The Northern Territory is about 1,346,200 square kilometres of vast open spaces. It covers about one-sixth of the Australian continent, and has a total population of about 250,000 people, of which about 30 per cent are of Aboriginal descent.

Less than 50,000 Territorians live outside the major urban centres of Darwin, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Nhulunbuy. The average age of the NT population is 29.6 years, considerably younger than the Australian average.

The Northern Territory is divided into three major geographic areas:

• The Top End (also known as “Salt Water” country)

• Barkly (the “Plateau” country)

• Central Australia (the “Desert” country)

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