Katherine, Northern Territory
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Katherine, with a population of around 7,500 is a town situated 320 km south east of the city of Darwin in the federal Northern Territory of Australia.
Set in promising grazing and future agricultural country, the town's main economic source is currently gold from the minings at Mt Todd, with increasing tourism and the Tindal RAAF airbase 27 km south east of town also adding to the economy.
The Katherine River runs through the north of the town which has a church, several parks, a fine golf course and several sporting clubs and a showground.
The spectacular Katherine Gorge in the Nitmiluk National Park near the town has many caves full of ancient rock paintings. These caves often become flooded during "the wet" as the river can rise 18 m in the narrow passage. In a particularly wet season, the caves higher up can become flooded, damaging these ancient treasures forever.
The town was given its name after the daughter of one of the sponsors of John McDouall Stuart who first saw the area in 1862.