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The Northern Territory is a federal Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. It is the third largest Australian federal division with an area of 1,349,129 square kilometres (520,902 sq mi) but the least populous with 211,945 inhabitants. The Northern Territory is divided administratively into 17 Local government areas (LGAs) generally known as Councils who are responsible for providing local government services.
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Area types
As of 1 July 2008, there were two classifications of local government in the Northern Territory:
- Municipalities (predominantly inner-city suburban areas and smaller rural towns), of which there were five; and
- Shires or Regions (predominantly rural or outer suburban areas), of which there were eleven shire councils
The Northern Territory was unusual as a comparatively large share of the territory's population lived in unincorporated areas. In 2006, prior to the reorganisation of local government areas in the territory, 92 percent of the land area (1,237,999 square kilometres (477,994 sq mi) out of 1,349,130 square kilometres (520,900 sq mi)) with 16 percent of the population (30,523 out of 192,898), was unincorporated.
Most of the unincorporated areas disappeared as a result of local government reform in 2008. The area remaining unincorporated is 19,428 square kilometres (7,501 sq mi), 1.45 percent of the total, and contains 4.0 percent of the population.
By comparison, in the only other states or territories in Australia with unincorporated areas, only 0.02% of the population of New South Wales, 0.002% of Victoria's population and 0.6% of the population of South Australia, live in unincorporated areas.
Former local government areas
Prior to 1 July 2008 Northern Territory local government areas were classified as either Municipalities, Community Government Councils, Incorporated Associations (Commonwealth), or Special Purpose Towns. There used to be 61 Local Government Councils, six of which were classified as Municipalities, 51 as Community Government Councils, three as Incorporated Associations and one Special Purpose Town.