# City of Darwin

The City of Darwin is a local government area of the Northern Territory, Australia. It includes the central business district of the capital, Darwin City, and represents two-thirds of its metropolitan population. Located on the traditional land and waterways of the Larrakia people, the city now covers an area of 111 square kilometres (43 sq mi) and, in June 2018, had a population of 84,613 people.

## History

The Larrakia people are the traditional owners of the lands and waters in and surrounding the Darwin local government area. Darwin is known as Garramilla in Gulumirrgin, one of the languages of the Larrakia people, but there are many place names within the area.
The first Town and District Council was formed in 1874. The Darwin Town Council was created in 1915. From 1921 the five member Council had been elected on a ratepayer's franchise. In 1930 the Mayor and councillors resigned in protest against the re-introduction of adult suffrage. A caretaker Council was appointed until 1937, when it was abolished at the council's own request.
In 1955 a statement added to the Local Government Ordinance provided for the Constitution of the Municipality of Darwin. In 1957 the council was increased to twelve members and a Mayor.
An annual election providing for the Mayor and half of the Council members to be retired at each election, was also introduced at this time. The first council elections were held on 29 June 1957 and the first elected mayor of Darwin was Lucius (Bill) Richardson. In 1959 an Ordinance provided that the Municipality of Darwin be constituted a city and named 'City of Darwin'.
The first female Mayor of Darwin was Dr Ella Stack, who served as the mayor of Darwin from May 1975 to November 1979, and as Darwin's first Lord Mayor from November 1979.

## Wards and councillors

City of Darwin is divided into four wards, governed by 12 Councillors across those wards, as well as one directly elected Lord Mayor. Councillors from each ward are elected using a Single Transferable Vote (STV) proportional system.
Wards and councillors :
| Ward | Councillor | Party |
| Chan | Peter Pangquee | Independent |
| Chan | Morgan Rickard | Greens |
| Chan | Ed Smelt | Independent |
| Lyons | Mick Palmer | Independent |
| Lyons | Amye Un | Independent |
| Richardson | Jimmy Bouhoris | Independent |
| Richardson | Vim Sharma | Independent |
| Richardson | Rebecca Want de Rowe | Labor |
| Waters | Kim Farrar | Independent |
| Waters | Brian O'Gallagher | Country Liberal |
| Waters | Sylvia Klonaris | Independent |

## Suburbs

| Chan Ward (west) | Lyons Ward (south) | Richardson Ward (north) | Waters Ward (east) | Suburb Map |
| Coconut Grove Jingili Ludmilla (with Bagot) Millner Moil Nightcliff Rapid Creek | Bayview Charles Darwin (part) Darwin City (part) East Point Fannie Bay Hidden Valley (part) Larrakeyah Parap Stuart Park The Gardens Woolner | Alawa Brinkin Buffalo Creek Casuarina Holmes Leanyer Lee Point Lyons Muirhead Nakara Tiwi Wagaman Wanguri | Anula (with Northlakes) Berrimah (part) Coonawarra Eaton Karama Malak (with Sanderson) Marrara The Narrows Winnellie Wulagi | |
Most of the suburb of Charles Darwin which is largely occupied by the Charles Darwin National Park reaches outside of the boundaries of the City of Darwin into unincorporated area, as do large parts of Berrimah and Hidden Valley. The last two suburbs, Buffalo Creek and Holmes, were approved in 2007. They are still largely undeveloped, especially Buffalo Creek.

## Demographics

Selected historical census data for City of Darwin local government area :
| Census year | Census year | Census year | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 |
| Population | Population | Estimated residents on census night | 69,455 | 66,291 | 72,930 | 78,804 |
| Population | Population | LGA rank in terms of size within Northern Territory | | 1st | 1st | 1st |
| Population | Population | % of Northern Territory population | 34.26% | 34.36% | 34.41% | 34.44% |
| Population | Population | % of Australian population | 0.37% | 0.33% | 0.34% | 0.34% |
| Cultural and language diversity | Cultural and language diversity | Cultural and language diversity | | | | |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Australian | | | 24.1% | 21.2% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | English | | | 20.7% | 19.8% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Irish | | | 7.2% | 7.4% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Scottish | | | 5.7% | 5.6% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Chinese | | | 3.6% | 4.1% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Greek | 3.5% | 3.3% | 3.4% | 3.5% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Tagalog | 1.0% | | 1.6% | 2.2% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Cantonese | 1.0% | 0.9% | | |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Italian | 0.8% | 0.7% | | |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Hakka | 0.8% | 0.8% | | |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Indonesian | | 0.9% | 1.0% | |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Mandarin | | | 1.3% | 2.0% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Filipino | | | 1.0% | 1.5% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Nepali | | | | 1.2% |
| Religious affiliation | Religious affiliation | Religious affiliation | | | | |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Catholic | 25.4% | 24.7% | 24.1% | 22.3% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | No religion | 20.5% | 24.0% | 25.0% | 31.2% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Anglican | 14.5% | 12.2% | 10.6% | 7.6% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Uniting | 6.5% | 5.6% | 4.5% | |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Eastern Orthodox | 4.3% | 4.1% | 4.3% | 4.4% |
| Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | | | | |
| Personal income | Personal income | Median weekly personal income | | A$687 | A$899 | A$1039 |
| Personal income | Personal income | % of Australian median income | | 147.4% | 155.8% | 157.0% |
| Family income | Family income | Median weekly family income | | A$1524 | A$2063 | A$2385 |
| Family income | Family income | % of Australian median income | | 130.2% | 139.2% | 137.5% |
| Household income | Household income | Median weekly household income | | A$1286 | A$1809 | A$2164 |
| Household income | Household income | % of Australian median income | | 125.2% | 146.6% | 150.5% |
| Dwelling structure | Dwelling structure | Dwelling structure | | | | |
| Dwelling type | Dwelling type | Separate house | 55.3% | 54.9% | 54.7% | 52.6% |
| Dwelling type | Dwelling type | Semi-detached, terrace or townhouse | 13.2% | 11.9% | 15.8% | 13.3% |
| Dwelling type | Dwelling type | Flat or apartment | 23.8% | 27.2% | 26.7% | 31.8% |

## Sister cities

The city of Darwin has seven sister cities.
| City | State | Country | Year |
| Kalymnos | South Aegean region | Greece | April 1982 |
| Anchorage | Alaska | United States | July 1982 |
| Ambon | Maluku | Indonesia | October 1988 |
| Haikou | Hainan | China | September 1990 |
| Milikapiti | Northern Territory | Australia | July 1999 |
| Dili | Dili District | East Timor | September 2003 |
| Bacolod | Negros Occidental | Philippines | August 2022 |