Alice Springs

Alice Springs is the second largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Popularly known as "the Alice" or simply "Alice", Alice Springs is situated in the geographic centre of Australia near the southern border of the Northern Territory. The site is known as Mparntwe to its original inhabitants, the Arrernte, who have lived in the Central Australian desert in and around what is now Alice Springs for thousands of years. Alice Springs has a population of 27,481 people, which makes up 12 percent of the territory's population. Alice averages 576 metres (1,890 ft) above sea level; the town is nearly equidistant from Adelaide and Darwin.

The town of Alice Springs straddles the usually dry Todd River on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges. The region where Alice Springs is located is known as Central Australia, or the Red Centre, and is an arid environment consisting of several different deserts. In Alice Springs, temperatures can vary dramatically with an average maximum temperature in summer of 35.6 °C (96.1 °F), and an average minimum temperature in winter of 5.1 °C (41.2 °F).

The Arrernte Aboriginal people have made their home in the Central Australian desert in and around the site of the future Alice Springs for thousands of years, with evidence suggesting Indigenous occupation of the region dating back at least 30,000 years. The Aboriginal name for Alice Springs is Mparntwe. Many Arrernte people also live in communities outside of Alice Springs and on outstations.

Three major groups: the Western, Eastern and Central Arrernte people live in Central Australia, their traditional land including the area of Alice Springs and MacDonnell Ranges. They are also referred to as Aranda, Arrarnta, Arunta, and other similar spellings. Their neighbours are the Southern Arrernte, Luritja, Anmatyerr, Alyawarr and Western Arrernte peoples. There are five dialects of the Arrernte language: South-eastern, Central, Northern, Eastern and North-eastern.

There are roughly 1,800 speakers of Eastern and Central Arrernte, making it the largest spoken language in the Arandic family. This is one of the largest populations to speak any Australian language. It is taught in schools, and heard in local media and local government.

Arrernte country is rich with mountain ranges, waterholes, and gorges, which create a variety of natural habitats. The Arrernte people have set asideconservation areas in which various animal and other species are protected. According to the Arrernte traditional stories, in the desert surrounding Alice Springs, the landscape was shaped by caterpillars, wild dogs, travelling boys, two sisters, euros, and other ancestral figures. 

The numerous sites of traditional importance in and around Alice Springs include Anthwerrke (Emily Gap), Akeyulerre (Billy Goat Hill), Ntaripe (Heavitree Gap), Atnelkentyarliweke (Anzac Hill), and Alhekulyele (Mt Gillen).

In 1861–62, John McDouall Stuart led an expedition through Central Australia, to the west of what later became Alice Springs, thereby establishing a route from the south of the continent to the north.

A European settlement was started ten years later with the construction of a repeater station on the Overland Telegraph Line, which linked Adelaideto Darwin and Great Britain. The OTL was completed in 1872. It traced Stuart's route and opened up the interior for permanent settlement. It was not until alluvial gold was discovered at Arltunga, 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of the present Alice Springs, in 1887 that any significant European settlement occurred. Until 31 August 1933, the town was known as Stuart. 

The telegraph station was sited near what was thought to be a permanent waterhole in the normally dry Todd River. The settlement was optimistically named Alice Springs after the wife of the former Postmaster General of South Australia, Sir Charles Todd. The Todd River was named after Sir Charles.

The original mode of British-Australian transportation in the outback were camel trains, operated by immigrants from Pathan tribes in the North-West frontier of then British India (present-day Pakistan); they were misnamed Afghan camellers. In 1929 the Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway was completed from Darwin as far as Birdum, while the Great Northern Railway had been completed in 1891 from Port Augusta as far as Oodnadatta, South Australia, 700 kilometres (430 mi) south of Alice Springs. The lines were not connected until 2003. On 4 February 2004, the first passenger train arrived in Darwin from Adelaide.

World War II brought significant changes to Alice Springs. Prior to the war, Alice Springs was an extremely isolated settlement of less than 500 people. During the war, however, the town was an extremely active staging base, known as No 9 Australian Staging Camp, and a depot base for the long four-day trip to Darwin. The railway hub in Alice Springs was taken over by military operations and the number of soldiers posted in Alice Springs grew rapidly, as did the number of personnel passing through on their way to and from Darwin. When Darwin was threatened by Japanese forces, the sea routes -- the Northern Territory capital's primary means of transportation and resupply -- were cut off. The evacuation of Darwin first brought a large number of civilians including elected officials and many of the territory government's records. Alice Springs became the war-time civilian capital of the Northern Territory. When Darwin was bombed by Japanese air forces, a large number of military personnel and their heavy equipment were rapidly moved south to Alice Springs. The number of soldiers posted in Alice Springs peaked at around 8000 and the number of personnel passing through totaled close to 200,000.  Once the war ended, the military camps and the evacuees departed and Alice Springs' population declined rapidly. But Alice would be changed for ever. After being visited by nearly 200,000 people, including the American General Douglas MacArthur, Alice Springs gained considerable fame. The war years also left behind many beneficial material assets. The historically-listed Totem Theatre, created for the entertainment of this camp, still exists today. The Australian Army set up the 109th Australian General Hospital at Alice Springs. Seven mile aerodrome was constructed by the Royal Australian Air Force. War related operations necessitated the first sealing of the road between Alice Springs and Larrimah, expansion and improvement of Alice Springs' water supply, and improving the rail head. The war-related operations left behind thousands of pieces of excess military equipment and vehicles, and a marked increase in Alice Springs' population.

During the 1960s Alice Springs became an important defence location with the development of the US/Australian Pine Gap joint defence satellite monitoring base, home to about 700 workers from both countries.

By far the major industry in recent times is tourism. Almost in the exact centre of the continent, Alice Springs is some 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) from the nearest ocean and 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) from the nearest major cities, Darwin and Adelaide. Alice Springs is at the midpoint of the Adelaide–Darwin Railway.

The modern town of Alice Springs has both European and Aboriginal influences. The town's focal point, the Todd Mall, hosts a number of Aboriginal art galleries and community events. Alice Springs’ desert lifestyle has inspired several unique events, such as the Camel Cup, the Henley-on-Todd Regatta and the Beanie Festival.

Alice Springs has many historic buildings, such as the Overland Telegraph Station, Adelaide House, the Old Courthouse and Residency and the Hartley Street School. Today the town is an important tourist hub and service centre for the surrounding area. It is a well-appointed town for its size, with several large hotels, a world class convention centre and a good range of visitor attractions, restaurants and other services. 

The region around Alice Springs is part of the Central Ranges xeric scrub area of dry scrubby grassland and includes the MacDonnell Ranges which run east and west of the city and contain a number of hiking trails and swimming holes such as Ormiston Gorge, Ormiston Gorge Creek, Red Bank Gorge and Glen Helen Gorge. The 223-kilometre (139 mi) long Larapinta Trail follows the West MacDonnell Ranges and is considered among the world's great walking experiences.

The Simpson Desert, south-east of Alice Springs is one of Australia's great wilderness areas containing giant red sand dunes and interesting rock formations such as Chambers Pillar and Rainbow Valley.

The town of Alice Springs straddles the usually dry Todd River on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges. Alice Springs is located in Central Australia, also called the Red Centre, an arid environment consisting of several different deserts.

In Alice Springs, temperatures can vary by up to 28 °C (50 °F) and rainfall can vary quite dramatically from year to year. In summer, the average maximum temperature is in the high 30s, whereas in winter the average minimum temperature can be 7.5 °C (45.5 °F), with an average of 12.4 nights below freezing every annum. The elevation of the town is about 545 metres (1791 feet).

Under the Köppen climate classification, Alice Springs has a desert climate (BWh). The annual average rainfall is 279.2 millimetres (11.0 in) which would make it a semi-arid climate except that its high evapotranspiration, or its aridity, makes it a desert climate. Annual precipitation is erratic, varying year to year in Alice Springs. In 2001 741 millimetres (29.2 in) fell and in 2002 only 198 millimetres (7.8 in) fell. The highest daily rainfall is 204.8 millimetres (8.06 in), recorded on 31 March 1998.

Climate data for Alice Springs (1941–2010)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	45.2 (113.4)	44.7 (112.5)	42.2 (108.0)	39.9 (103.8)	35.0 (95.0)	31.6 (88.9)	31.6 (88.9)	34.7 (94.5)	38.8 (101.8)	41.7 (107.1)	42.9 (109.2)	44.2 (111.6)	45.2 (113.4)
Average high °C (°F)	36.4 (97.5)	35.0 (95.0)	32.7 (90.9)	28.2 (82.8)	23.0 (73.4)	19.8 (67.6)	19.7 (67.5)	22.6 (72.7)	27.2 (81.0)	30.9 (87.6)	33.6 (92.5)	35.4 (95.7)	28.7 (83.7)
Average low °C (°F)	21.4 (70.5)	20.8 (69.4)	17.5 (63.5)	12.6 (54.7)	8.3 (46.9)	5.1 (41.2)	4.0 (39.2)	6.0 (42.8)	10.3 (50.5)	14.8 (58.6)	17.8 (64.0)	20.2 (68.4)	13.2 (55.8)
Record low °C (°F)	10.0 (50.0)	8.5 (47.3)	6.1 (43.0)	1.4 (34.5)	−2.7 (27.1)	−6 (21.2)	−7.5 (18.5)	−4.1 (24.6)	−1.1 (30.0)	1.3 (34.3)	3.5 (38.3)	9.3 (48.7)	−7.5 (18.5)
Rainfall mm (inches)	38.6 (1.52)	43.5 (1.713)	31.0 (1.22)	16.3 (0.642)	19.2 (0.756)	14.3 (0.563)	14.0 (0.551)	9.3 (0.366)	8.1 (0.319)	21.1 (0.831)	28.2 (1.11)	37.1 (1.461)	281.5 (11.083)
Avg. rainy days	4.6	4.6	3.1	2.1	3.1	2.8	2.5	1.9	2.2	4.6	5.6	5.8	42.9
Sunshine hours	319.3	296.9	300.7	285.0	283.5	272.0	282.1	303.8	300.0	313.1	303.0	310.0	3,509.4
Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology

In June 2006, approximately 27,481 people lived in Alice Springs with a total of 39,888 in the region. In 2006, the largest ancestry groups in the Alice Springs were, Australian (9,814 or 31.4%), English (6,970 or 22.3%), Irish (2,217 or 7.1%), Scottish (1,825 or 7.1%), Australian Aboriginal (1,790 or 5.7%, although note that a far greater proportion of the town's residents identify as Aboriginal), German (1,502 or 4.8%), and Italian (529 or 1.7%). Although 74.7% of Alice Springs' population was born in Australia, the most common places of birth for immigrants in 2006 Census were the United Kingdom (3.4%), United States of America (3%), New Zealand (1.9%), and Philippines (0.8%).

The most common non-English languages spoken in Alice Springs are: Arrernte, Warlpiri, Luritja, Pitjantjatjara, and Italian.

According to the 2006 census, Aboriginal Australians make up approximately 18.8% of the population of Alice Springs and 27.8% of the Northern Territory, although the census figure for Alice Springs is likely to be an underestimate. As Alice Springs is the regional hub of Central Australia, it attracts Aboriginal people from all over that region and well beyond. Many Aboriginal people visit regularly to use the town's services. Aboriginal residents usually live in the suburbs, on special purpose leases (or town camps), or further out at Amoonguna to the South and on the small family outstation communities on Aboriginal Lands in surrounding areas.

The traditional owners of the Alice Springs area are the Central Arrernte people. As it is the largest town in central Australia, there are also speakers of Warlpiri, Warumungu, Kaytetye, Alyawarre,Luritja, Pintupi, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara, Ngaanyatjarra, Pertame, Eastern, and Western Arrernte among others. 

United States citizens have resided in Alice Springs constantly since the establishment of the United States Air Force Detachment 421, in 1954. Currently located on Schwarz Crescent, it is part of a joint United States-Australian project called the Joint Geological and Geographical Research Station (JGGRS). The unit is locally known as "Det 421" or "The Det" and has sponsored as many as 25 American families to live as temporary residents of the Alice Springs district. To mark the longstanding friendship with the community, on 1 July, 1995, the Alice Springs Town Council granted Detachment 421 Freedom of Entry to the Town of Alice Springs.

Since the early 1970's, the majority of the American population in Alice Springs has been associated with the proximity to Pine Gap, a joint Australian and US satellite tracking station, located 19 kilometres (12 mi) south-west of Alice Springs. While Pine Gap employs 700 Americans and Australians, there are currently 2,000 people in the Alice Springs district who carry citizenship of the United States.

The American citizens celebrate most of the major US public festivals, including Independence Day and Thanksgiving. A portion of the Australian citizens engage in the festivities as well. Americans in Alice Springs are known to participate in a variety of associations and sporting teams, including baseball, basketball, and soccer competitions.

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