Palmerston is a planned satellite city of Darwin, the capital and largest city in Australia's Northern Territory. Palmerston is situated near Darwin Harbour and had a population of 27,618 at the 2011 census, making it the smaller of the two cities in the sparsely populated Northern Territory. Palmerston is currently the fastest growing city in the Northern Territory and has briefly in the past held the title of the fastest growing city in Australia.
There are eighteen suburbs in Palmerston, ten of which are close to the Palmerston city centre. Palmerston is mostly residential with two light industrial areas in the north of the city.
Like the rest of the Top End, Palmerston has a tropical climate, with a wet season and a dry season. It receives heavy rainfall during the Wet, and is well known for its spectacular lightning.
History
1864–1911
Palmerston was the name chosen in 1864 for the capital of the Northern Territory by the South Australian Government (which was then responsible for its administration) in recognition of Lord Palmerston, who became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1855. The first site, as chosen by Boyle Travers Finniss at Escape Cliffs near the mouth of the Adelaide River, on the coast of Adam Bay on the western side of the Cape Hotham peninsula in 1864, was abandoned in 1867 and a second laid out by Surveyor-General George Goyder near Port Darwin in 1869. The town was officially renamed Darwin in April 1911 after responsibility for the Northern Territory passed to the Commonwealth of Australia.
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