How big is the Northern Territory?
The area of the Northern Territory in Australia in square kilometres is 1,347,791km². This makes the size of the Northern Territory bigger than Peru or South Africa, or twice as big as Texas.
The Northern Territory, under Australia’s political system, isn’t a state of the federated country. But it is huge, and it is also home to some of Australia’s most impressive tourist destinations. Don’t believe it? Well check out Australia Travel Questions‘ list of 21 things to do in the Northern Territory in 2021.
These include the rock art, bird watching, waterfalls and lookouts of Australia’s largest National Park – Kakadu.
Elsewhere on a driving route through the Top End, you’ve got giant termite mounds in camper-friendly Litchfield National Park, and gorge cruises or canoeing tours in Nitmiluk National Park. The latter is also home to the five day Jatbula Trail walk.
There’s also the Red Centre, most famous for the now-unclimbable 348 metre tall monolith, Uluru. This desert region is also home to Mount Conner, plus the genuinely stunning Kata-Tjuta and Kings Canyon.
There are also several remote, massively underrated sights within the NT, far away from the nearest city. Arnhemland, the Devil’s Marbles and Garig Gunak Barlu National Park are well off the usual tourist radar, but are genuinely mesmerising.
But driving distances in the Northern Territory are vast. It is a huge, largely uninhabited area with a smattering of highway roadhouses for company. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, just 245,400 people live in the Northern Territory. That’s roughly the population of Plymouth or Wolverhampton.
Northern Territory area in square kilometres
More to the point, it’s roughly the population of Plymouth or Wolverhampton spread across an area of 1,347,791km². This is 17.5% of Australia’s total area, making the Northern Territory bigger than South Australia, albeit smaller than Western Australia or Queensland. If it was a state, the Northern Territory would be the third largest Australian state.
So how big is the Northern Territory, comparatively? If the Northern Territory was an independent country, it would be the 19th largest country in the world. On the list, it would be sandwiched between Mongolia and Peru. It is bigger than South Africa, Colombia or Ethiopia.
Northern Territory area and size compared to Texas
In American terms, Australia’s Northern Territory is approximately twice the size of Texas. In British terms, it is more than five times the size of the UK.
For a sense of how remote much of the Territory is, imagine the population of Plymouth spread out over twice the area of Texas. With plenty of red dirt in the middle.
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