Van Diemen Gulf & Darwin, Australia (35099989186)

Van Diemen Gulf is a gulf in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It connects to the

Timor Sea The Timor Sea ( id, Laut Timor, pt, Mar de Timor, tet, Tasi Mane or ) is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the Arafura Sea, and to the south by Australia. The sea contains a number of reefs, ...

in the north via

Dundas Strait Dundas Strait is a sea passage in the Northern Territory of Australia located between Melville Island and the Cobourg Peninsula. It connects the Timor Sea to the Van Diemen Gulf Van Diemen Gulf is a gulf in the Northern Territory of Austr ...

. Most of its area is also gazetted as a locality with the name Van Diemen Gulf.

History

The gulf was named after the Dutch colonial governor,

Anthony van Diemen Anthony van Diemen (also ''Antonie'', ''Antonio'', ''Anton'', ''Antonius'') (1593 – 19 April 1645) was a Dutch colonial governor. Early life He was born in Culemborg in the Netherlands, the son of Meeus Anthonisz van Diemen and Christina Hoe ...

(1593–1645).

Phillip Parker King Rear Admiral Phillip Parker King, FRS, RN (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. Early life and education King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Anna Jo ...

and his crew in the 76-tonne cutter surveyed the coastline in early 1818, encountering local

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

and

proa Proas are various types of multi-hull outrigger sailboats of the Austronesian peoples. The terms were used for native Austronesian ships in European records during the Colonial era indiscriminately, and thus can confusingly refer to the do ...

s sailed by

Makassan Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan ...

s, and passed by the Gulf on other voyages.

Geography

The gulf connects to the Timor Sea in the north via Dundas Strait, and is also connected to the

Beagle Gulf Beagle Gulf is a gulf in the Northern Territory of Australia which opens on its west side to the Timor Sea. The gulf is bounded to the south by the mainland and to the north by Bathurst and Melville Islands. It is connected to Van Diemen Gulf ...

in the west by the

Clarence Strait Clarence Strait, originally Duke of Clarence Strait,Statement of f ...

. It is partially enclosed by Melville Island and the

Cobourg Peninsula The Cobourg Peninsula is located east of Darwin in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is deeply indented with coves and bays, covers a land area of about , and is virtually uninhabited with a population ranging from about 20 to 30 in five ...

, and measures about by . Rivers draining into the Gulf include the

South Alligator River Alligator Rivers is the name of an area in an Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory of Australia, containing three rivers, the East, West, and South Alligator Rivers. It is regarded as one of the richest biological regions in Australia ...

, the

East Alligator River Alligator Rivers is the name of an area in an Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory of Australia, containing three rivers, the East, West, and South Alligator Rivers. It is regarded as one of the richest biological regions in Australia ...

, the Mary River,

Wildman River The Wildman River is a river in the Darwin Coastal bioregion of the Northern Territory, Australia. Location and features Formed by the confluence of the East and West Branches of the Wildman River, the river rises southwest of Kapalga in the Kak ...

and the

Adelaide River The Adelaide River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia. Course and features The river rises in the Litchfield National Park and flows generally northwards to Clarence Strait, joined by eight tributaries including the west branch ...

. The

Kakadu National Park Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, southeast of Darwin. It is a World Heritage Site. Kakadu is also gazetted as a locality, covering the same area as the national park, with 313 people recorded liv ...

adjoins its south-east coast.

Administrative status

On 4 April 2007, most of the area occupied by the Van Diemen Gulf was gazetted as a locality with the name Van Diemen Gulf by the

Northern Territory Government The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...

, who also included it in the local government area of the

West Arnhem Region The West Arnhem Region is a local government area of the Northern Territory, Australia and is administered by the West Arnhem Regional Council. The region covers an area of and had a population of 6,902 in June 2018. History In October 2006 the ...

References

{{Authority control Coastline of the Northern Territory Gulfs of Australia Maritime history of the Dutch East India Company IMCRA meso-scale bioregions