Katrina

=__NORTHERN TERRITORY__ =

FACTS
The capital city in the Northern Territory is Darwin. In September 2008 the population of the whole Northern Territory was 221,160. The floral emblem is the Sturt's Desert Rose and the faunal emblem is the Red Kangaroo. The Northern Territory's bird emblem is the wedge-tailed eagle. The flag of the Northern Territory features an ochre and black backround, a white flower and five white stars. The climate of the Northern Territory is an average thirty-two degrees celsius except on really hot days when it can get up to over forty degrees celsius. Some of the Northern Territory's major industries are mining, manufacturing and agriculture. The Northern Territory is in the central time zone so it is half hour later then the eastern time zone and is one and a half hour earlier then the western time zone.

**HISTORY**
The history of the Northern Territory goes back to 1623. **Aboriginal History** It is most likely the Aboriginals moved to the north of Australia in small groups and thirty-five thousand came to the Northern Territory. Aboriginal people never stayed in the same area for too long because they didn’t want to hunt out all the food like plants and animals. The Aboriginals believed that their spirit ancestors made the land and that they are still here today in their spirit forms. If the Aboriginals damaged the land it would destroy the Aboriginal welfare and the general health of the community. The Aboriginals met people from other countries long before the British discovered the land.

The first European contact recorded in the Northern Territory was in 1623 by a Dutch trading ship called the Arnhem which sailed the coast which is now known as Arnhem Land. Another European contact was in 1802 when Matthew Flinders surveyed a part of the western side of Cape York. Between 1818 and 1822 Phillip Parker King charted the Northern coastline of Australia. In 1837 Charles Darwin was the captain of the Beagle which discovered and named Port Darwin which is now known as Darwin. In 1824 to 1849 Captain J.J.Bremer was given instructions to claim the coast between the western shore of Bathurst and the eastern side of the Coburg Peninsula. He was given sixty-seven officers and forty-four convict volunteers. He failed but he tried again in 1837 for fear the French were going to claim the land. Many people became sick of diseases. They soon left the land in 1849 since they had already claimed the land. In 1863 the Northern Territory was renamed the Northern Territory of South Australia until 1864 when it was back to the Northern Territory
 * European Settlements **

GOVERNMENT
There are three types of government in Australia. The Federal, the State and the Local. In 1978 Northern Territory had a self government. The Northern Territory parliament has only one house called the Legislative Assembly and it has twenty-five members. Every four years there is an election. The Northern Territory’s parliament works the same way as other parliaments in other states but some names for certain people are different. For example the leader of the political party of other states is called the premier but in the Northern Territory they are called the chief minister. The chief minister at the moment is Paul Henderson. In the Northern Territory there is two types of local government. The community government councils and the Municipal councils. The community government councils are elected in areas where people live in small communities while the Municipal councils are elected in larger areas. Queen Elizabeth ll is the Head of State in Australia. Some people believe that the Head of State should be an Australian and that Australia should become a republic.

LAW & ORDER
The law and order of the Northern Territory is similar to some states and different to other states. The population of the Northern Territory is very small (only about ) so the police force isn’t very big either. In 1963 the police force had only six hundred and eighty-two members. The Northern Territory’s police force includes an Operational Support Unit, the Fisheries and Water section, the Gold Squad and an Air Wing. The Northern Territory has two levels of court- the Magistrates Court and the Supreme Court. The Magistrates Court is the lower court which deals with civil and crime incidents and includes a children’s court and a coroner’s court. The Supreme Court is the higher court. It deals with major crime incidents. In the Northern Territory most people go to prison or court from stealing, unlawful entry and unlawful use of motor vehicles. Stealing is one of the most common crimes and alcohol abuse comes in second like it is for most other states of Australia. There are two main prisons in the Northern Territory. One in Darwin and one in Alice Springs. The Darwin prison has a section for men and women and holds about two hundred and twenty-two prisoners. The Alice Springs prison holds up to one hundred and seventy-seven prisoners.
 * Police**
 * Law Courts**
 * Crime**
 * Prisons**

One of the Northern Territory's greatest assets is nature. If you went there you would see some of the most beautiful plants and wildlife There are more than four thousand plant species found in the Northern Territory. There are grasslands and shrubs that live in the desert to eualypts in the North. You can find woodlands and scrublands which are dominated by Acacia species all around the Northern Territory. There are more plant species in smaller areas of rainforests, mangrooves, heathlands, swamps and paperback forest. There are more than four hundred and sixteen plant species found in Uluru-Katu Tjuta National Park. The Sturt's Desert Rose is the floral emblem of the Northern Territory. It is white, red and pink coulered flower on green leaves. There are a wide range of wildlife in the Northern Territory which include birds, insects, reptiles, marsupials and mammals. Six out of seven marine turtles are found in the Northern Territory's seas. They are Green sea turtle, Olive Ridley, Hawksbill, Leatherback, Flat Back and Loggerhead which are under the threatened category. Crocodiles are the most popular animals of the Northern Territory. Coburg Marine Park on the Coburg Penisula of Arhem Land has recorded two hundred and fifty species of fish. The wedge-tailed eagle is the Northern Territory's bird emblem and the red kangaroo is the fauna emblem. The wedge-tailed eagle survives on mostly wild animals like kangaroos and rabbits. The red kangaroo is the giant of the Australian kangaroo family.
 * NATIVE PLANTS & ANIMALS**
 * Plants**
 * Animals**

LANDMARKS & TOURIST ATTRACTIONS
One of the most visited tourist attractionsin the Northern Territory is Uluru also known as Ayers Rock. Another two tourist attractions are an Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre and a wildlife park called Alice Springs Desert Park which are both located in Alice Springs. If you did go to the Northern Territory it would be a good idea to check out some of their festivals. They include an Alice Springs Bangtail Muster, a Pioneer Gold Rush weekend, a Flying Fox Festival, a Mud crab tying championships and the Henley-on-Todd Regatta.

MAPPING & DIRECTIONS
The latitude of Darwin is twelve degrees south and the longitude is one hundred and thirty degrees east. In Alice Springs the latitude and longitude is twenty three degrees south and one hundred and thirty-three degrees east. The Northern Territory covers seven hundred and seventy-one thousand and seven hundred and forty-seven square kilometres.

FIRSTS
In Darwin on February nineteenth 1942 the first enemy bombs by the Japenese was dropped on Australia in the Northern Territory. The first school to open in the Northern Territory was in 1877 in Palmerston Darwin. Women were first given the right to vote in the Northern territory in 1894. The first school for Aboriginal and Torrestraight Islanders was opened in Darwin in 1913.

FAMOUS NORTHERN TERRITORIANS
Jeannie Gunn is a famous author who lived in the Northern Territory. She wrote two books that made her famous. Professor Marcia Langton is the Ranger Chair at Aboriginals studies at the Northern Territory University. Charles Perkins is an Aboriginal rights activist in the Northern Territory. Meryl Tankard is one of Australia's leading dancers. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri is one of the leading Papunya Tula painters of the Western Desert. Mandawuy Yunupingu was the lead singer of an Aboriginal rock group called Yothu Yindi. Nova Peris is a Hockeyroos hockey player. She was the first Northern Territorian to be picked into the Australian Women's Olympic Hockey Team. She was also the first Northern Territorian to win an olympic gold medal.

SPORT
The Northern Territory has the most people playing sport then in any other state. The Northern Territorians play cricket, tennis, swimming and Aussie rules football. Some of the AFL's best players are Aboriginals from the Northern Territory.