Bathurst Island

Bathurst Island (2,600 km² or 1,000 sq mi) is one of the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory off the northern coast of Australia along with Melville Island.

The largest settlement on Bathurst is Wurrumiyanga (known as Nguiu until 2010), in the south-east, with a population of around 1,450. Located on the south east corner of Bathurst Island, Wurrumiyanga is approximately 70 km (43 mi) north of Darwin. The second largest settlement is Wurakuwu, pop. 50, 60 km (37 mi) northwest of Wurrumiyanga. The third settlement on the island is a small family outstation called 4 Mile Camp, about 6 km (4 mi) west of Wurrumiyanga.

The island was named after Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, who, like Viscount Melville, is also commemorated by a Canadian island). From 1910 to 1938 the island was the site of the Roman Catholic mission of Francis Xavier Gsell, known as the "Bishop with 150 wives" for his practice of "buying" girls betrothed to older men, thus making it possible for them to marry men of their own age.