Katherine (; ) is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is situated on the Katherine River, after which it is named, southeast of Darwin. The fourth largest settlement in the Territory, it is known as the place where "the outback meets the tropics". Katherine had an urban population of 9,643 at the 2021 Australian census.

Katherine is also the closest major town to RAAF Base Tindal, located southeast, and provides education, health, local government services and employment opportunities for the families of Defence personnel stationed there. In the , the base had a residential population of 857, with only around 20% of the workforce engaged in employment outside of defence, the majority commuting to work in Katherine. Katherine is also the central hub of the great "Savannah Way" which stretches from Cairns in north Queensland to Broome in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.Australia's Adventure Drive Savannah Way Ltd

Beginning as an outpost established with the Australian Overland Telegraph Line on the north–south transport route between Darwin and Adelaide, Katherine has grown with the development of transport and local industries including mining – particularly gold mining; a strategic military function with RAAF Base Tindal; also as a tourism gateway to the attractions of nearby Nitmiluk National Park, particularly Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge and its many ancient rock paintings. The region floods heavily during the wet season.

History The first inhabitants of the area were Indigenous Australians, specifically the Dagoman people. It was an important meeting place for these tribes and remains a place of convergence. Today the Warlpiri people from the Victoria River District and Tanami Desert areas now have a dedicated community based at Katherine East, originating in their forced relocation to Lajamanu from 1949 onwards.

Explorer John McDouall Stuart passed through the area in 1862 on his successful third journey across the continent from north to south. On 4 July 1862, Stuart crossed the Katherine River 90 km upstream from the present town, and recorded in his diary: "Came upon another large creek, having a running stream to the south of west and coming from the north of east. This I have named 'Katherine', in honour of the second daughter of pastoralist James Chambers " There is some conjecture over Stuart's accuracy. Chambers's wife's name was Katherine but, according to most sources, his daughter's name was Catherine.Katherine Town Council: About Katherine . Retrieved on 15 December 2008

Katherine Telegraph Station was established on 22 August 1872 and the completion of the Overland Telegraph Line later in 1872, and the town began with a small permanent population on the west side of the Katherine River. Katherine benefited from the proximity to nearby gold fields including Pine Creek 90 kilometres to the north.

Gold was discovered 50 kilometres to the north in 1889 at Mount Todd.

The North Australia Railway was extended to Katherine with construction beginning in 1923 of the Katherine railway bridge. During construction of the railway, the town's centre was relocated to the eastern side of the river. The bridge was completed in 1926 and the first train crossed on 21 January 1926. On 15 July 1926, the town's present site was gazetted. The original post office and the Overland Telegraph station were set just above Knott's Crossing and next to the Sportsman's Arms Hotel that had quarters for the station master at the Overland Telegraph station and a single room police station.

A significant development in Katherine's past was the arrival of a number of Russian migrants between 1929 and 1960. These migrants came to the area after the NT administration offered tracts of land for peanut farming along the Katherine River. Earlier, in 1880, government botanist Maurice Holtze had investigated the feasibility of peanuts as a crop and found peanut farming to be commercially viable. This encouraged some of the men who had just completed work on the North Australia Railway to take up the land. Other settlers were Cossacks who had fought against the newly formed Communist government in the Russian Civil War under Alexander Kolchak. The majority of the group had reached Australia between 1925 and 1928, and in 1929 they were able to commence clearing their land. The industry had mostly collapsed by the beginning of World War II because of erratic rainfall and a problematic supply chain. Among these migrants were Jim Zimin, Ivan Ivanetz and Nadia Pascoe.

During World War II, the Australian Army set up two hospitals around Katherine, the 101st Australian General Hospital and 121st Australian General Hospital. The army also set up a Katherine Area Headquarters. On 22 March 1942, Katherine sustained its only air raid during World War II. One man was killed when a Japanese aircraft bombed the town.

Mining production has declined since the closure of the mine at Mount Todd (50 kilometres to the north) in 2000.

Construction began on a new rail line in July 2001. On 13 September 2003, the line was finished with a continuous track from Adelaide, South Australia, to Darwin. The Ghan passenger train service commenced on 4 February 2004, running weekly year round with a second service in peak season stopping at Katherine on both the northbound and southbound journeys.GSR Announces New Darwin Line Services Catch Point issue 164 November 2004 page 11

The river flooded the town in 1931, 1940, 1957, 1998 and 2006. The 1998 floods were the worst on record. The river reached a height of 20.4 metres.

The April 2006 floods placed parts of the town under water (including about 50 houses), caused millions of dollars of damage, and resulted in the declaration of a state of emergency on 7 April.The AgeThe Age (www.theage.com.au) However, there were no reports of the flooding causing structural damage.ABC NewsABC News (www.abc.net.au) Town residents were given warning that the river might flood on 5 April, and the town centre was underwater before noon the next day.ABC News ABC News (www.abc.net.au) The floodwaters reached a peak of nearly 19 metres at the Katherine River bridge. Dozens of homes were inundated with up to 2 m of water, with many residents having time to escape with little more than the clothes they were wearing. Over the weekend of 8–9 April, more than 1,100 people went to the evacuation centres in the town. The state of emergency was lifted on 9 April.

In recent decades, Katherine has developed as a regional centre supporting the cattle, horticulture, agriculture and tourism industries. Located at the junction of major tourism drives, Central Arnhem Road, the Savannah Way and the Explorers Way, Katherine is an important visitor gateway for the Northern Territory.

On Australia Day in 1998 a major flood devastated the town, and the area was declared a national disaster. The flood resulted from the 300–400 mm of rainfall brought by Cyclone Les that caused the already full Katherine River to peak at 20.4 metres. The floodwaters inundated the town and much of the surrounding region, requiring the evacuation of many residents. The flood covered an area of 1,000 square kilometres, affected 1,100 homes and cut off many roads in and out of Katherine. Three people drowned."Tropical Cyclone Les", Bureau of Meteorology

Population According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 6,303 people in Katherine. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 25.4% of the population. 66.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were Philippines 2.9%, New Zealand 1.8% and England 1.7%. 64.3% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Kriol at 3.5%. The most common response for religion was No Religion at 31.1%.

Katherine's population swells immensely during the Dry Season. Each year hundreds of older people (termed "Grey nomads") from the colder parts of Australia pack caravans and head north to Katherine and other locations throughout the Northern Territory.

Geography and climate

Topography

Katherine is located south of Darwin, and is situated on the banks of the Katherine River, which is part of the Daly River system. The upper reaches rise into the Arnhem Land escarpment and Kakadu, to the northeast. The Victoria River (The Northern Territory's largest river system) is situated south-west of Katherine along the Victoria Highway. Katherine is at the crossroads of the Outback due to its location between the Darwin region, Kakadu National Park, the Barkley Region, the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

The topography of the region is predominantly dry tropical savanna woodlands and consists of plains, hills, rock outcrops. To the east lies Koombolgie sandstone escarpments and spectacular gorges through Nitmiluk National Park. The township itself is set among relatively flat plains along the Katherine River within the Tindall / Oolloo Aquifers, dotted with rugged Karst limestone formations, caves and jagged outcrops. Numerous mesas (flat-topped hills or "Jump-ups") emerge south-west of Katherine on surrounding cattle stations.

Katherine is within an ecoregion classified as the Kimberley tropical savanna which covers a large portion of Australia's north-west through WA and the NT.

Climate

Katherine experiences a dry tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw) with distinct wet and dry seasons. Daily high temperatures in the wet season typically range from , reaching over from late September to late November. Very high humidity accompanies high temperatures during the build-up period to the wet season, when the region receives spectacular electrical storms. The wet season monsoon period is a dramatic time of year, from large thunderstorms and heavy downpours to the transitions of lush greenery appearing from the parched deciduous landscapes of the dry season. Katherine experiences around 50 thunderstorm days per year, most of which occur from November to April.

In the dry, the nights can get quite cool, regularly dropping to around June and July. Humidity levels are much lower from June to August and hence this has become the most popular time for visitors who wish to explore the region. Most parks and roads are accessible during the dry season, whereas the wet season often causes accessibility restrictions.

Low elevation relative to surrounding areas, as well as the town's situation on the banks of a river, means that the area is prone to flooding. A flood on Australia Day in 1998 was particularly destructive. Ex-Tropical Cyclone Les produced between of rainfall during a 48-hour period, causing the Katherine River to rise to 21.3 metres and claim the lives of three people.

Districts The central business district of Katherine is set 350 metres from the banks of the Katherine River. The township services the regional centres of Pine Creek, Mataranka, Borooloola, Daly River and Timber Creek.

The RAAF Tindal Base is located 17 km from Katherine and plays a significant role in the local economy. Tindal Airbase officially opened on 1 October 1988.

The Katherine Town Council (municipality) Zone extends from Flora River Junction in the West to Maranboy in the East and from the Fergusson River in the North to the Sturt Plateau in the South. Other shire zones in the Katherine Region are the Victoria Daly and the Roper Gulf shires.

Traditional lands of the area include the dagomon Wardaman, and Jawoyn aboriginal land trusts. The township itself is a convergence zone of these traditional lands.

Wardaman country occupies areas to the west of Katherine, from Manbulloo (around Limestone Creek) to eastern parts of the Victoria River District.