Who lives in Australia’s tropical savannas?
Not many people. Australia’s tropical savannas are relatively sparsely populated compared to other areas in Africa or Asia. With 15.4% of Australia’s area, the northern and eastern tropical savanna zones contain only 0.8% of Australia’s population. There is also a uniquely high proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples among the inhabitants of the tropical north, amounting to around a quarter of the population. Despite the low overall numbers of people, there is still great variation in the population density within Australia’s tropical savannas. In the west – in the Kimberley and the more remote regions of the Northern Territory, the population is very sparse with a relatively high percentage of Aboriginal people and cattle station and mining workers. Most of the people in the western part of the savannas, however, live in major centres like Darwin, Broome and Katherine where major employers are in government service, the tourist industry and the defense forces. Movi
