Sydney, Jan 7 - A surgeon in Australia's far north said Thursday that tourist-packed Darwin had the highest rate of broken jaws in the world.

Royal Darwin Hospital surgeon Mahiban Thomas said he received a "rude shock" when he arrived five years ago in the Northern Territory capital.

The hospital treats 350 broken jaws a year, putting the rate at 17 per 10,000 population, "which is well above anywhere else in the world," he said.

The injuries are mostly sustained outside pubs and clubs in the city centre Thursday and Friday nights.

"Only 12 percent of the trauma patients have not been a victim of an alcohol-related assault," Thomas told public broadcaster ABC. (dpa)