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Alice Springs is a large town in the Northern Territory of Australia located at 23°42′S 133°52′E. Its population of 28,178 (2001 Census) makes it the second-largest settlement in the Territory (the only other towns of significant size are Darwin, the capital, and Katherine). It is popularly described as "the Alice" or simply "Alice". Alice Springs is known as Mparntwe to its traditional inhabitants, the Arrernte.

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Alice Springs is best-known outside the region from the title of the Nevil Shute novel i, even though little of the story takes place in Alice Springs, and because of its proximity to Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, the monolithic rock that is one of Australia's best-known natural landmarks and an important focus of Aboriginal culture.

Originally named Stuart, the town was established almost as a frontier settlement for north-south travel by camel trains through the desert of the outback. A telegraph station was placed near a permanent waterhole called Alice Springs (see photograph) after the wife of Sir Charles Todd, Postmaster General of South Australia, after whom the Todd River (which is usually dry) was named. The Ghan railway from Adelaide reached Stuart in 1929, and the town moved away from the waterhole, but locals kept the name. In 1933, after much debate, the town of Stuart was officially renamed Alice Springs. The north-south road between Darwin, Alice Springs and Adelaide is still called the Stuart Highway.

Almost in the exact center of the continent, Alice Springs is some 700 km from the nearest ocean and 1500 km from the nearest major cities, Darwin and Adelaide. Alice Springs is now the midpoint of the Adelaide-Darwin Railway.

During the 1960s it became an important defence location with the development of the U.SAustralian Pine Gap joint defense satellite monitoring base, home to about 700 workers from both countries, but by far the major industry in recent times is tourism.

According to the 2001 census, Australian Aborigines make up approximately 17% of the population of Alice Springs, and 29% of the Northern Territory. [1] As Alice Springs is the regional hub of Central Australia it attracts Aboriginal people from all over that region and well beyond. Many Aborigines visit regularly to use the town's services. Aboriginal residents usually live in the suburbs, on special purpose leases (or town camps) or further out at Amoonguna to the South and on the small family outstation communities on Aboriginal Lands in surrounding areas.

The American influence in Alice Springs comes primarily from the proximity to Pine Gap, a US satellite tracking station, located 19 km south-west of Alice Springs. While Pine Gap employs 700 American and Australians, there are currently 2,000 people in the Alice Springs district who carry citizenship of the United States of America.

American influence can be seen throughout Alice Springs, which celebrates all major American festivals, including Halloween, Independence Day and Thanksgiving. There is also a large influence of American culture in sport, including baseball, basketball, and American football competitions, alongside more Australian sports of cricket, Australian football and rugby [2].

Alice Springs has a large itinerant population made up of:

Australian or international workers on short-term contracts (colloquially referred to as "blow-ins")

The primary reason for tourism to Alice Springs had been its proximity to Uluru, which is 400 km to the west. However, with the creation of Yulara resort in 1984, and an airport allowing tourists to fly directly to Yulara, many tourists no longer visit Alice Springs. Alice Springs had also been used by many Australian tourists as a stopover point between Darwin and Adelaide or Brisbane and Perth, but the airlines now prefer to fly directly to their destinations.

Alice Springs has a large number of tourist resorts, a casino, the Araluen arts centre and museum, nightclubs, clubs, pubs, restaurants and cafes. Visitor attractions include a Desert Park wildlife centre, Open Air Ballooning, Camel Tours, a Reptile Centre, the Olive Pink Botanic Garden, and a cinema. Also supporting the tourist industry are over a dozen hotels, caravan parks and backpacker lodges, as well as tourist centres that run tours to Hermannsburg, The Olgas, Uluru (Ayers Rock), King's Canyon, Wallace Rock Hole and a number of other places. (ref: [3])

Alice Springs is host to a large number of festivals, including the Finke Desert Race and the Todd River Race that are held annually (ref: [4]).

Much traditional Aboriginal artwork from the neighbouring Central Australian communities, including artefacts and Dreamtime stories is for sale to tourists in Alice Springs. (ref: [5])

Alice Springs has a booming economy and is one of Australia's wealthiest towns. Major inputs to the economy include:

Tourism, especially related to Uluru, which gives Alice Springs 500,000 tourists per year (ref: [6])

Temperatures vary by an average of 20°C from minimum to maximum on any given day. In summer, the temperature typically reaches the low 40s C maximum (but can be as high as 48), while in winter it can drop to as low as -7°C minimum (and has been reported to be as low as -10). The climate is arid, with little or no rainfall, although the amount of rainfall varies enormously from one year to the next. (ref: [8] Alice Springs: climate)

1986, 70% of the prison population was Aboriginal. The majority of crimes committed by Aborigines in Alice Springs was against other Aboriginal people, often alcohol-related. Attempts have been made to allow Aborigines in Alice Springs to use customary law as a defence (for example, payback or traditional customs) but thus far this has failed. Alice Springs has been linked with the Azaria Chamberlain disappearance and Peter Falconio disappearance in nearby Uluru and Barrow Creek.

The original The Ghan railway from Adelaide reached Stuart in 1929. In the 1980's, there was an attempt at a direct rail service from Sydney by the named train The Alice (Train) however it only lasted four years. Alice Springs is now the midpoint of the Adelaide-Darwin Railway.

Alice Springs is served by both local and national radio and television services. The Government-owned ABC provides 4 broadcast radio stations - local radio b and local transmitters for national networks Radio National, ABC Classic FM and Triple J.

Commercial radio stations are 8HA 900 kHz and SUN FM 96.9 MHz and community (public access) radio is provided by indigenous broadcaster 8KIN 100.5 MHz.

Four broadcast television services operate in Alice Springs - commercial stations Imparja Television (callsign IMP9) and Seven Central (QQQ31), and Government-owned ABC (ABAD7) and SBS (SBS28).

The Submission of the Northern Territory Aboriginal Issues Unit of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody to Commissioner Elliott Johnston, QC, July 1990Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World : (Japanese film using Alice Springs as a location.)