List of places in the Northern Territory by population

Map of the Northern Territory within Australia

Darwin, the capital and largest city in the Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a self governing territory of Australia. It has a population of 232,605 as of the 2021 Australian census and occupies an area of 1,334,404 square kilometres (515,216 sq mi). Official population statistics are published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which conducts a census every five years. The most recent census for which data has been released is the 2021 census.

Urban centres and localities by population

SA1's are areas that subdivide all of Australia, and have a population between 200 and 800 people and an average population size of 400. Urban centres and localities are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to be clusters of urban SA1's. Clusters with a population higher than 1,000 are considered urban centres and clusters with a population between 200 and 999 are considered localities.

Rank	Urban centre	Population
		2011 census	Ref.	2016 census	Ref.	2021 census	Ref.
1	Darwin	103,016	[1]	118,456	[2]	122,207	[3]
2	Alice Springs	24,208	[4]	23,726	[5]	24,855	[6]
3	Katherine	6,094	[7]	6,303	[8]	5,980	[9]
4	Nhulunbuy	3,933	[10]	3,088	[11]	3,267	[12]
5	Tennant Creek	3,062	[13]	2,991	[14]	2,949	[15]
6	Galiwinku	2,124	[16]	2,088	[17]	2,199	[18]
7	Wadeye	2,112	[19]	2,280	[20]	1,924	[21]
8	Wurrumiyanga (Nguiu)	1,527	[22]	1,563	[23]	1,421	[24]
9	Gunbalanya (Oenpelli)	1,171	[25]	1,117	[26]	1,153	[27]
10	Milingimbi	1,081	[28]	1,225	[29]	1,097	[30]
11	Ngukurr	1,056	[31]	1,149	[32]	1,088	[33]
12	Angurugu	835	[34]	855	[35]	883	[36]
13	Yulara	888	[37]	759	[38]	853	[39]
14	Ramingining	833	[40]	872	[41]	814	[42]
15	Jabiru	1,129	[43]	1,081	[44]	755	[45]
16	Borroloola	926	[46]	871	[47]	755	[48]
17	Alyangula	986	[49]	873	[50]	751	[51]
18	Yuendumu	687	[52]	759	[53]	740	[54]
19	Gapuwiyak	874	[55]	923	[56]	705	[57]
20	Humpty Doo	569	[58]	678	[59]	660	[60]
21	Yirrkala	843	[61]	809	[62]	657	[63]
22	Lajamanu	656	[64]	598	[65]	653	[66]
23	Minyerri	—		618	[67]	650	[68]
24	Santa Teresa (Ltyentye Purte)	555	[69]	580	[70]	603	[71]
25	Daguragu – Kalkarindji	542	[72]	575	[73]	575	[74]
26	Howard Springs	612	[75]	595	[76]	569	[77]
27	Hermannsburg	625	[78]	605	[79]	551	[80]
28	Wugular (Beswick)	511	[81]	531	[82]	542	[83]
29	Ampilatwatja	365	[84]	418	[85]	439	[86]
30	Papunya	418	[87]	404	[88]	438	[89]
31	Warruwi	423	[90]	389	[91]	432	[92]
32	Ilparpa	433	[93]	360	[94]	424	[95]
33	Wagait Beach – Mandorah	368	[96]	461	[97]	422	[98]
34	Walungurru (Kintore)	454	[99]	410	[100]	420	[101]
35	Umbakumba	441	[102]	503	[103]	419	[104]
36	Milikapiti	447	[105]	401	[106]	414	[107]
37	Ali Curung	535	[108]	494	[109]	394	[110]
38	Kaltukatjara (Docker River)	295	[111]	394	[112]	394	[113]
39	Batchelor	336	[114]	466	[115]	371	[116]
40	Nganmarriyanga (Palumpa)	377	[117]	390	[118]	364	[119]
41	Alpurrurulam	441	[120]	420	[121]	350	[122]
42	Nauiyu Nambiyu (Daly River)	454	[123]	378	[124]	350	[125]
43	Barunga	313	[126]	363	[127]	337	[128]
44	Mataranka	244	[129]	310	[130]	327	[131]
45	Pine Creek	380	[132]	328	[133]	318	[134]
46	Pirlangimpi	371	[135]	371	[136]	317	[137]
47	Mutitjulu	210	[138]	323	[139]	296	[140]
48	Elliot	348	[141]	339	[142]	287	[143]
49	Yarralin	266	[144]	293	[145]	283	[146]
50	Timber Creek	—		249	[147]	278	[148]
51	Minjilang	309	[149]	247	[150]	265	[151]
52	Jilkminggan	280	[152]	301	[153]	263	[154]
53	Bulman – Weemol	291	[155]	280	[156]	263	[157]
54	Nyirripi	210	[158]	236	[159]	251	[160]
55	Adelaide River	237	[161]	265	[162]	243	[163]
56	Gunyangara	—		240	[164]	241	[165]
57	Binjari	238	[166]	190	[167]	240	[168]
58	Areyonga	235	[169]	195	[170]	236	[171]
59	Amoonguna	275	[172]	239	[173]	229	[174]
60	Willowra	221	[175]	301	[176]	222	[177]
61	Atitjere	—		224	[178]	204	[179]
62	Titjikala	201	[180]	227	[181]	196	[182]
63	Aputula (Finke)	—		192	[183]	191	[184]
64	Laramba	251	[185]	239	[186]	189	[187]
65	Robinson River (Mungoorbada)	258	[188]	222	[189]	180	[190]
66	Yuelamu	207	[191]	220	[192]	149	[193]
67	Canteen Creek	217	[194]	184	[195]	147	[196]
68	Wutunugurra	207	[197]	166	[198]	143	[199]

Local government areas by population

The Northern Territory is divided into 17 local government areas plus several unincorporated areas.

Rank	Local government area	Population
		2011 census	Ref.	2016 census	Ref.	2021 census	Ref.
1	City of Darwin	72,930	[200]	78,804	[201]	80,530	[202]
2	City of Palmerston	27,703	[203]	33,786	[204]	37,247	[205]
3	Town of Alice Springs	25,186	[206]	24,753	[207]	25,912	[208]
4	Litchfield Municipality	18,994	[209]	23,855	[210]	21,411	[211]
5	Town of Katherine	9,187	[212]	9,717	[213]	9,643	[214]
6	East Arnhem Region	9,098	[215]	9,026	[216]	8,778	[217]
*	Unincorporated areas	8,089	[218]	6,907	[219]	6,802	[220]
7	Roper Gulf Region	6,121	[221]	6,505	[222]	6,486	[223]
8	Barkly Region	6,823	[224]	6,655	[225]	6,316	[226]
9	West Arnhem Region	6,232	[227]	6,188	[228]	6,281	[229]
10	MacDonnell Region	5,831	[230]	6,029	[231]	5,748	[232]
11	Central Desert Region	3,720	[233]	3,677	[234]	3,591	[235]
12	West Daly Region	—		3,166	[236]	2,973	[237]
13	Victoria Daly Region	5,924	[238]	2,810	[239]	2,815	[240]
14	Tiwi Islands Region	2,580	[241]	2,453	[242]	2,348	[243]
15	Coomalie Shire	1,106	[244]	1,319	[245]	1,276	[246]
16	Wagait Shire	369	[247]	463	[248]	423	[249]
*	Darwin Waterfront Precinct	—		—		293	[250]
17	Belyuen Shire	181	[251]	164	[252]	149	[253]

See also

• List of cities in Australia by population
• List of places in New South Wales by population
• List of places in Queensland by population
• List of places in South Australia by population
• List of places in Tasmania by population
• List of places in Victoria by population
• List of places in Western Australia by population