Indigenous Names of Major Australian Cities

Major cities in Australia are located in places that have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander names, and in some cases these names have become commonly used for that city or region. In naming cities, it can be difficult to identify one Indigenous name as Indigenous people of that area are likely to have many different names for different landmarks within the city area. This map aims only to show the most commonly accepted Indigenous names of cities and may be updated and added to. In many cases the name refers to a place that doesn't exactly match the city or town's location. Where possible, links are provided to other interactive maps and sources explaining these names, why they are used and alternative names.

Spelling: 

Alternative spellings of languages, clans and people are provided. For example, Boorloo / Boorlo.  This is not an exhaustive list of spellings. Differences in spellings exist for a number of reasons. Indigenous languages usually were initially written down by linguists and anthropologists recording words as they heard them. Since then other writers have used different spellings, so transcriptions differ. Also, multiple dialects of some languages result in different spellings.

Pronunciations: 

https://www2b.c0.abc.net.au/abcpronunciation-external/" target="_blank" title="ABC's Pronunciation Guide " rel="noopener">There are also variations in pronunciations. Pronunciation of place names is based on the way they are spoken by Aboriginal people, the 10 News First's https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=5937694719606031" target="_blank" title="How to Pronounce Australian cities' First Nation Names" rel="noopener">How to Pronounce Australian cities' First Nation Names and the https://www2b.c0.abc.net.au/abcpronunciation-external/" target="_blank" title="ABC's Pronunciation Guide" rel="noopener">ABC's Pronunciation Guide. Capital letters are used to signify what part of the word the stress falls on. For example, in English, the stress of the word “reading” is at the beginning of the word, so we say READ-ing rather than read-ING.

Refer to https://gambay.com.au/languages" target="_blank" title="First Languages Australia" rel="noopener">First Languages Australia or the https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/map-indigenous-australia" target="_blank" title="AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia" rel="noopener">AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia for more nationally-focused information on Indigenous languages and place names. For more on pronunciation of some of the Indigenous placenames on this map watch https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=5937694719606031" target="_blank" title="How to Pronounce Australian Cities' First Nation Names" rel="noopener">How to Pronounce Australian Cities' First Nation Names and consult https://www2b.c0.abc.net.au/abcpronunciation-external/" target="_blank" title="ABC's Pronunciation Guide" rel="noopener">ABC's Pronunciation Guide.

https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/map-indigenous-australia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">

This map aims only to show the most commonly accepted Indigenous names of cities. There may be many Indigenous names for a place depending on context, place and/or landmark within a city. Some names may be contested by different Indigenous groups. We have tried to provide links for more information about each name and the complexities related to each location.