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Australia will return Ayers Rock to Aboriginesphoto

The Australian government has decided to return ownership of Ayers Rock, the world's largest monolith and one of the country's biggest tourist attractions, to its traditional Aboriginal owners. The government will give both the title of the rock and the 823-square-mile Uluru National Park to an Aboriginal land trust.

Ayers Rock rises 1,100 feet above the sand hill plains in the hot, arid center of Australia, 250 miles southwest of Alice Springs. Measuring 6.2 miles around its oval base, the rock has ancient spiritual significance for the Pitjantjatjara and Mularipjara Aborigines.