Yirrkala is a well-known indigenous community in Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia, 18 km South-East from the large mining town of Nhulunbuy. At the 2006 census, Yirrkala had a population of 687. There has been an indigenous community at Yirrkala throughout recorded history, but the community increased enormously in size when Yirrkala mission was founded in 1935. Local governance and planning are now the responsibility of the Yolngu-led Dhanbul, which is roughly equivalent to a Shire Council in non-indigenous communities.