n.
formerly Palmerston
Seaport (pop., 2001 prelim.: 69,698), capital of Northern Territory , Australia.
Located on Port Darwin, a deep inlet of Clarence Strait in the Timor Sea, it has one of Australia's best harbours. The harbour was named in 1839 for Charles Darwin . The port, settled in 1869, was known as Palmerston until 1911. Located in a largely undeveloped region, Darwin is a supply and shipping centre for northern Australia. A military base in World War II, it was bombed by the Japanese in 1942, then extensively rebuilt. A cyclone in 1974 damaged or destroyed nearly all of the city; rebuilt a second time, it is now one of Australia's most modern cities.