Tiwi
1,810 speakers
Tiwi is spoken by 1,810 of our residents at home, 77.9% of Tiwi Islands.
We are Tiwi Islands
82 per cent.
Nearly 82 in every 100 Tiwi Islands residents speak a language other than English at home. It is among the highest shares of any council in Northern Territory.
- Our population
- 2,324
- Speak another language
- 1,905
- Languages at home
- 13
- Growth since last census
- −7.7%
Our neighbourhoods run in Tiwi, Tok Pisin (Neomelanesian) and Fijian as readily as they do in English. 1,905 of us speak a language other than English at home — a higher share than almost anywhere else in the country, and the ordinary condition of daily life here rather than an exception to it.
In Northern Territory
#3
of 18 Northern Territory councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #7 of 540 nationally.
What makes our community ours
Tok Pisin (Neomelanesian)
26 speakers
Tok Pisin (Neomelanesian) is spoken by 26 of our residents at home, 1.1% of Tiwi Islands.
Fijian
12 speakers
Fijian is spoken by 12 of our residents at home, 0.5% of Tiwi Islands.
The languages of Tiwi Islands
13 languages carry the conversation at home. Every one of them is spoken here.
Each block below is scaled to the number of people who speak that language at home, and tinted by how fast that community has grown since the last census.
- Grew 50%+
- 25%+
- 10%+
- Held
- Slipped
- Declined 10%+
- Not comparable
Every language, in order
Speakers at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016. Broader ABS categories such as “Chinese, nfd” are counted in our totals but left out of this list, so the percentages can exceed the sum of the languages shown.
- 011,8100%
- 0226
- 03120%
- 046
- 054-55.6%
- 064-20.0%
- 074+33.3%
- 084-50.0%
- 093
- 100-100%
Fastest-growing among us
Tiwi
+0.2% since last census
We share this portrait because Tiwi Islands is, genuinely, not an “average” council — the share here is 2.6 times the Northern Territory figure. Services designed for the median Northern Territory resident arrive here in the wrong language. This almanac exists so that nobody writing policy about us — federal, state, corporate or media — can say they did not know.
Tiwi grew 0.2% since the last census, to 1,810 speakers. A community growing at that rate is one whose translation needs are ahead of the last set of figures anyone commissioned.
Who we are, beyond language
Where we were born
1.7% of us were born overseas, across 9 countries.
- 01Fiji9-30.8%
- 02England9+50.0%
- 03India6
- 04Indonesia4-20.0%
- 05Philippines4-60.0%
- 06Vietnam4-50.0%
- 07Solomon Islands3
- 08New Zealand0-100%
- 09Brazil0-100%
What we believe
Reported affiliation in Tiwi Islands at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.
- 01Christianity1,918-11.2%
- 02No religion or secular beliefs248+92.2%
- 03Islam3
- 04Buddhism0-100%
Our suburbs
Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 4 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.
- WurrumiyangaTop language — Tiwi85%1,211
- PirlangimpiTop language — Tiwi84%259
- MilikapitiTop language — Tiwi77%316
- Tiwi IslandsTop language — Tiwi64%119
- 4 suburbs in Tiwi Islands. Percentage is residents speaking a language other than English at home; the figure beneath it is how many people that is.
Where we are
Tiwi Islands shaded by the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. Boundaries are ABS ASGS 2021. See every council on one map.
In context
- Tiwi Islands
- 82.0%
- Northern Territory
- 32.1%
- Australia
- 21.3%
82.0% of Tiwi Islands residents speak a language other than English at home, against 32.1% for Northern Territory and 21.3% nationally. Drawn from the 2021 Census.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2021, language used at home by Statistical Area Level 2, aggregated to Local Government Area. Growth compares 2021 against the 2016 Census.
How the headline share is counted. 82.0% is 1,905 residents as a share of all 2,324 of us. A further 130 did not state a language at all, and we do not count them as speaking one — counting every non-response as a non-English speaker would put this figure at 87.6%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 86.8%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Tiwi Islands, it is almost certainly one of those two.
Two further caveats we would rather state than bury. Summing suburbs omits residents not allocated to one — no usual address, migratory and unincorporated areas — so national totals sit a little under the ABS published figures; the Tiwi Islands figures on this page are unaffected. And ranked language lists exclude ABS residual categories such as “Chinese, nfd”, which are not languages anyone can order a translation in; they remain inside the headline total.
Need this community reached in its own languages? Talk to us about translation in Tiwi Islands.