fbpx

KidsKonnect

Alice Springs Facts & Worksheets

Mparntwe, now known as Alice Springs, in Australia is the third-largest town in the country’s northern territory.

Search for Worksheets

Worksheets /Social Studies /Geography /Alice Springs Facts & Worksheets

Premium
Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version   Download sample

Mparntwe, now known as Alice Springs, in Australia is the third-largest town in the country’s northern territory. Alice Springs is known for its mesmerizing desert landscapes, a prominent Aboriginal culture, brilliant outback characters, and many opportunities for adventure.

See the fact file below for more information on Alice Springs or alternatively, you can download our 28-page Alice Springs worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Geography

  • Alice Springs is located 200km south of Australia’s center mainland.
  • To the north of Alice Springs is the MacDonnell Ranges. In the south-eastern side of the town is the great wilderness area of Australia called the Simpson Desert.
  • Alice Springs is situated in a region known as Red Center, or Central Australia. This region has many varying deserts and is very dry.
  • Temperatures in the town average at 28 °C and summers can be as hot as the 30s while winters can go as cold as -7.5 °C.
  • Alice Springs has an average of 286mm rainfall per year.
  • The town is accessible by train via the Adelaide-Darwin railway. 
  • The Great Southern Rail operates the train, called The Ghan, that visits the Alice Springs railway station. The train comes to the station twice every week.
  • Daily Express coach services also travel to Alice Springs from Adelaide and Darwin.
  • Two airlines also service Alice Springs, allowing daily flights from the town’s airport to Adelaide, Cairns, Ayers Rock, Darwin, Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne.

History

  • Based on archaeological evidence, the region where Alice Springs
  • Springs is located and has been inhabited for at least 30,000 years.
  • Alice Springs was called Mparntwe by the Arrernte Aboriginal people, its original inhabitants. They are also referred to as Arrarnta, Aranda, and Arunta.
  • Traditional stories from the Arrernte narrate that the landscape in the desert around Alice Springs was contoured by wild dogs, euros, caterpillars, two sisters, traveling boys, and other ancestral figures.
  • Sites of traditional significance in and around the area include Anzac Hill, Billy Goat Hill, Emily Gap, Heavitree Gap, and Mount Gillen.
  • John McDouall Stuart, a Scottish explorer, left Adelaide in October 1861 and led an expedition to what was to become Alice Springs. Stuart was able to establish a route connecting the south and north of Australia.
  • The route was named after McDouall Stuart and is known as Stuart Highway.
  • Ten years after the creation of the Stuart Highway, the town was built and was called Stuart.
  • Stuart was built at the start of the construction of a repeater station on the Overland Telegraph Line (OTL) in Australia. This OTL followed the Stuart Highway, connecting Adelaide to Darwin and Great Britain. The OTL was finished in 1872.
  • The telegraph station was constructed near a waterhole, named Alice Springs. This waterhole, thought to be permanent, was named after the wife of Sir Charles Todd, the former Postmaster General of South Australia.
  • Significant European settlement in Alice Springs only occurred in 1887.
  • The town’s first sizeable building was built in 1909–the Stuart Town Gaol.
  • Until the mid-1930s the population of the town was composed mostly of Aboriginal Centralians and the town was officially recognized as Stuart until August 31, 1933, when government administrators in Adelaide announced Alice Springs as the name of the town.

Government and Economy

  • Since 1971, Alice Springs has been governed by the Alice Springs Town Council. This council rules over the town center, some rural areas, and the suburbs.
  • The council has nine members including the mayor and eight councilors. The last Monday of every month is spent on meetings.
  • Alice Springs was originally a town serving the cattle industry that came to the area and the institution of the rail line enhanced its economy.
  • The town is Central Australia’s business center.
  • Many of the residents of Alice Springs are employed by the Northern Territory Government.
  • 4% of the workforce of Alice Springs is involved in accommodation for domestic and international tourism.

People and Culture

  • In 2001, it is estimated that 37% of Alice Springs’ population are Aboriginal people.
  • Aboriginal residents of the town mostly live in the suburbs. Some of them live in the south of the town of Amoonguna.
  • The Alice Springs area was traditionally owned by the Central Arrernte people.
  • It is the largest town in Central Australia and some residents can speak at least 13 languages.
  • Pine Gap, a US satellite tracking station southwest of Alice Springs, is where the American influence in the town came from.
  • About 2,000 people in the town are US citizens.
  • Several Aboriginal community events and art galleries are held at Todd Mall, the focal point of the town.
  • The desert lifestyle of Alice Springs has inspired a number of events such as the Alice Desert Festival, Blacken Open Air music festival, the Camel Cup, the Finke Desert Race, the Henley-on-Todd Regatta, and the Parrtjima festival, the Red Center NATS, and the Beanie Festival.
  • Alice Springs, being home to many Aboriginal and local art galleries, is recognized as Central Australia’s Aboriginal Art capital.
  • The Old Timer’s Traeger Museum located at the North Stuart Highway in the town has an extensive collection featuring archival materials showing the culture and history of the region.
  • This collection includes artifacts showing the early fusion of Aboriginal and European culture, objects and artifacts from Alice Springs’ early German and Afghan residents, and soapstone carvings from Erlikilyika, an Arrernte artist.

Alice Springs Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Alice Springs across 28 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Alice Springs which is the third-largest town in the country’s northern territory

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Across the Springs
  • Prime Flag
  • Place Match
  • Spring Water
  • Approaching Springs
  • Town of the Past
  • Town’s Council
  • Happynings
  • Touring Alice
  • Message Station

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Alice Springs Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, December 16, 2021

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

Related Resources