Darwin (formerly Port Darwin), capital of the Northern Territory, northern Australia, situated on Clarence Strait opposite Melville Island, on a peninsula reaching out towards the Timor Sea. It is Australia's northernmost capital and port, with a harbour twice the size of Sydney's better-known anchorage. Darwin is one of the fastest-growing capitals in the nation, though it remains the smallest: its estimated population in 1998 was 86,600.
Port Darwin became Palmerston, named after the British prime minister Viscount Palmerston, in 1869, but the area had been originally named in honour of Charles Darwin in 1839, who had landed there when HMS Beagle put into harbour, and the town reverted to that name in 1911 after the Commonwealth took over the administration of the Northern Territory from South Australia.
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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