Area 184,500 km² Biome Desert | Elevation 492 m | |
Tanami desert charter
The Tanami Desert is a desert in northern Australia situated in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Contents
- Tanami desert charter
- Riding tanami desert
- Local indigenous groups
- Southern Tanami Indigenous Protected Area
- References
It has a rocky terrain with small hills. The Tanami was the Northern Territory's final frontier and was not fully explored by Australians of European descent until well into the twentieth century. It is traversed by the Tanami Track.
The name Tanami is thought to be a corruption of the Walpiri name for the area, "Chanamee", meaning "never die". This referred to certain rock holes in the desert which were said to never run dry.
Under the name Tanami, the desert is classified as an interim Australian bioregion, comprising 25,997,277 hectares (64,240,670 acres).
Riding tanami desert
Local indigenous groups
The Tanami Desert is a Kukatja and Walpiri country. The Tjurabalan live at the edge of the desert.
Southern Tanami Indigenous Protected Area
In July 2012, 10,000,000 hectares (25,000,000 acres) of the desert area (38% of the total bioregion) was declared an indigenous protected area or conservation zone.
