Darwin, the cosmopolitan capital of the Northern Territory. On September 9, 1839, John Clements Wickham and John Lort Stokes landed their ship “HMS Beagle” in what is now Darwin Bay. They named their anchorage “Port Darwin” after the British naturalist Charles Darwin, who traveled to the Galapagos Islands on board the ship between 1831 and 1836. Today Darwin is the northernmost city in Australia with around 130,000 inhabitants. It was founded in 1869 and has since been rebuilt three times after being almost completely destroyed by cyclones in 1897, 1937 and 1974. Darwin is known as the “Gateway to Asia” and is a starting point for tours to Litchfield National Park or Kakadu National Park. It is a particularly multicultural city. In total, around 75 different nationalities live in Darwin, around a quarter of the residents are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Darwin went from being a rough outpost to a vibrant one
tropical city. The place has extensive and often lonely beaches. The city's main street, Mitchell Street, is home to Darwin's lively nightlife scene, with a wide range of restaurants, several theatres, a casino and cinemas.