Rising out of the surrounding Central Australian desert, is one of Australia's most recognisable natural landmarks.
The local Anangu, the Pitjantjatjara people, call the landmark Uluṟu. This word has no particular meaning in the Pitjantjatjara dialect, although it is used as a local family name by the senior Traditional Owners of Uluru.


Uuru - Ayers Rock

On 19 July 1873, the surveyor William Gosse sighted the landmark and named it Ayers Rock in honour of the then Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers. Since then, both names have been used.

In 1993, a dual naming policy was adopted that allowed official names that consist of both the traditional Aboriginal name and the English name. On 15 December 1993, it was renamed "Ayers Rock / Uluru" and became the first official dual-named feature in the Northern Territory. The order of the dual names was officially reversed to "Uluru / Ayers Rock" on 6 November 2002 following a request from the Regional Tourism Association in Alice Springs.

You'll find Uluru and Kata Tjuta about 450 kilometres, or a four and a half hour drive from Alice Springs, the nearest major town.

Uluru rises 348 metres above the plain, more than 860 metres above sea level. That's higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Chrysler Building in New York.


Uluru / Ayers Rock with showing height against other famous landmarks

If you walk right around the base of Uluru, you'll find it has a circumference of 9.4 kilometres. That's about 5.8 miles.

Though in a remote desert, a nearby town Yulara has been built to provide accommodation, restaurants, a supermarket, petrol and other essential services.

Uluru is not the Ayers Rock of yesteryear. Where once was a place where a major airstrip was to be plonked right beside the rock – on sacred territory, no less – is now a quiet, serenely reverential national park.


Ayers Rock - Uluru

You can find out more about this monolithic  landmark here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uluru

https://deanoworldtravels.wordpress.com/2014/07/12/aussie-outback-northern-territory-climbing-uluru-ayers-rock/

https://parksaustralia.gov.au/uluru/people-place/about.html

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