Explore Papunya, Northern Territory, Australia, with this interactive street and satellite map. You can “grab” the Papunya, NT map and move it around to re-centre it. You can change between standard map view and satellite map view by clicking the small square in the bottom left-hand corner of the map. You can use the zoom buttons on the lower right side of the map to zoom in or out to street-level detail.
This page also offers TOPO MAPS — Geoscience Australia topographic mapping and the classic NATMAP 1:250 000 sheets — plus a labelled MGA grid overlay, a distance and bearing tool, and a GPS grid-reference readout. See How to Use This Map below. You will find live weather, local and world news further down the page.
This interactive map shows the street layout and satellite imagery for Papunya, Northern Territory, Australia. Use the Map and Satellite buttons above to switch between street map and aerial imagery views. Use the + and − buttons to zoom in or out, or scroll your mouse wheel while holding the Control key to zoom. On a touchscreen, use a two-finger pinch gesture to zoom in and out.
Click ⛶ Fullscreen to expand the map to fill your screen for a larger view. To return to the normal page view, press the Escape key on your keyboard, click the ✕ Exit Fullscreen button that appears above the map, or on a mobile device tap the back button (Android) or the close icon (iOS).
Drag the map to pan to any area of Northern Territory or beyond. Switch to Satellite view to see high-resolution aerial photography of Papunya and surrounding areas, including streets, buildings, parks and waterways.
TOPO MAPS — NEW. Click the green 🔍 Search Maps button below the map to open a second map with a Base map row offering three choices. OSM is the standard OpenStreetMap street map. Topo shows the Geoscience Australia National Base Map — seamless topographic mapping covering the mainland, Tasmania and the external territories. NATMAP 250K shows the classic NATMAP 1:250 000 map sheets, mosaicked nationwide — the printed sheets generations of Australians navigated the outback with. The search box finds any Australian town, suburb or landmark by name, so you are not limited to Papunya.
Reading the map like a paper sheet. Click Grid to overlay the Map Grid of Australia (MGA), labelled along the edges exactly as a printed topographic sheet is — at normal zoom the squares are one kilometre across, so you can read a six-figure grid reference by eye and judge distance directly off the map. Click Measure, then tap two points, to get the distance between them together with the grid bearing in degrees and mils, the true bearing, and the magnetic bearing to set on a compass.
Click 📍 My position to take a single GPS reading from your device. It marks where you are and reports your position as an MGA grid reference as well as plain latitude and longitude — the grid reference being what emergency services and search and rescue work from — with a Copy position button so you can paste it straight into a text message. It takes one reading and stops, rather than tracking continuously, to conserve your battery. Note that map tiles need mobile coverage, but a GPS reading does not — your coordinates stay correct even where the map itself cannot load, which across much of inland Australia is most of the time.
Map search is available for a limited number of queries per session to manage costs. Be specific — search precisely for best results.
| Locality | Papunya |
| Territory | Northern Territory (NT) |
| Local Government Area | Macdonnell Region |
| Country | Australia |
| Timezone | Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) - no daylight saving |
| Remoteness | Very Remote Australia |
| Latitude | -23.20806 |
| Longitude | 131.91226 |
| Population | 377 |
| Density | 79.5 /km² |
| Area | 4.7 km² |
| Elevation | 612 m |
| Postcode | 0872 |
| Area Code | 08 |
| Distance to Darwin | 1200 km south |
Papunya is a locality in the Macdonnell Region local government area of Northern Territory, Australia. It is a small community with a population of 377. The locality covers an area of 4.7 km², giving a population density of about 79.5 people per km². It sits at an elevation of around 612 m above sea level. It lies approximately 1200 km south of Darwin. Papunya is located at 23.2081°S, 131.9123°E. It observes Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) - no daylight saving. Postcode: 0872. The Australian Bureau of Statistics classifies the area as Very Remote Australia.
Papunya lies on a vast, ochre-coloured plain, where the earth, cracked and thirsty, stretches towards a horizon that seems to blur into the pale blue sky. It lies 208.2 km west-north-west of Alice Springs, NT (from Alice Springs, NT: bearing 285°T), and is situated 27.4 km north of Haasts Bluff. The air here carries the dry scent of spinifex and distant woodsmoke, a constant reminder of the arid landscape that defines this place. Low-slung buildings, painted in muted tones that echo the surrounding country, offer scant shade against the relentless sun. The land itself, a mosaic of scrubby mulga and hardy grasses, feels ancient, carved by winds and eons of unrelenting weather, and the occasional shimmer of heat rising from the ground lends a mirage-like quality to the distances. Even the silence here feels palpable, a deep, resonant quiet broken only by the caw of a distant crow or the whisper of wind across the flat expanses.
This is a place woven from the threads of ancient traditions and more recent history, a centre for the Papunya Tula art movement that brought global recognition to the artistic expressions of the Western Desert peoples. The economic life of Papunya has long been tied to the land, its sustenance drawn from careful stewardship and the enduring cultural practices of its Traditional Custodians. For generations, this country has been a place of profound spiritual significance, a landscape alive with stories passed down through song and ceremony. The establishment of Papunya as a settlement marked a significant chapter, a point where ancient ways began to intersect with the modern world, shaping the unique character and resilient spirit of the locality.
Sources: curated tourist landmarks, CAPAD 2024 (Australian protected areas), OpenStreetMap.
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This page provides a street and satellite map of Papunya, Northern Territory. Live weather conditions with current observations and a 7-day forecast are powered by Open-Meteo. Real-time local news and world news feeds keep the page current, while an editorially written description provides background on Papunya, in the Macdonnell Region local government area.
Detailed location data for Papunya includes the postcode (0872), telephone area code (08), and local government area (Macdonnell Region), with an ABS remoteness classification of Very Remote Australia. These are among the most commonly searched location details for any Australian city, town or locality.
Search Maps opens a second, independent map. It searches OpenStreetMap for any Australian town, suburb or landmark by name; offers Geoscience Australia topographic mapping and the classic NATMAP 1:250 000 sheets as base layers; overlays a labelled Map Grid of Australia (MGA) so the map can be read like a printed topographic sheet; measures distance and grid, true and magnetic bearings between any two points; and takes a single GPS fix reporting your position as an MGA grid reference and as latitude and longitude. Map tiles require mobile coverage, but a GPS position does not, so the coordinates remain correct even where the map cannot load.
Location data is drawn from Geoscape Administrative Boundaries (GDA2020) and enriched with GeoNames and Australian Bureau of Statistics data, matched by coordinate proximity — ensuring the correct Papunya is identified even where the name is shared across multiple localities.
| Page generated | October 2026 |
| Location data | Geoscape Administrative Boundaries (GDA2020); enriched with GeoNames and ABS 2021 Census data, matched by coordinate proximity |
| Map layers | Google Maps; © OpenStreetMap contributors; © Geoscience Australia National Base Map and NATMAP 1:250 000 (CC BY 4.0); magnetic declination from NOAA NCEI (World Magnetic Model) |
| Description | Editorial description generated with AI assistance from verified Geoscape, ABS and GeoNames location data. |