Port of Darwin is the main port and capital of Australia’s Northern Territory. Located on Australia’s north central coast, it lies on a peninsula at the northeast entrance of the Port Darwin Harbor. Port Darwin is an inlet of Beagle Gulf off the Timor Sea. The harbor was founded by John Stokes, from the HMS Beagle that carried naturalist Charles Darwin. The city has been rebuilt twice: once after Japanese air raids during World War II and once after devastation from Cyclone Tracy in 1974.

Port Darwin supports the surrounding pastoral and mining areas. Its economy also depends on a combination of government business and a variety of local industries that include tile and brick-making, oil exploration, uranium, fruit growing, exporting cattle, and pearls. In 2004, the urban area of Port Darwin was home to almost 110 thousand people.

The modern, multi-cultural Port Darwin grew out of a pioneer outpost and port. The first inhabitants of the area were the indigenous Larrakia people. They traded with nearby peoples in Southeast Asia and as far away as western and southern Australia. Dutch vessels visited the coastline in the 1600s and created the first maps of the area.

In September 1839, the HMS Beagle sailed into the harbor. In 1869, South Australia’s surveyor general and 135 people established a small settlement at Port Darwin. In the early 1870s, Port Darwin began to grow after telegraph company workers found gold at Pine Creek while digging holes for the telegraph poles. By 1875, about 300 Europeans had come to Darwin seeking gold.

South Australia originally settled the Northern Territory, and it administered the government until it was transferred to the Commonwealth in 1911, when Darwin got its official, and modern, name. From 1911 to 1919, the area was embroiled in political turmoil leading to the “Darwin Rebellion” where demonstrators burned the Administrator of the territory in effigy, demanding his resignation.

In the early 1940s, thousands of Allied troops arrived at Port Darwin to defend the country’s northern coast. On February 19, 1942, the same Japanese warplanes that attacked Pearl Harbor struck Darwin. The first of many raids on Darwin killed over 200 people and destroyed much of the town. Despite this pressure, Port Darwin continued to grow. In 1959, Port Darwin was granted status as a city.

In 1974, the city fell victim to Cyclone Tracy. Seventy-one people died, and more than 70% of the town was destroyed. After the storm, more than half of the city’s population was evacuated by airlift. The town was rebuilt during the late 1970s with newer materials and more resistant building techniques. The Adelaide-Darwin railway was completed in 2003, connecting two of Australia’s most important port cities.

Port Darwin’s two most important economic sectors are mining, energy, and tourism. The mining industry is based largely on gold, zinc, bauxite, and manganese. Energy production is based on offshore oil and gas from the Timor Sea. Today, tourism employs 8% of Darwin’s residents, and tourism is expended to grow in the future. Australia’s military maintains a presence in Port Darwin and is a major employer. Conflict in East Timor brought the military population in Darwin to over 10 thousand, and many United Nations workers use Darwin as a staging center.

Port Darwin will play an important role in the nation’s future growth. It has been the major cattle export port for many years and is becoming the regional base for oil and gas. It is connected to the rest of Australia through the network of road and rail and to the rest of the world by sea and a modern international airport.

In 2006-2007, Port Darwin handled 1.5 million tons of cargo on 4,717 vessel calls, including over 819 thousand tons of imports and almost 642 thousand tons of exports. Imports were dominated by petroleum, automotive distillates, other fuels, dry bulk, and cement. Overseas exports were dominated by manganese, dry bulk, and livestock.

Port Darwin’s facilities can accommodate the full range of cargoes. The Iron Ore Wharf has a berth 142 meters long with east and west mooring dolphin and alongside depth of 11.8 meters.

The concrete-decked Fort Hill Wharf is 300 meters long and has multi-user berths with a depth of 11 meters. It includes a high-capacity floating roll-on/roll-off linkspan. Fort Hill East is a 150-meter berth with 10-meter depth and additional deck-loading capacity. The Roll-on/roll-off linkspan at the western end of the wharf can handle 45-ton loads from vessels of any size or type.

Port Darwin’s Stokes Hill Wharf is concrete decked with multi-user berths used by cruise ships, charter vessels, naval vessels, oil rig tender vessels, and the fishing and pearling fleet. The wharf has total berth length of 292 meters and alongside depth of 9 meters. The Inner Stokes Hill Wharf can handle vessels up to 70 meters, such as research vessels, prawn trawlers, pleasure boats, and tug. It offers 280 meters of berth and low-water depth of 4.5 meters. The Stokes Hill Wharfs are equipped with power, water, and fuel outlets.

The Darwin Fishing Harbor and Mooring Basin in Frances Bay offers sheltered moorings for the fishing fleet and supply and repair facilities. Protected from the tide, the basin is dredged and offers 85 berths as well as showers, toilets, and public phones.

Fisherman’s Wharf offers a piled wharf of 200 meters. The wharf is dredged and can accommodate as many as 18 30-meter vessels. It is equipped with shore power, fresh water, telephone service, public toilets and showers, and fuel supplies.

The Port Darwin Wharf Precinct is located at the western end of Stokes Hill Wharf. The Precinct is a 1750-square meter complex containing tourist facilities, restaurants, and shops. The wharf also contains a large $1.5 million facility with 840 square meters of air-conditioned decking and a 160-square meter external deck with covered walkways.

The City of Darwin’s residents represent more than 50 nationalities, making it a diverse and cosmopolitan place to visit. This fast-growing port and regional center has many places to see and much for travelers to do while visiting there. Port Darwin’s nightlife is exciting and vibrant. You’ll find plenty to do after dark.

Among Port Darwin’s historic sights is the Fannie Bay Gaol, a prison that operated from 1883 until the late 20th Century. Open for tours, you’ll get chills seeing the gallows that were used for executions until 1952. The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, located in a tropical garden on Darwin Harbor, showcases the region’s art, history, and culture. It also houses collections that explain the region’s natural history and its Aboriginal cultures. The Australian Aviation Heritage Centre contains a collection describing Darwin’s aviation history, including World War II role.

Just north of the city, you’ll find the East Point Reserve with trails, cycling paths, and the East Point Military Museum where you can watch films of the Darwin bombing. You can take High Tea on Sundays in the gardens at the Burnett House on Myilly Point. Browns Mart was built in 1885 as an emporium, but today’s it’s a local historic icon used for theatrical performance.

Overlooking Darwin Harbor, the 1925 Lyons Cottage contains collections of European and Aboriginal photographic displays. The house was built for submarine telegraph cable workers. It was one of few structures to escape being destroyed by the Japanese bombing raids and Cyclone Tracy. Lying beneath Port Darwin are the World War II Oil Storage Tunnels, one of Darwin’s most interesting sites. Built to protect stores of oil from bombing attacks, the public can visit two of the tunnels and view photographs capturing life in World War II Darwin.

Port Darwin also contains natural sights well worth the visit. Near the city center are the 42-hectare George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens where you can relax while you stroll through flora from the area and from tropical habitats worldwide. Your stroll will take you through coastal dunes, open woodlands, and monsoon forests. The Casuarina Coastal Reserve covers 1500 hectares, including 8 kilometers of beach and dramatic cliffs, where visitors can walk the paths or picnic. Charles Darwin National Park contains shell middens left by Aboriginal people. It also contains many bunkers and storage facilities left there after World War II.

Port Darwin is alive with many local markets where you can enjoy a variety of cultural influences, including cuisine, art, crafts, and music. The Mindil Beach Sunset Markets, the largest in the Northern Territory, are open every weekend from May to October. You can enjoy the Deckchair Cinema there, where they show foreign and hit films every night during dry season.

Wildlife lovers will love Port Darwin’s many specialty wildlife centers. You can feed the fish by hand at Aquascene. Crocodylus Park is home to over 1000 crocodiles as well as exotic birds, big cats, primates, and lizards. The Darwin Crocodile Farm, where you’ll find more than 10 thousand crocodiles, is a breeding farm well worth the visit. The Adelaide River Jumping Crocodile Cruise allows you to get close to the creatures.

The Batchelor Butterfly and Petting Farm is a great place for families to visit and enjoy rare butterflies, diverse birds, and an enchanting petting zoo for the kids. Not far from Port Darwin is the Mary River National Park, home to the highest concentration of the biggest saltwater crocodiles in the world. The Territory Wildlife Park boasts paperbark and monsoon forests, a wetlands walk, and the popular aquarium tunnel.

Visitors will also enjoy the many festivals in Port Darwin. For 18 nights in August, the Darwin Festival features a variety of performances and includes outdoor events and delicious cuisine. The Aboriginal Art Awards attracts artists from all over the country and showcases both traditional and contemporary works. In June, The Greek Glenti is a time for the local Greek community to share their food, dance, music, and culture with the rest of the world. The Darwin Cup Carnival celebrates Darwin’s premiere horse racing event in July and August.

For a comprehensive list of cruises visiting Port Darwin through the end of 2009, visit the Cruise Compete website.