Questacon > Burarra Gathering > Extra Information > Maningrida

An Arnhem Land Town

Maningrida ('mann-in-gree-da') is a town that was established as a trading post in the late 1940s. It is on the east bank of the Liverpool River estuary, on the Arnhem Land coast, 400 km (250 mi) by road east of Darwin.

	Map of the Top End, Northern Territory Maningrida is on the bank of the Liverpool River in Arnhem Land. Map by Questacon.

In the dry season Maningrida is about an eight hour four-wheel-drive trip from Darwin (don't forget that a permit is required to go east of Kakadu). In the wet season Maningrida is only accessible from Darwin by air.

The traditional owners of the Maningrida area are the Gunibidji, although people from a number of different Arnhem Land groups also live there now, including Burarra, Djinang, Eastern Kunwinjku, Gunnartpa, Gupapuyngu, Gurrgoni, Kunbarlang, Nakkara, Rembarrnga and Wurlaki .

Approximately 1 700 people live in Maningrida and the surrounding outstations (small settlements), including Yilan. Over 10 different languages are spoken and most people can speak three or four of these languages.

Maningrida is a centre for marketing bark paintings and other arts and crafts from surrounding areas. So much cultural diversity in the one place means there are lots of different traditional art styles.