration, 7% in school education, and 4% in the Alice Springs Hospital. The economy of Alice Springs is somewhat reliant on domestic and international tourism, with 4% of its workforce employed providing accommodation. As well as Territory Discoveries, all major tour companies have a base in Alice Springs, including AAT Kings & APT, as well as numerous local operators, including Emu Run Tours, Anganu Waai! tours, Alice Wanderer and Wayoutback Desert Safaris, the only locally based Advanced
Ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...
Accredited operator. Alice Springs is home to numerous hotels, from the -star
Lasseters Hotel Casino Lasseters is an entertainment complex located in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. It incorporates a hotel, a casino, and the Alice Springs Convention Centre. InterContinental Hotels Group InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), ...
, to backpacker hostels. There are also caravan parks. A dispatch centre for the
Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...
operates here.


Education

Education is overseen territory-wide by the Department of Education and Training (DET). It works to continually improve education outcomes for all students, with a focus on Indigenous students. Alice Springs is served by a number of public and private schools that cater to local and overseas students. Alice Springs School of the Air delivers education to students in remote areas. There are 10 private schools. Yirara College is a co-educational secondary boarding school catering for around 200 Aboriginal students run by the Finke River Mission. It has another campus in Kintore (Walungurru), which has four rooms and caters for around 30 students. The Alice Springs Campus of
Charles Darwin University Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with a main campus in Darwin and eight satellite campuses in some metropolitan and regional areas. It was established in 2003 after the merger of Northern Territory University ...
offers courses in TAFE and higher education. The Centre for Appropriate Technology was established in 1980 and provides a range of services to encourage and help Aboriginal people enhance their quality of life in remote communities.


Recreation and culture


Events and festivals

The town's focal point, the
Todd Mall The Todd Mall is a mostly pedestrian mall in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia which serves as its "main street" and is one of the primary locations for shopping and leisure in the town. It contains many of the town's restau ...
, hosts a number of Aboriginal art galleries and community events. Alice Springs' desert lifestyle has inspired several unique events, such as the Alice Desert Festival, the Red Centre NATS, Blacken Open Air music festival, Parrtjima, the Camel Cup, the
Henley-on-Todd Regatta The Henley-on-Todd Regatta (also called the Todd River Race) is a "boat" race held annually in the typically dry sandy bed of the Todd River in Alice Springs, Australia. It began – and continues – cautiously as a joke at the expense of the ...
, the Beanie Festival and the Finke Desert Race. The Finke Desert Race is a 'there and back' challenge from Alice Springs to Aputula (Finke) Community, covering a round trip.


Arts and entertainment


Galleries and museums

Alice Springs is known as the Aboriginal Art capital of Central Australia, home to many local and Aboriginal art galleries.
Indigenous Australian art Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carving ...
is the more dominant, and galleries showcase the rich culture and native traditions that abound in Central Australia. Trade in Aboriginal art soared after the painting movement began at
Papunya Papunya ( Pintupi-Luritja: ''Warumpi'') is a small Indigenous Australian community roughly northwest of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is known as an important centre for Contemporary Indigenous Australian art ...
, a Central Australian Aboriginal settlement, and swept other indigenous communities. Central Australia is the home of some of the most prominent names in Aboriginal art, including
Emily Kngwarreye Emily Kame Kngwarreye (or Emily Kam Ngwarray) (1910 – 3 September 1996) was an Aboriginal Australian artist from the Utopia community in the Northern Territory. She is one of the most prominent and successful artists in the history of Aus ...
,
Minnie Pwerle Minnie Pwerle (also Minnie Purla or Minnie Motorcar Apwerl; born between 1910 and 1922 – 18 March 2006) was an Australian Aboriginal artist. She came from Utopia, Northern Territory (''Unupurna'' in local language), a cattle station in the ...
,
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri AO (1932 – 21 June 2002) was an Australian painter, considered to be one of the most collected and renowned Australian Aboriginal artists. His paintings are held in galleries and collections in Australia and ...
,
Albert Namatjira Albert Namatjira (born Elea Namatjira; 28 July 1902 – 8 August 1959) was an Arrernte painter from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia, widely considered one of the greatest and most influential Australian artists. As a pioneer of cont ...
and Wenten Rubuntja. The Museum of Central Australia / Stehlow Research Centre features some of the most important natural history and archival materials tied to the history and culture of the region. The Strehlow Archives also contain materials linked to the Arrernte people of Central Australia. The Araluen Centre for Arts and Entertainment presents world-class ballets and orchestras, as well as local performances. The Women's Museum of Australia (formerly
National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame The Women's Museum of Australia, formerly the National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame, is a museum focused on the place of women in Australian history, situated in the restored HM Gaol and Labour Prison Alice Springs building in Alice Springs, Nor ...
) is located in the grounds of Old Alice Springs Gaol in the Heritage Precinct. Here women's stories from across Australia are presented with the lives of outback women as well as stories from the Old Gaol and Labour Prison. Objects include a large "Signature" quilt with signatures of over 300 women first in their field and a 4.2 m long Aviatrix tapestry celebrating the high flying lives of Australia's aviatrixes. The town has some excellent small museums. The extensive collection at the Old Timer's Traeger Museum on the North Stuart Highway includes artefacts from the town's early Afghan and German residents, traditional Aboriginal artefacts and objects which show the early fusion of European and Aboriginal cultures, such as a spinifex-handled glass-bladed knife. Included in the collection are
soapstone Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the ...
carvings by Arrernte artist Erlikilyika.


Library, archives and other collections

Alice Springs is home to the Alice Springs Public Library, also known as the Nevil Shute Memorial Library. The library, in addition to its general borrowable collections (including e-resources), is also home to two special, not-for-loan, collections. These are the Alice Springs Collection and the Akaltye Atheme Collection, both of which specifically collect Central Australian content, including Aboriginal language resources (from around 16 local languages) and cultural heritage information. The Alice Springs Collection also holds a significant digital collection, including PDF copies of the ''
Centralian Advocate The ''Centralian Advocate'' is an Australian regional online newspaper based at Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The ''Centralian Advocate'' is part of News Corp Australia, and serves under the ''Northern Territory News'' banner, containing he ...
'' from 1947  to  2015, and over 6000 images, primarily from the Central Australian Historical Images Collection. Library & Archives NT also has offices in Alice Springs, located at Minerals House on Hartley Street, which holds archival collections relating to Central Australia, including Tennant Creek. Collections held here include community collections and government archives. Other collecting institutions, excluding schools, include: * Arid Zone Research Institute (AZRI) Library * Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education Library, Desert Peoples Centre Campus Library *
Central Land Council The Central Land Council (CLC) is a land council that represents the Aboriginal peoples of the southern half of the Northern Territory of Australia (NT), predominantly with regard to land issues. it is one of four land councils in the Northern T ...
Library *
Charles Darwin University Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with a main campus in Darwin and eight satellite campuses in some metropolitan and regional areas. It was established in 2003 after the merger of Northern Territory University ...
Library, Alice Springs * NT Department of Health Library, Alice Springs * Strehlow Research Centre Library


Outdoors

Leisure and entertainment activities include hiking in the nearby MacDonnell Ranges and driving the four-wheel-drive tracks at
Finke Gorge National Park Finke Gorge National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia located about south of the territory capital of Darwin City, Northern Territory, Darwin. The national park covers an area of , and includes the impressive deser ...
.


Parks and gardens

The Alice Springs Desert Park was created to educate visitors about the many facets of the surrounding desert environment. The arid climate botanic garden, Olive Pink Botanic Garden, is a short distance from the town centre. They were named after anthropologist, naturalist and artist Olive Pink, who lived in the town for almost 30 years and died in 1975. She was well known locally and referred to by all as Miss Pink. The Alice Springs Reptile Centre is located in the town centre.


Sport

Alice Springs has a high rate of participation in many different sports, including tennis,
hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
, Australian rules football, basketball, baseball, golf, soccer,
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
, rugby and boxing. Australian rules football is a particularly popular sport in Alice Springs in terms of both participation and as a
spectator sport A spectator sport is a sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its competitions. Spectator sports may be professional sports or amateur sports. They often are distinguished from participant sports, which are ...
. The
Central Australian Football League The Central Australian Football League (CAFL) is an Australian rules football competition operating out of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Australia. Established in 1947, the CAFL is the oldest, most popular and important football leag ...
formed in 1947 has several teams. The sport is particularly popular in Indigenous communities. The local stadium,
Traeger Park Traeger Park (currently known under naming rights as TIO Traeger Park) is a sports complex located in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, and is named after Alfred Hermann Traeger. The park was officially opened by Anne Catherine Sma ...
, has a 10,000 seat capacity and was designed to host (pre-season) AFL and was the home to the
Northern Territory Thunder Northern Territory Football Club, nicknamed NT Thunder, was a Northern Territory-based Australian rules football club that competed in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) between 2011 and 2019. It also competed in the VFL Women's i ...
until 2019. In 2004, an AFL pre-season Regional Challenge match between Collingwood Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club attracted a capacity sell-out crowd. Both codes of Rugby are played in Alice Springs.
Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
, managed by the Central Australian Rugby Union Association (CARU) is played in conjunction with the Northern Territory Rugby Union calendar which runs during Darwins dry season. The Central Australian Rugby Union administers a four team competition based in Alice Springs with matches played between October and March at
ANZAC Oval The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the Gallipoli campaign. General William Birdwood comman ...
. The First Central Australian Club Competition commenced in 1986. There are four senior teams; Dingo Cubs Rugby Union, Kiwi Warriors Rugby Union, Eagles Rugby Union and Devils Rugby Union.
Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
has been a part of the local sporting scene since 1963. The Australian Rugby League has held a number of pre-season games in Alice Springs, at
ANZAC Oval The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the Gallipoli campaign. General William Birdwood comman ...
. The local competition is the
Central Australian Rugby Football League The Central Australian Rugby Football League (CARFL) is a rugby league football competition located in Alice Springs, Northern Territory.http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=7-2116-0-0-0&sID=21746 It has been in existence since 1963. It ...
, and sanctions both Junior and Senior Rugby League matches. The season usually kicks off around March/April and runs through to Late August. There are four senior teams in Alice Springs: Wests, Memo, United and Vikings. Matches are held during the winter months at ANZAC oval on Saturday afternoons. Organized baseball has been played in Alice Springs since the mid-1950s. Currently under the national organisation of the
Australian Baseball Federation Baseball Australia, formerly the Australian Baseball Federation is the national governing body of Baseball in Australia and owns the Australian Baseball League. Baseball is played in all the mainland states and territories, but it struggles ...
, the Alice Springs Baseball Association organises baseball competitions for youth players aged 5 to 18 and an adult competition played at Jim McConville Park and on Lyel Kempster Field at Traeger Park. As part of the worldwide
Little League Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizationAlice Springs Golf Course, an 18-hole championship layout golf course designed by the architects Thomson Wolveridge, was opened in 1985 by a challenge match between top professionals Greg Norman and Johnny Miller. The course record of 64 is held jointly by, amateur members, Leigh Shacklady and Kerryn Heaver, beating professional Stuart Appleby's 65. Adam Scott won the Australian Boys Amateur Championship held there in 1997. Cricket is a popular sport in Alice Springs and is primarily played at Traeger Park. The Imparja Cup Cricket Carnival first was played in 1994 and attracts Indigenous teams from all across Australia. The four main clubs are Federal Demons CC, Rovers CC, RSL Works CC and Wests CC. Soccer is popular among the younger community. A high number of children play it. Soccer is also played frequently by amateur adults in different divisions. There is also an all-African league for soccer in Alice Springs. The most successful Club in the town is the Vikings Football Club, located at Traeger Park. The Traeger Park sporting complex also hosts tennis, baseball, boxing, swimming, canoe polo, hockey, basketball, squash, badminton, gymnastics and skateboarding. A unique sporting event, held annually, is the
Henley-on-Todd Regatta The Henley-on-Todd Regatta (also called the Todd River Race) is a "boat" race held annually in the typically dry sandy bed of the Todd River in Alice Springs, Australia. It began – and continues – cautiously as a joke at the expense of the ...
, also known as the
Todd River The Todd River (Arrernte language, Arrernte: ''Lhere Mparntwe'') is an Ephemeral, ephemeral river in the southern Northern Territory, central Australia. The origins of the Todd River are in the MacDonnell Ranges, where it flows past the Alice ...
Race. It is a sand river race with bottomless boats and it remains the only dry river regatta in the world. Another unusual sporting event is the Camel Cup. The annual Camel Cup is held in July at Blatherskite Park, part of the Central Australian Show Society grounds. It is a full day event featuring a series of races using camels instead of horses. Every year, on the Queen's Birthday long weekend, the annual Finke Desert Race is held. It is a gruelling off-road race that runs from Alice Springs to the Finke community, then back again the next day. The total length of the race is roughly . It attracts spectators, who camp along the whole length of the track, and roughly 500 competitors, buggies and bikes, every year, making it the biggest sporting event in the Alice Springs calendar. Drag racing is held at the Alice Springs Inland Dragway which in June 2013 hosted a round of the national Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship. In September 2017 12 people were injured when burning fuel sprayed from a drag-racing car onto a crowd of spectators at the
Red CentreNATS Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
competition. Alice Springs is also home to the
Arunga Park Speedway Many sports are played in the Northern Territory of Australia. Animals in sport The Katherine Show & Rodeo and Noonamah Tavern Rodeo Australian rules football Australian rules football is the Territory's most popular sport, particularly wit ...
, a 402-metre dirt oval speedway. The speedway runs from August to March and caters to cars, solos and
sidecars A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''combination'', an ''outfit'', a ''rig'' or a ''hack''. ...
. Located just off the Stuart Highway on the northern edge of the town, Arunga Park hosted the Australian Sidecar Championship in 1985 and the Australian Solo Championship in
1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
.


Crime

Property crime and violent crime, including domestic violence, often linked to alcohol abuse, has been a significant social issue in Alice Springs in the 21st century, with most of the victims being residents of the town. Many approaches and programs have been tried over the years, with varying levels of success. there has been a downward trend in most categories of crime.


In popular culture

* The TV series ''
Pine Gap Pine Gap is a satellite surveillance base and Australian Earth station approximately south-west of the town of Alice Springs, Northern Territory in the center of Australia. It is jointly operated by Australia and the United States, and sinc ...
'' (2018) is set around the Australian and American joint defence intelligence facility at
Pine Gap Pine Gap is a satellite surveillance base and Australian Earth station approximately south-west of the town of Alice Springs, Northern Territory in the center of Australia. It is jointly operated by Australia and the United States, and sinc ...
, located near Alice Springs. *
Liz Phair Elizabeth Clark Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to start a musical career ...
included a song called "Alice Springs" on her 1994 album ''Whip Smart''. * The group Midnight Oil mention Alice Springs in their songs " Kosciusko" and " Warakurna" ('There is enough in Redfern as there is in Alice'); and they mention Pine Gap in " Power and the Passion". * The well-known Australian song " My Island Home" was originally written about the experience of an islander living 'west of Alice Springs', and this is mentioned in the lyrics of the original Warumpi Band version of the song. *
Nevil Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect ...
's novel ''
A Town Like Alice ''A Town Like Alice'' (United States title: ''The Legacy'') is a romance novel by Nevil Shute, published in 1950 when Shute had newly settled in Australia. Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman, becomes romantically interested in a fellow prisoner ...
'', and the resulting film and television mini-series, take their name from Alice Springs, although little of the action takes place there, because part of the story is set in Willstown (possibly modelled on Burketown) situated north of Alice Springs, near the Gulf of Carpentaria. The heroine, Jean, wants to change Willstown into a town "like" Alice. The local library in Alice Springs is named after Nevil Shute: the Nevil Shute Memorial Library. * Lasseters Casino in Alice Springs is the destination for the drag queen protagonists in the Australian
road movie A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienatio ...
''
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' is a 1994 Australian road comedy film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows two drag queens, played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce, and a transgender woman, played by Tere ...
.'' The movie became a hit West End show, before transferring to Broadway. * Alice Springs is featured in
Bruce Chatwin Charles Bruce Chatwin (13 May 194018 January 1989) was an English travel writer, novelist and journalist. His first book, ''In Patagonia'' (1977), established Chatwin as a travel writer, although he considered himself instead a storyteller, ...
's 1987
travelogue Travelogue may refer to: Genres * Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling * Travel documentary A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or ...
''
The Songlines ''The Songlines'' is a 1987 book written by Bruce Chatwin, combining fiction and non-fiction. Chatwin describes a trip to Australia which he has taken for the express purpose of researching Aboriginal song and its connections to nomadic travel ...
'', recounting the author's retreat into the
Australian 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 n ...
in search of the Aboriginals' Dreaming-tracks. * Alice Springs is featured in
Bill Bryson William McGuire Bryson (; born 8 December 1951) is an American–British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has b ...
's 2000 travelogue ''Down Under'' (also known as "In a Sunburned Country"). Bryson visits and describes the scenes of Alice Springs including the Telegraph Office, the Springs, and his trip to Uluru from Alice Springs. * Dick Diver released a song called "Alice" on the 2013 album ''Calendar Days''. * The opening track of Mystery Jets' 2011 album '' Serotonin'' is entitled "Alice Springs", inspired by a tour in Australia. *
Ian Moss Ian Richard Moss (born 20 March 1955) is an Australian rock musician from Alice Springs. He is the founding mainstay guitarist and occasional singer of Cold Chisel. In that group's initial eleven year phase from 1973 to 1984, Moss was recorded ...
released a song called "Such a Beautiful Thing" on the 1988 album ''Matchbook'', which contains the lyrics 'thinking back to Alice Springs'. He has stated that he wrote the song as a tribute to the Northern Territory.


Media

Alice Springs is served by both local and national radio and television services. The government-owned ABC provides five broadcast radio stations; local radio ABC Alice Springs and the national networks ABC Radio National, ABC News Radio,
ABC Classic ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. I ...
and
Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...
. The national Christian radio network Vision Radio Network broadcasts on 88.0 FM. Commercial radio stations are
8HA 8HA is a radio station based in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and n ...
900 __NOTOC__ Year 900 ( CM) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Abbasid Caliphate * Spring – Forces under the Transoxianian emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad are ...
kHz, Sun 96.9
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
and
Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
98.7
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
.
Community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popula ...
is provided by 8CCC 102.1 and
Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
broadcaster CAAMA Radio 100.5 Alice Springs is home to Australia's largest Indigenous media company. The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) consists of a radio station (CAAMA Radio), music recording label (CAAMA Music), television and film production company (CAAMA Productions) and CAAMA technical. CAAMA serves to record and promote Indigenous talent across its own radio network (one of the largest transmission footprints in the world), and through sales of CDs and screening of CAAMA movies and documentaries on national broadcasters. Five broadcast television services operate in Alice Springs – commercial stations
Imparja Television Imparja Television (IMP) is an independent Australian television station servicing over , across six states and territories: Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. It is based in Alice Spring ...
( callsign IMP-9),
Southern Cross Central QQQ is an Australian television station broadcasting in remote central and eastern areas of Australia, owned by Southern Cross Austereo. The station is available via satellite and terrestrial platforms – mostly through community retransmissio ...
(QQQ-31) and Ten Central Digital (CDT-5), along with the Government-owned ABC TV (ABAD7) and
SBS TV SBS may refer to: Broadcasting * SBS Broadcasting Group, Belgium, formerly many countries * Talpa TV, formerly SBS Broadcasting B.V., Netherlands ** SBS6, Dutch television channel ** SBS9, Dutch television channel * Special Broadcasting Service ...
(SBS28). Imparja Television has a commercial agreement with the Nine Network. Southern Cross Central is an affiliate of the
Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...
. Ten Central Digital transmits programming from the
Ten Network Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of fi ...
.
Imparja Television Imparja Television (IMP) is an independent Australian television station servicing over , across six states and territories: Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. It is based in Alice Spring ...
is operated from studios in Alice Springs. It has a program affiliation contract with the Nine Network. The programming schedule on Imparja is the same as Nine Darwin
NTD-8 NTD is an Australian television station, licensed to and serving Darwin, Palmerston and surrounding areas. The station is owned and operated by the Nine Entertainment Co., and is an owned-and-operated station of the Nine Network, under the ...
and Channel 9 Brisbane, with variations in Imparja's schedule for football,
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
,
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
and
aussie rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
. The children's show ''Yamba's Playtime'', news, regional weather, and other programs produced in Alice Springs by the station. Infomercials are shown in place of Home Shopping and other programs overnight and in some daytime timeslots.
NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...
is broadcast on the second channel allocated to Imparja by the Federal Government. Indigenous community TV station ICTV is also broadcast in Alice Springs as retransmitted on digital channel 41. The ''
Centralian Advocate The ''Centralian Advocate'' is an Australian regional online newspaper based at Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The ''Centralian Advocate'' is part of News Corp Australia, and serves under the ''Northern Territory News'' banner, containing he ...
'' newspaper was founded on 24 May 1947 and was published on Tuesdays and Fridays. However, in 2020, it ceased printing.


Infrastructure


Transport

Located on the Adelaide-Darwin railway, Alice Springs is accessible by train. Alice Springs railway station is visited by ''
The Ghan ''The Ghan'' is an experiential tourism oriented passenger train service that operates between the northern and southern coasts of Australia, through the cities of Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin on the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor. O ...
'', operated by
Journey Beyond Journey Beyond is the business name (together with more than a dozen other related names) of Experience Australia Group Pty Ltd, a private equity-owned company known mainly for operating Australian interstate experiential tourism trains ('' Th ...
, on its journey between Adelaide and Darwin. The train arrives twice weekly in each direction. The line first opened to Alice Springs in 1929, as the
narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
Central Australia Railway The former Central Australia Railway, which was built between 1878 and 1929 and closed in 1980, was a 1067 mm narrow gauge railway between Port Augusta and Alice Springs. A standard gauge line duplicated the southern section from Port Aug ...
. It was not until 1980 that the current standard gauge line was opened, which was extended to Darwin in 2004. There are daily express coach services to and from Adelaide and Darwin servicing Alice Springs. The
Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; a distance of . Its northern and southern extremities are segments of Aus ...
, running north from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs, is Northern Territory's most important road. The distance from Alice Springs to Adelaide is and to Darwin is . There are daily flights from
Alice Springs Airport Alice Springs Airport is an Australian regional airport south of Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The airport was notably involved in Australia's first domestic airline hijacking, and later a suicide attack by a former airline employee wh ...
to
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
Ayers Rock Uluru (; pjt, Uluṟu ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone formation in the centre of Australia. It is in the southern part of the Northern Territory, southwest of Alice Springs. ...
(Uluru), Cairns, Darwin, Melbourne,
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
and Sydney. There are also nonstop flights a few times a week to
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
. Three airlines serve Alice Springs:
Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...
,
Airnorth Capiteq Pty Limited, trading as Airnorth, is a regional airline based at Darwin International Airport in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. It operates scheduled and charter services in the Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Western ...
and
Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue'', with two ...
. Alice Springs is a base for the
Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...
.


Sister cities

*
Paghman Paghman (Persian/Pashto: پغمان) is a town in the hills near Afghanistan's capital of Kabul. It is the seat of the Paghman District (in the western part of Kabul Province) which has a population of about 120,000 (2002 official UNHCR est.), ma ...
, Afghanistan, since January 2005


See also

*
Alice Springs Correctional Centre The Alice Springs Correctional Centre, an Australian medium to maximum security prison for males and females, is located outside Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. The centre is managed by Northern Territory Correctional Services, an ...
*
Alice Springs Juvenile Holding Centre The Alice Springs Youth Detention Centre formerly known as Alice Springs Juvenile Holding Centre is an Australian medium to maximum security prison for juvenile males and females located in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. Facili ...
*
Kings Canyon (Northern Territory) Kings Canyon is a canyon in the Northern Territory of Australia located at the western end of the George Gill Range about southwest of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Alice Springs and about south of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin ...
*
National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame The Women's Museum of Australia, formerly the National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame, is a museum focused on the place of women in Australian history, situated in the restored HM Gaol and Labour Prison Alice Springs building in Alice Springs, Nor ...
* Pioneer Theatre * Stuart Arms Hotel *
Stuart Town Gaol Stuart Town Gaol in Alice Springs (formerly Stuart), Northern Territory, Australia, located on 9 Parson Street, was constructed in 1907, when Alice Springs had a European population of approximately 30 people, and held its first prisoner in 1909 ...
* The Residency *
Totem Theatre The Totem Theatre is a theatre located in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the home to the Alice Springs Theatre Group who manage the venue and produce amateur theatre productions. The Totem Theatre is a heritage li ...
* List of films and TV series shot in Alice Springs * ''
Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World is a 2001 Japanese melodrama novel, written by Kyoichi Katayama and published by Shogakukan, which revolves around narrator Sakutaro Matsumoto's recollections of a school classmate whom he once loved. It is also known as , which author Ka ...
''—Japanese film using Alice Springs as a location * :Suburbs of Alice Springs


References


External links


Alice Springs Town Council (local government) website

Official Tourism web site for Alice Springs and surrounds

Photographs of Alice Springs in 1994, National Library of Australia


(Link to TV transmission frequencies list from ACMA website).
History of the stratospheric balloon launch base located in the Alice Spring airport and records of balloons launched there

The American Connection

Alice Springs
– Tourism Australia * The Royal Geographical Society#Hidden Journeys, Royal Geography Society's Hidden Journeys project: *
Audio slideshow: Alice Springs – the spiritual significance of Australia's red heart.
Carl Bridge, head of the Menzies Centre for Australian studies at KCL, explains the spiritual significance of Australia's Red Heart. *
Audio slideshow: Alice Springs – The story of the settlement of Central Australia.
Carl Bridge, head of the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies at KCL, tells the story of Alice Springs, from its Aboriginal origins to its modern-day role as an administrative and tourist centre. {{authority control 1872 establishments in Australia Populated places established in 1872 Springs of Australia Towns in the Northern Territory Former Australian capital cities