Arnhem Land is an area of 97,000 sq. km in the north-eastern corner of the Northern Territory, Australia. Until the mid-1950s under direct rule from the territory capital, it is now controlled by the Northern Land Council on behalf of the local aboriginal inhabitants. It extends from Port Roper on the Gulf of Carpentaria around the coast to the East Alligator River where it adjoins Kakadu National Park. The major centres are Jabiru on the Kakadu National Park border and Maningrida on the Liverpool River mouth. The region was named by Matthew Flinders after the Dutch ship Arnhem which explored the coast in 1623.
Arnhem Land also contains the Gove Peninsula on its north east corner. Gove is the site of large scale Bauxite mining with an associated Alumina refinery. Its administative centre is the town of Nhulunbuy , the fourth largest population centre in the Northern Territory.
