Town of Katherine
Local government area in the Northern Territory, Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Katherine Town Council is a local government area in the Northern Territory, established on 3 March 1978. It is situated 320 kilometres (200 mi) south of Darwin, and covers an area of 7,417 square kilometres (2,864 sq mi).
Katherine Town Council | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Location of Katherine Town Council | |||||||||||||
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| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Northern Territory | ||||||||||||
| Region | Katherine | ||||||||||||
| Established | 1978 | ||||||||||||
| Council seat | Katherine | ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • Mayor | Joanna Holden (since 2025) | ||||||||||||
| • Territory electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 7,417 km2 (2,864 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 10,621 (2018)[1] | ||||||||||||
| • Density | 1.43198/km2 (3.7088/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Website | Katherine Town Council | ||||||||||||
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| Adjoining LGAs[2] | |||||||||||||
The Town of Katherine is an established residential township with a commercial area and rural areas on the outskirts of the town. The original inhabitants of the town were the Dagoman and Jawoyn Aboriginal people. European settlement of the area dates from 1871, following the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line. Growth of the town began to start from 1926, following the opening of the railway line. The township grew around the railway line. The most significant development occurred in the post-war years, aided by growth in the tourism industry.
The current mayor is Joanna Holden, who presides over a council with six aldermen. Meetings are held on the 4th Tuesday of every month.
Katherine is currently celebrating its centenary of being a town.
Suburbs, localities and communities
Land within the Katherine municipality was divided in 2007 into bounded areas for the purpose of creating an address for a property. The bounded areas within the Katherine urban area are called "suburbs", those in adjoining rural areas are called "localities" and those associated with aboriginal communities are called "communities".[3][4]
Events
Katherine has one annual agricultural show every year known as the Katherine Show.[5] The Katherine Show is run by a committee known as the KDSS (Katherine District Show Society). The Katherine Show has a theme this year called "peanuts" or celebrating 100 years of agriculture. Katherine also has markets and certain other local events.