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The Anangu people populated the area of Uluru for over 10,000 years
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Europeans sited Uluru and named the monolith Ayres-rock by an English surveyor.
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Sir Henry Ayers attempts to establish a settlement there, however, failed
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A settlement was finally established, and tourists followed not long after
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The first tours of the area commenced in 1955
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Uluru and Kata-Tjuta were removed from the Aboriginal reserve and declared a National Park (i.e. under Australian Government control)
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In the late 1950s tourism infrastructure was developed – the first track around Uluru was created, the first fly-in-fly-out tours were operated and motel leases were granted. An airstrip was built in 1959
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When the area became popular in the 1960s, a chain was installed on the rock to assist people to climb it
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Tour operators put pressure on the government to have the Anangu removed from the park
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Tourist infrastructure was initially established in the National Park, however, a decision was made to establish a settlement, Yulara, 15km from the rock.
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This opened and motels and campgrounds were shut down not long after.
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The Anangu were increasingly concerned about the effects that tourism, mining and pastoralism were having on the area, and they requested rights to the area. Finally, the Hawke Government agreed to hand back the area. The Park was originally managed by the Government, however, the area was formally handed back to the Anangu people
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It was then leased straight back to the Australian Government for 99 years, for joint management. The Australian Government also promised to close the climb, however, two years later that promise reneged. More than 30 people have died while climbing Uluru, and the Anangu feel great sadness and responsibility when anyone dies on their land. The area also holds immense spiritual significance to them and walking on the rock itself was actually traditionally an Indigenous man’s right of passage.
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UNESCO named it a World Heritage Area of natural significance
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It was officially known as Ayres Rock until 1993 when the dual naming policy came into effect – the sites were known as Ayres Rock/Uluru and Mount Olga/Kata Tjuta
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Recognized as an area of immense cultural importance to the Indigenous Australians, one of the oldest civilisations on earth.
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At the request of the Regional Tourism Association in Alice Springs, the names were reversed to Uluru/Ayres Rock and Kata Tjuta/Mount Olga. Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is managed jointly by the Director of National Parks and the Uluru-Kate Tjuta Board of Management.