Alice Springs is situated in almost the exact centre of Australia. Popularly known as "The Alice" or simply "Alice", it is the second largest town in the Northern Territory, next to Darwin, and located near the Northern Territory’s southern border with South Australia. Alice Springs is some 1,200 km (750 mi) from the nearest ocean and 1,500 km (930 mi) from its nearest major cities, Darwin and Adelaide.

An arid environment consisting of several different deserts, the wider area is referred to as Central Australia or the Red Centre. The town straddles the usually dry Todd River on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges, and although surface water is a scarce commodity in the region, the town has access to an abundant underground source.

Since the start of the tourist boom in the early eighties, the population has substantially grown to about 28,000 people, which makes up 12% of the Northern Territory's entire population.