The Tanami was the Northern Territory's final frontier and was not fully explored by Australians of European descent until well into the twentieth century.

The name Tanami is thought to be an anglicisation of the Warlpiri name for the area, "Chanamee", meaning "never die".

This referred to certain rock holes in the desert which were said never to run dry.

Under the name Tanami, the desert is classified as an interim Australian bioregion, comprising 25,997,277 hectares (64,240,670 acres).

[2][3][4] According to government commissions, the Tanami desert is uniquely "one of the most important biological areas to be found in Australia particularly as it provides refuge for several of Australia's rare and endangered species".