Darwin, formerly Port Darwin, city, north-central Australia, the capital and chief port of the Northern Territory, on Clarence Strait, opposite Melville Island. The city has a fine harbor and an international airport. A 1486-km (891-mi) highway runs from Darwin south to Alice Springs and Adelaide. Northern Territory University (1989) is in a suburb of Darwin. Darwin also serves as a gateway to Kakadu National Park, which lies 200 km (125 mi) to the east. Uranium and copper are mined near the city. Darwin was founded in 1869 as Palmerston and renamed Darwin in 1911. During World War II, Darwin was bombed repeatedly by Japanese planes until mid-1942. In late 1974 it was hit by a cyclone that killed about 50 people and destroyed 90 percent of the city. Reconstruction began immediately and was completed by the late 1970s. Population (1998 estimate) 86,600.
