Back أرض أرنهيم Arabic Arnem-Lend Azerbaijani Арнем-Ленд Bashkir Арнем-Ленд Byelorussian Арнхемланд Bulgarian Terra d'Arnhem Catalan Arnhemská země Czech Tir Arnhem Welsh Arnhemland German Arnhemlando Esperanto
| Arnhem Land Northern Territory | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Population | 16,230 (2007)[1] |
| • Density | 0.1673/km2 (0.4334/sq mi) |
| Area | 97,000 km2 (37,451.9 sq mi) |
| Territory electorate(s) | Arafura, Mulka, Arnhem |
| Federal division(s) | Lingiari |
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500 km (310 mi) from the territorial capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Company captain Willem Joosten van Colster (or Coolsteerdt) sailed into the Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape Arnhem is named after his ship, the Arnhem, which itself was named after the city of Arnhem in the Netherlands.
The area covers about 97,000 km2 (37,000 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 16,000, of whom 12,000 are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Two regions are often distinguished as East Arnhem (Land) and West Arnhem (Land). The region's service hub is Nhulunbuy, 600 km (370 mi) east of Darwin, set up in the early 1970s as a mining town for bauxite. Other major population centres are Yirrkala (just outside Nhulunbuy), Gunbalanya (formerly Oenpelli), Ramingining, and Maningrida.
A substantial proportion of the population, which is mostly Aboriginal, lives on small outstations or homelands. This outstation movement started in the early 1980s. Many Aboriginal groups moved to usually very small settlements on their traditional lands, often to escape the problems of the larger towns. These population groups have very little Western cultural influence, and Arnhem Land is arguably one of the last areas in Australia that could be seen as a completely separate country. Many of the region's leaders have called and continue to call for a treaty that would allow the Yolŋu to operate under their own traditional laws.
In 2013–14, the entire region contributed around A$1.3 billion or 7 percent to the Northern Territory's gross state product, mainly through bauxite mining.
In 2019, it was announced that NASA had chosen Arnhem Land as the location for a space launch facility, the Arnhem Space Centre. On 27 June 2022, NASA launched the first rocket there, the first rocket launch from a commercial spaceport outside the US, and two further launches followed within weeks.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (2 October 2008). "Australian Demographic Statistics" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2008.