Humpty Doo

Humpty Doo is a small town in Australia's Northern Territory, situated just south of the Arnhem Highway, approximately 40 km from Darwin. At the 2006 census, Humpty Doo had a population of 5,413. The Local Government Area for Humpty Doo is Litchfield Municipality. The town is a popular stopping point for tourists travelling between Darwin and Kakadu National Park, and boasts many attractions of its own. The main industries are agriculture and tourism, however most residents commute to Darwin or Palmerston for work and many regard the town more as an outer suburb. The town has seen much commercial and residential development in recent years, including the construction of a shopping centre, fire and emergency services station, as well as new schools and housing subdivisions.

The locality of Humpty Doo is named after the station originally called ‘Umpity Doo’; however, origins of the name are uncertain. Three derivations have been suggested:

• from "the Army slang term "umpty" used in 1917 for the dash when reading Morse code" (however, the station name was in use in 1910)
• from a colloquialism to describe "everything done wrong or upside down"
• the place was known as "Umdidu", an English language corruption of an Aboriginal term which meant a popular resting place