Explore Tanami, Northern Territory, Australia, with this interactive street and satellite map. You can “grab” the Tanami, 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 Tanami, 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 Tanami 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 Tanami.
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 | Tanami |
| Territory | Northern Territory (NT) |
| Local Government Area | Central Desert Region |
| Country | Australia |
| Timezone | Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) - no daylight saving |
| Remoteness | Very Remote Australia |
| Latitude | -19.85321 |
| Longitude | 130.51282 |
| Population | 517 |
| Density | 0.0 /km² |
| Area | 70395.8 km² |
| Elevation | 417 m |
| Postcode | 0872 |
| Area Code | 08 |
| Distance to Darwin | 822 km south |
Tanami is a locality in the Central Desert Region local government area of Northern Territory, Australia. It is a small community with a population of 517. The locality covers an area of 70395.8 km², giving a population density of about 0.0 people per km². It sits at an elevation of around 417 m above sea level. It lies approximately 822 km south of Darwin. Tanami is located at 19.8532°S, 130.5128°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.
Tanami lies under a sky that stretches, immense and unblinking, over a land of ochre and rust. It lies 551.2 km north-west of Alice Springs, NT (from Alice Springs, NT: bearing 320°T), and is situated 169.6 km south of Lajamanu. The earth here is a vast canvas of spinifex, its brittle needles catching the harsh, brilliant sunlight, and scattered mulga, their sparse foliage a testament to endurance. Low, weathered mesas rise like ancient sentinels from the flat, cracked plains, their surfaces etched by millennia of wind and the occasional, violent downpour. The air itself feels thin and dry, carrying the scent of dust and the faint, sweet perfume of unseen desert wildflowers after rain. In the late afternoon, as the sun begins its slow descent, the landscape transforms, the colours deepening to shades of bruised plum and molten gold, a fleeting, breathtaking spectacle before the vast, star-dusted darkness descends.
The story of Tanami is intrinsically linked to the ancient tracks of the Warlpiri people, who have traversed this country for countless generations, their connection to the land a living, breathing entity. More recently, the pulse of prospectors and miners has echoed across these plains, drawn by the promise of gold and the raw, unyielding wealth of the earth. While the boom-and-bust cycles have shaped its character, a quiet resilience persists in Tanami, a steady hum of life focused on what the land can provide. The local economy, though modest, often leans on the hardy traditions of pastoralism, where cattle endure the immense distances, and the enduring allure of the desert, which draws a particular breed of traveller seeking its profound solitude and raw beauty.
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This page provides a street and satellite map of Tanami, 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 Tanami, in the Central Desert Region local government area.
Detailed location data for Tanami includes the postcode (0872), telephone area code (08), and local government area (Central Desert 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 Tanami is identified even where the name is shared across multiple localities.
| Page generated | September 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. |