Liverpool River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

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 is the largest of the tidal river systems of northern

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...

, which includes two major tributaries, the Tomkinson and Mann Rivers.

Geography

The river rises at the eastern end of the Spencer Range and flows in a north-easterly direction, eventually discharging into the

Arafura Sea The Arafura Sea (or Arafuru Sea) lies west of the Pacific Ocean, overlying the continental shelf between Australia and Western New Guinea (also called Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea. Geography The Arafura Sea is ...

south of Bat Island and to the south west of the Aboriginal Community of

Maningrida Maningrida, also known as Manayingkarírra and Manawukan, is an Aboriginal community in the heart of the Arnhem Land region of Australia's Northern Territory. Maningrida is east of Darwin, and north east of Jabiru. It is on the North Central ...

. Its major tributaries are the Tomkinson and Mann Rivers. The

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

formed at the river mouth is tidal in nature and in near pristine condition. The

at the river mouth occupies an area of of open water. It is tide dominated in nature with a tide dominated delta having single channel and is surrounded by an area of covered with

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

s. The river has a catchment area of The catchment is wedged between the

Goomadeer River The Goomadeer River is a river in the Northern Territory, Australia. Etymology The name comes from the Kunwinjku ''Kumardderr'', which is the name of an area that the river flows through. The name means literally 'at the silver-leaved paperbark ...

catchment to the west, the

Blyth River Blyth may refer to: People * Blyth (surname) * Blythe (given name) Places Australia * Blyth, South Australia, a small town Canada * Blyth, Ontario, a village United Kingdom * Blyth, Northumberland, a town ** Blyth Valley (UK Parliament cons ...

catchment to the east and the

Roper River The Roper River is a large perennial river located in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory of Australia. Location and features Formed by the confluence of the Waterhouse River and Roper Creek, the Roper River rises east of Mataranka ...

catchment to the south. It has a mean annual outflow of ,

History

The river was named by explorer

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 ...

in 1818, who named it after the British

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, otherwise known as

Lord Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. He held many important cabinet offices such as Foreign Secret ...

. The Liverpool River area was recommended by the explorer Capt. Francis Cadell, following his explorations of 1867–68, as the most likely area in the Top End to succeed as a centre of agriculture and livestock production, and as the site for a capital city. Less than a year later

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 ...

and his 100 men were hard at work, founding the city of Palmerston (present-day Darwin), some 500 km to the west.

References

{{Rivers of the Northern Territory , state=collapsed Rivers of the Northern Territory

Geography

History

See also

References