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'Central Australia' is a term used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians.

Contents

Area

Population

History

The centre of Australia

See also

External links

Area

The main township in ''Central Australia'' is Alice Springs, however this area also includes all of the desert lands surrounding it. Whilst a few of these townships (such as Barrow Creek) are stations (ranches), the vast majority of them are indigenous Australian communities.

Population

Alice Springs, the main focus of Central Australia, is predominantly Anglo-Celtic Australian, with approximately 25% Aboriginal population, however the surrounding communities which make up Central Australia are almost exclusively Aboriginal. Therefore, the total population of the area known as Central Australia is approximately 50% Aboriginal. This population is estimated to be approximately 60,000 people.

History

George Pearce, Minister for Home and Territories in the Federal Parliament in the 1920s, thought that the Northern Territory was too large to be adequately governed, and thus for a short time a separate territory named Central Australia existed.
Central Australia, like the Northern Territory, had its own Government Resident and administration. The division was along the line of 20 degrees south, down to the South Australian border, and took effect on 1 February 1927 through the ''North Australia Act 1926''. However the territory only lasted for five years, and was reincorporated into Northern Territory on 12 June 1931. A rare, perhaps unique, original map of this temporary division is on display at the Overlander's steakhouse restaurant in Hartley Street, Alice Springs.

The centre of Australia

There is no official centre of Australia. The concept has intrigued various people from the time of early European exploration. Central Mount Stuart, for example, was so-named because it was believed to stand at the geographical centre of Australia. Today, different calculations give varying results but in general they agree on the area within 200 kilometres south of Alice Springs.

See also

★ Eastern states of Australia

★ Northern Australia

★ Southern Australia

External links

★ Alice Springs Film and Television

★ Centre of Australia, States and Territories

★ storyWall - An Alice Springs community project - http://storywall.wikispaces.com