Alice Springs (Eastern Arrernte: Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Popularly known as "the Alice" or simply "Alice", Alice Springs is situated roughly in Australia's geographic centre.The area is known as Mparntwe to its original inhabitants, the Arrernte, who have lived in the Central Australian desert in and around what is now Alice Springs for tens of thousands of years. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (née Alice Gillam Bell), wife of the telegraph pioneer Sir Charles Todd.
Alice Springs had an urban population of almost 24,000 at the 2016 Census; it accounts for approximately 10% of the population of the Northern Territory. It is nearly equidistant from Adelaide and Darwin.
The town straddles the usually dry Todd River on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges. The surrounding region is known as Central Australia, or the Red Centre, an arid environment consisting of several different deserts. Temperatures in Alice Springs can vary dramatically, with an average maximum in summer of 35.6 °C (96.1 °F) and an average minimum in winter of 5.1 °C (41.2 °F). Alice Springs has faced many recent problems, largely stemming from a strong racial divide that has existed in the town for years, and an increase in crime.