Bathurst Island

Island off the north coast of Australia, 50 km/31 mi northwest of Darwin, in the Timor Sea, to the west of Melville Island; length 45 km/28 mi; area 2,600 sq km/1,004 sq mi; population (1996) 2,975 (with Melville Island). The island, along with Melville Island, was formally returned to the Tiwi Aborigines in 1978, and is now an Aboriginal Reserve, governed by the Tiwi Land Council. It is partly covered in forest, and is also one of Australia's premier recreational fishing locations.

The islands are popular short-stay tourist destinations; visitors to the islands must obtain permits from the Northern Land Council. The Bathurst Island ‘Nguiu Community’, administered by the Tiwi Land Council, runs commercial enterprises such as the production of distinctive Tiwi artefacts, as well as Tiwi batik and silk screened clothing.

The Tiwi Aborigines preserve unique cultural features, distinct from mainland Aboriginal peoples, such as the pukumani burial poles (poles carved and painted with mythological and symbolic figures and erected near graves). A Roman Catholic Mission was established on Bathurst Island in 1907.