SPACEPHOTOS

Darwin, with an estimated population of 80 000, is the largest urban center along the entire north coast of Australia and is tied for fourteenth in size in the country. It is the only general seaport, the principal trading town, and the administrative center of the Northern Territory. Darwin is close enough to the tropics to be influenced by the monsoons during the winter months; however, for 8 or 9 months of the year, severe drought prevails. Both manmade and natural features are visible in this near-vertical photograph—several roads and a railroad southeast of the urban area; an airport near the downtown area; Beagle Gulf and Shoal Bay, north and east, respectively, of the city; and dark stands of mangrove vegetation along the shoreline.