)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in Australia
Coordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_date =
Colony of Tasmania
, established_title2 =
Federation
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
, established_date2 = 1 January 1901
, named_for =
Abel Tasman
, demonym =
, capital =
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
, largest_city = capital
, coordinates =
, admin_center =
29 local government areas
, admin_center_type = Administration
, leader_title1 =
Monarch
A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...
, leader_name1 =
Charles III
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
, leader_title2 =
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
, leader_name2 =
Barbara Baker
, leader_title3 =
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
, leader_name3 =
Jeremy Rockliff (
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
)
, national_representation =
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...
, national_representation_type1 =
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, national_representation1 =
12 senators (of 76)
, national_representation_type2 =
House of Representatives
, national_representation2 = 5 seats (of 151)
, legislature =
Parliament of Tasmania
The Parliament of Tasmania is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Tasmania. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of the Governor of Tasmania, the Tasmanian House of Assembly (the lower house), and T ...
, upper_house =
Legislative Council
, lower_house =
House of Assembly
House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level.
Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...
, judiciary =
Supreme Court of Tasmania
The Supreme Court of Tasmania is the highest State court in the Australian State of Tasmania. In the Australian court hierarchy, the Supreme Court of Tasmania is in the middle level, with both an appellate jurisdiction over lower courts, and de ...
, area_km2 = 90758
, area_land_km2 = 68401
, area_water_km2 = 22357
, area_rank = 7th
, area_rank_link = States and territories of Australia#Statistics
, elevation_max_m = 1617
, elevation_max_point =
Mount Ossa
, population_estimate = 571,165
, population_estimate_rank = 6th
, population_rank_link = States and territories of Australia#Statistics
, population_estimate_year = March 2022
, population_density_km2 = 8.3
, population_density_sq_mi =
, population_density_rank = 4th
, population_density_rank_link = States and territories of Australia#Statistics
, GDP_nominal = AU$32.102 billion
, GDP_nominal_type =
GSP
, GDP_nominal_year = 2020
, GDP_nominal_rank = 8th
, GDP_nominal_rank_link = List of Australian states and territories by gross state product
, GDP_nominal_per_capita = AU$59,779
, GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 7th
, GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank_link = List of Australian states and territories by gross state product
, Gini = 44.8
, Gini_year = 2016
, Gini_change = IncreaseNegative
, Gini_ref =
, Gini_rank = 3rd
, HDI = 0.914
, HDI_year = 2019
, HDI_change = increase
, HDI_ref =
, HDI_rank = 8th
, HDI_rank_link = List of Australian states and territories by Human Development Index
, timezone =
AEST
Australia uses three main time zones: Australian Western Standard Time (AWST; UTC+08:00), Australian Central Standard Time (ACST; UTC+09:30), and Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST; UTC+10:00). Time is regulated by the individual state gov ...
, utc_offset = +10:00
, timezone_DST =
AEDT
, utc_offset_DST = +11:00
, calling_code =
, postal_code_type =
Postal abbreviation
, postal_code = TAS
, website =
, iso_code =
AU-TAS
![Tasmania](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Tasmania.A2005320.2355.250m.jpg)
Tasmania (;
Palawa kani: lutruwita) is an island
state of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. It is located 240 kilometres (150 miles) to the south of the
Australian mainland, separated from it by the
Bass Strait
Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...
, with the archipelago containing the southernmost point of the country. The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the
26th-largest island in the world, and the
surrounding 1000 islands. It is Australia's least populous state, with 569,825 residents . The
state capital and largest city is
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
, with around 40 percent of the population living in the Greater Hobart area.
[ Estimated resident population, 30 June 2017.]
Tasmania's main island was inhabited by
Aboriginal peoples for up to 40,000 years before British colonization. It is thought that
Aboriginal Tasmanians became separated from the mainland Aboriginal groups about 11,700 years ago, after rising sea levels formed
Bass Strait
Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...
.
The island was permanently settled by Europeans in 1803 as a
penal settlement
A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...
of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
to prevent claims to the land by the
First French Empire
The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eu ...
during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. The Aboriginal population is estimated to have been between 3,000 and 7,000 at the time of British settlement, but was almost wiped out within 30 years during a period of conflicts with settlers known as the "
Black War" and the spread of
infectious disease
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...
s. The conflict, which peaked between 1825 and 1831 and led to more than three years of martial law, cost the lives of almost 1,100 Aboriginal people and settlers.
Under British rule the island was initially part of the
Colony of New South Wales
The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...
but became a separate colony under the name
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...
(named after
Anthony van Diemen
Anthony van Diemen (also ''Antonie'', ''Antonio'', ''Anton'', ''Antonius'') (1593 – 19 April 1645) was a Dutch colonial governor.
Early life
He was born in Culemborg in the Netherlands, the son of Meeus Anthonisz van Diemen and Christina Hoe ...
) in 1825. Approximately 80,000
convicts
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...
were sent to Van Diemen's Land before this practice, known as
transportation
Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...
, ceased in 1853. In 1855 the present Constitution of Tasmania was enacted, and the following year the colony formally changed its name to Tasmania. In 1901 it became a
state of Australia through the process of the
federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Western A ...
.
Today, Tasmania has the second
smallest economy of the Australian states and territories, which is significantly formed of tourism, agriculture and aquaculture, education and healthcare. Tasmania is a significant agricultural exporter, as well as a significant destination for eco-tourism. About 42 percent of its land area, including
national parks
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...
and
World Heritage Sites (21%) is protected in some form of reserve. The first environmental political party in the world was founded in Tasmania.
Toponymy
Tasmania is named after
Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who made the first reported European sighting of the island on 24 November 1642. Tasman named the island Anthony van Diemen's Land after his sponsor
Anthony van Diemen
Anthony van Diemen (also ''Antonie'', ''Antonio'', ''Anton'', ''Antonius'') (1593 – 19 April 1645) was a Dutch colonial governor.
Early life
He was born in Culemborg in the Netherlands, the son of Meeus Anthonisz van Diemen and Christina Hoe ...
, the Governor of the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
. The name was later shortened to Van Diemen's Land by the British. It was officially renamed Tasmania in honour of its first European discoverer on 1 January 1856.
Tasmania was sometimes referred to as "Dervon", as mentioned in the
Jerilderie Letter written by the notorious Australian
bushranger
Bushrangers were originally escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who used the bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities. By the 1820s, the term had evolved to refer to those who took up "robbery under ...
Ned Kelly in 1879. The colloquial expression for the state is "Tassie". Tasmania is also colloquially shortened to "Tas", mainly when used in business names and website addresses. TAS is also the
Australia Post abbreviation for the state.
In the reconstructed
Palawa kani language, the main island of Tasmania is called lutruwita,
a name originally derived from the
Bruny Island Tasmanian language
Bruny Island Tasmanian, or Nuenonne ("Nyunoni"), a name shared with Southeast Tasmanian, is an Aboriginal language or pair of languages of Tasmania in the reconstruction of Claire Bowern.Claire Bowern, September 2012, "The riddle of Tasmanian ...
.
George Augustus Robinson recorded it as ''Loe.trou.witter'' and also as ''Trow.wer.nar'', probably from one or more of the
eastern or
Northeastern Tasmanian languages
Northeastern Tasmanian is an aboriginal language family of Tasmania in the reconstruction of Claire Bowern.Claire Bowern, September 2012, "The riddle of Tasmanian languages", ''Proc. R. Soc. B'', 279, 4590–4595,
Languages
Bayesian phyloge ...
. However, he also recorded it as a name for
Cape Barren Island. In the 20th century, some writers used it as an Aboriginal name for Tasmania, spelled "Trowenna" or "Trowunna". It is now believed that the name is more properly applied to Cape Barren Island,
which has had an official
dual name
Dual naming is the adoption of an official place name that combines two earlier names, or uses both names, often to resolve a disagreement over which of the two individual names is more appropriate. In some cases, the reasons are political. Some ...
of "Truwana" since 2014.
A number of
Palawa kani names, based on historical records of aboriginal names, have been accepted by the Tasmanian government. A dozen of these (below) are 'dual-use' (bilingual) names, and another two are unbounded areas with only Palawa names.
;Bilingual names
;Palawa names
* larapuna: an unbounded area centered on the
Bay of Fires
The Bay of Fires (palawa kani: ''larapuna)'' is a bay on the northeastern coast of Tasmania in Australia, extending from Binalong Bay to Eddystone Point. The bay was given its name in 1773 by Captain Tobias Furneaux in ,
who saw the fires of ...
*
Narawntapu National Park
Narawntapu National Park (formerly known as Asbestos Range National Park) is a national park in the Australian state of Tasmania. It lies on Tasmania's north coast, adjoining Bass Strait, between Port Sorell in the west and the mouth of the Tam ...
(formerly Asbestos Range National Park)
* putalina: an unbounded area centered on Oyster Cove (including the community of
Oyster Cove)
There are also a number of archaeological sites with Palawa names. Some of these names have been contentious, with names being proposed without consultation with the aboriginal community, or without having a connection to the place in question.
As well as a diverse First Nations geography, where remnants are preserved in rough form by European documentation, Tasmania is known as a place for
unorthodox place-names. These names often come about from lost definitions, where descriptive names have lost their old meanings and have taken on new modern interpretations (e.g. 'Bobs Knobs'). Other names have retained their original meaning, and are often quaint or endearing descriptions (e.g.
'Paradise').
History
Physical history
![Tessellated Pavement Sunrise Landscape](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Tessellated_Pavement_Sunrise_Landscape.jpg)
The island was adjoined to the mainland of Australia until the end of the
last glacial period about 11,700 years ago.
Much of the island is composed of
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
dolerite
Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro,
is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grained ...
intrusions (the upwelling of
magma
Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...
) through other rock types, sometimes forming large columnar joints. Tasmania has the world's largest areas of dolerite, with many distinctive mountains and cliffs formed from this rock type. The
central plateau and the southeast portions of the island are mostly dolerites.
Mount Wellington above
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
is a good example, showing distinct columns known as the Organ Pipes.
In the southern midlands as far south as Hobart, the dolerite is underlaid by
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
and similar sedimentary stones. In the southwest,
Precambrian
The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...
quartzite
Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...
s were formed from very ancient sea sediments and form strikingly sharp ridges and ranges, such as Federation Peak or
Frenchmans Cap
Frenchmans Cap is a mountain in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The mountain is situated in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.
At above sea level, it is within the top thirty highest mountains in Tasmania.
Location ...
.
In the northeast and east, continental
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
s can be seen, such as at Freycinet, similar to coastal granites on mainland Australia. In the northwest and west, mineral-rich volcanic rock can be seen at
Mount Read near
Rosebery, or at
Mount Lyell near
Queenstown. Also present in the south and northwest is
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
with caves.
The quartzite and dolerite areas in the higher mountains show evidence of
glaciation
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
, and much of Australia's glaciated landscape is found on the Central Plateau and the Southwest.
Cradle Mountain
Cradle Mountain is a locality and mountain in the Central Highlands region of the Australian state of Tasmania. The mountain is situated in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.
At above sea level, it is the sixth-highest mountai ...
, another dolerite peak, for example, was a
nunatak
A nunatak (from Inuit ''nunataq'') is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They are also called glacial islands. Examples are natural pyramidal peaks. ...
. The combination of these different rock types contributes to scenery which is distinct from any other region of the world. In the far southwest corner of the state, the geology is almost wholly quartzite, which gives the mountains the false impression of having snow-capped peaks year round.
Aboriginal people
Evidence indicates the presence of
Aboriginal people in Tasmania about 42,000 years ago.
Rising sea levels
Rising may refer to:
* Rising, a stage in baking - see Proofing (baking technique)
*Elevation
* Short for Uprising, a rebellion
Film and TV
* "Rising" (''Stargate Atlantis''), the series premiere of the science fiction television program ''Starga ...
cut Tasmania off from mainland Australia about 10,000 years ago and by the time of European contact, the Aboriginal people in Tasmania had nine major nations or ethnic groups.
At the time of the British occupation and colonisation in 1803, the indigenous population was estimated at between 3,000 and 10,000.
Historian Lyndall Ryan's analysis of population studies led her to conclude that there were about 7,000 spread throughout the island's nine nations;
Nicholas Clements, citing research by
N.J.B. Plomley and
Rhys Jones, settled on a figure of 3,000 to 4,000. They engaged in
fire-stick farming
Fire-stick farming, also known as cultural burning and cool burning, is the practice of Aboriginal Australians regularly using fire to burn vegetation, which has been practised for thousands of years. There are a number of purposes for doing this ...
, hunted game including
kangaroo
Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
and
wallabies
A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...
, caught seals, mutton-birds, shellfish and fish and lived as nine separate "nations" on the island, which they knew as "Trouwunna".
European arrival and governance
![Abel Tasman - Cuyp (cropped) (adjusted)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Abel_Tasman_-_Cuyp_%28cropped%29_%28adjusted%29.jpg)
The first reported sighting of Tasmania by a
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an was on 24 November 1642 by Dutch explorer
Abel Tasman, who landed at today's
Blackman Bay
Blackman Bay is located on the south-east coast of Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoo ...
. More than a century later, in 1772, a French expedition led by
Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne landed at (nearby but different)
Blackmans Bay
Blackmans Bay is a coastal suburb of Tasmania, Australia, part of the Kingston-Blackmans Bay urban area and a satellite town of Greater Hobart.
Etymology
Blackmans Bay was named after a James Blackman who occupied land there in the 1820s. A ...
, and the following year
Tobias Furneaux became the first Englishman to land in Tasmania when he arrived at
Adventure Bay, which he named after his ship
HMS ''Adventure''. Captain
James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
also landed at
Adventure Bay in 1777.
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...
and
George Bass sailed through
Bass Strait
Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...
in 17981799, determining for the first time that Tasmania was an island.
Sealers and whalers based themselves on Tasmania's islands from 1798, and in August 1803
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
Governor
Philip King sent Lieutenant
John Bowen to establish a small military outpost on the eastern shore of the
Derwent River in order to forestall any claims to the island by French explorers who had been exploring the southern Australian coastline. Bowen, who led a party of 49, including 21 male and three female convicts, named the camp Risdon.
![John Glover - Mount Wellington and Hobart Town from Kangaroo Point - Google Art Project](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/John_Glover_-_Mount_Wellington_and_Hobart_Town_from_Kangaroo_Point_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
Several months later a second settlement was established by Captain
David Collins David Collins may refer to:
Persons
* David Collins (Hampshire cricketer), 18th-century cricketer
* David Collins (New Zealand cricketer) (1887–1967)
* David Collins (Scottish footballer) (1912–?)
* David Collins (Australian footballer) ( ...
, with 308 convicts, to the south in
Sullivans Cove
Sullivans Cove is on the River Derwent adjacent to the Hobart City Centre in Tasmania.
It was the site of initial European settlement in the area, and the location of the earlier components of the Port of Hobart.
History
The cove was the init ...
on the western side of the Derwent, where fresh water was more plentiful. The latter settlement became known as Hobart Town or Hobarton, later shortened to
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
, after the
British Colonial Secretary of the time,
Lord Hobart
Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire, (6 May 17604 February 1816), styled Lord Hobart from 1793 to 1804, was a British Tory politician.
Life
Buckinghamshire was born at Hampden House, the son of George Hobart, 3rd Earl of Buckinghamshire ...
. The settlement at Risdon was later abandoned. Left on their own without further supplies, the Sullivans Cove settlement suffered severe food shortages and by 1806 its inhabitants were starving, with many resorting to scraping seaweed off rocks and scavenging washed-up whale blubber from the shore to survive.
A smaller colony was established at Port Dalrymple on the Tamar River in the island's north in October 1804 and several other convict-based settlements were established, including the particularly harsh
penal colonies
A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...
at
Port Arthur in the southeast and
Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast. Tasmania was eventually sent 75,000 convicts—four out of every ten people transported to Australia.
By 1819 the Aboriginal and British population reached parity with about 5000 of each, although among the colonists men outnumbered women four-to-one.
Free settlers began arriving in large numbers from 1820, lured by the promise of land grants and free convict labour. Settlement in the island's northwest corner was monopolised by the
Van Diemen's Land Company
The Van Diemen's Land Company (also known as Van Dieman Land Company) is a farming corporation in the Australian state of Tasmania. It was founded in 1825 and received a royal charter the same year, and was granted 250,000 acres (1,000 km2) ...
, which sent its first surveyors to the district in 1826. By 1830 one-third of Australia's non-Indigenous population lived in Van Diemen's Land and the island accounted for about half of all land under cultivation and exports.
Black War
Tensions between Tasmania's Aboriginal and white inhabitants rose, partly driven by increasing competition for kangaroo and other game. Explorer and naval officer
John Oxley
John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828)
was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps best known for his two exp ...
in 1810 noted the "many atrocious cruelties" inflicted on Aboriginal people by convict
bushranger
Bushrangers were originally escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who used the bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities. By the 1820s, the term had evolved to refer to those who took up "robbery under ...
s in the north, which in turn led to black attacks on solitary white hunters. Hostilities increased further with the arrival of 600 colonists from
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...
between 1807 and 1813. They established farms along the River Derwent and east and west of
Launceston, occupying ten percent of Van Diemen's Land. By 1824 the colonial population had swelled to 12,600, while the island's sheep population had reached 200,000. The rapid colonisation transformed traditional kangaroo hunting grounds into farms with grazing livestock as well as fences, hedges and stone walls, while police and military patrols were increased to control the convict farm labourers.
Violence began to spiral rapidly from the mid-1820s in what became described as the "
Black War". Aboriginal inhabitants were driven to desperation by hunger - that included a desire for agricultural produce, as well as feeling anger at the prevalence of abductions of women and girls. New settlers motivated by fear carried out self-defence operations as well as attacks as a means of suppressing the native threat - or even in some cases, exacting revenge. Van Diemen's Land had an enormous gender imbalance, with male colonists outnumbering females six to one in 1822and 16 to one among the convict population. Historian Nicholas Clements has suggested the "voracious appetite" for native women was the most important trigger for the explosion of violence from the late 1820s.
From 1825 to 1828 the number of native attacks more than doubled each year, raising panic among settlers. Over the summer of 18261827 clans from the Big River, Oyster Bay and North Midlands nations speared stock-keepers on farms and made it clear that they wanted the settlers and their sheep and cattle to move from their kangaroo hunting grounds. Settlers responded vigorously, resulting in many mass-killings. In November 1826 Governor
Sir George Arthur
Sir George Arthur, 1st Baronet (21 June 1784 – 19 September 1854) was Lieutenant Governor of British Honduras from 1814 to 1822 and of Van Diemen's Land (present-day Tasmania) from 1823 to 1836. The campaign against Aboriginal Tasmani ...
issued a government notice declaring that colonists were free to kill Aboriginal people when they attacked settlers or their property and in the following eight months more than 200 Aboriginal people were killed in the Settled Districts in reprisal for the deaths of 15 colonists. After another eight months the death toll had risen to 43 colonists and probably 350 Aboriginal people. In April 1828, Arthur issued a
Proclamation of Demarcation forbidding Aboriginal people to enter the settled districts without a passport issued by the government.
Arthur declared
martial law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Marti ...
in the colony in November that year, and this remained in force for over three years, the longest period of martial law in Australian history.
In November 1830 Arthur organised the so-called "
Black Line
}
The Black War was a period of violent conflict between British Empire, British colonists and Aboriginal Tasmanians in Tasmania from the mid-1820s to 1832. The conflict, fought largely as a guerrilla war by both sides, claimed the lives of 600 ...
", ordering every able-bodied male colonist to assemble at one of seven designated places in the Settled Districts to join a massive drive to sweep Aboriginal people out of the region and on to the
Tasman Peninsula. The campaign failed and was abandoned seven weeks later, but by then Tasmania's Aboriginal population had fallen to about 300.
Removal of Aboriginal people
![Truganini and last 4 tasmanian aborigines](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Truganini_and_last_4_tasmanian_aborigines.jpg)
After hostilities between settlers and Aboriginal peoples ceased in 1832, almost all of the remnants of the Indigenous population were persuaded or forced by government agent
George Augustus Robinson to move to
Flinders Island. Many quickly succumbed to infectious diseases to which they had no immunity, reducing the population further. Of those removed from Tasmania, the last to die was
Truganini, in 1876.
The near-destruction of Tasmania's Aboriginal population has been described as an act of genocide by historians including
Robert Hughes,
James Boyce,
Lyndall Ryan and Tom Lawson.
However, other historians including
Henry Reynolds,
Richard Broome
Richard Laurence Broome, (born 1 October 1948) is an Australian historian, academic, and emeritus professor of history at La Trobe University, Melbourne. He is known as an authority on Aboriginal history in Australia.
In 2007 Broome's book ''Ab ...
and Nicholas Clements do not agree with the genocide thesis, arguing that the colonial authorities did not intend to destroy the Aboriginal population in whole or in part.
[Clements, Nicholas (2013). pp. 110–12] Boyce has claimed that the April 1828 "Proclamation Separating the Aborigines from the White Inhabitants" sanctioned force against Aboriginal people "for no other reason than that they were Aboriginal".
However, as Reynolds, Broome and Clements point out, there was open warfare at the time.
Boyce described the decision to remove all Tasmanian Aboriginal people after 1832by which time they had given up their fight against white colonistsas an extreme policy position. He concluded: "The colonial government from 1832 to 1838
ethnically cleansed
Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal, extermination, deportation or population transfer ...
the western half of Van Diemen's Land."
Nevertheless, Clements and Flood note that there was another wave of violence in north-west Tasmania in 1841, involving attacks on settlers' huts by a band of Aboriginal Tasmanians who had not been removed from the island.
Proclamation as a colony
![Convict labourers in Australia in the early 20th century](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Convict_labourers_in_Australia_in_the_early_20th_century.jpg)
Van Diemen's Landwhich thus far had existed as a territory within the colony of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
was proclaimed a separate colony, with its own judicial establishment and
Legislative Council, on 3 December 1825. Transportation to the island ceased in 1853 and the colony was renamed Tasmania in 1856, partly to differentiate the burgeoning society of free settlers from the island's convict past.
The
Legislative Council of Van Diemen's Land drafted a new constitution which gained Royal Assent in 1855. The
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
also approved the colony changing its name from "Van Diemen's Land" to "Tasmania", and in 1856 the newly elected
bicameral parliament
Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...
sat for the first time, establishing Tasmania as a
self-governing colony of the British Empire.
The colony suffered from economic fluctuations, but for the most part was prosperous, experiencing steady growth. With few external threats and strong trade links with the Empire, Tasmania enjoyed many fruitful periods in the late 19th century, becoming a world-centre of shipbuilding. It raised a local defence force that eventually played a
significant role in the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
in South Africa, and Tasmanian soldiers in that conflict won the first two
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
es awarded to Australians.
Federation
In 1901 the Colony of Tasmania
united with the five other Australian colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Tasmanians voted in favour of federation with the largest majority of all the Australian colonies.
20th and 21st century
Tasmania was the first place in the southern hemisphere to have electric lights, starting with Launceston in 1885 and Zeehan in 1900. The state economy was riding mining prosperity until World War I. In 1901, the state population was 172,475. The 1910 foundation of what would become
Hydro Tasmania
Hydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as the Hydro-Electric Commission (HEC) or The Hydro, is the trading name of the Hydro-Electric Corporation, a Tasmanian Government business enterprise which is the predominant electricity generator i ...
began to shape urban patterns, as well as future major damming programs.
Hydro's influence culminated in the 1970s when the state government announced plans to flood environmentally significant
Lake Pedder. As a result of the eventual flooding of Lake Pedder, the world's first green party was established; the
United Tasmania Group
The United Tasmania Group (UTG) is generally acknowledged as the world's first Green party to contest elections. The party was formed on 23 March 1972, during a meeting of the Lake Pedder Action Committee (LPAC) at the Hobart Town Hall in order ...
. National and international attention surrounded the campaign against the
Franklin Dam in the early 1980s.
In 1943,
Enid Lyons was elected the first female member of the Australian House of Representatives, winning the seat of Darwin.
After the end of World War II, the state saw major urbanisation, and the growth of towns like
Ulverstone.
It gained a reputation as "Sanitorium of the South" and a health-focused tourist boom began to grow. The
MS Princess of Tasmania
MS ''Princess of Tasmania'' was an Australian-built roll-on/roll-off passenger ship. She was built by the State Dockyard in Newcastle, New South Wales for the Australian National Line. Laid down on 15 November 1957, she was launched on 15 December ...
began her maiden voyage in 1959, the first car ferry to Tasmania.
As part of the boom, Tasmania allowed the opening of the first casino in Australia in 1968
Queen
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
visited the state in 1954, and the 50s and 60s were charactered by the opening of major public services, including the Tasmanian Housing Department and
Metro Tasmania public bus services. A jail was opened at Risdon in 1960, and the
State Library of Tasmania
The State Reference Library is the reference library in the state of Tasmania, Australia. It is part of Libraries Tasmania. Libraries Tasmania includes a state-wide network of library services, community learning, adult literacy and the State ...
the same year. The University of Tasmania also moved to its present location in 1963.
The state was badly affected by the
1967 Tasmanian fires
The 1967 Tasmanian fires were an Australian natural disaster which occurred on 7 February 1967, an event which came to be known as the Black Tuesday bushfires. They were the most deadly bushfires that Tasmania has ever experienced, leaving 62 pe ...
, killing 62 people and destroying over 652,000 acres in five hours. In 1975 the
Tasman Bridge collapsed when the bridge was struck by the bulk ore carrier ''
Lake Illawarra
Lake Illawarra ( Aboriginal Tharawal language: various adaptions of ''Elouera'', ''Eloura'', or ''Allowrie''; ''Illa'', ''Wurra'', or ''Warra'' meaning pleasant place near the sea, or, high place near the sea, or, white clay mountain), is an ope ...
''. It was the only bridge in Hobart, and made crossing the
Derwent River by road at the city impossible. The nearest bridge was approximately to the north, at Bridgewater.
Throughout the 1980s, strong environmental concerns saw the building of the Australian Antarctic Division headquarters, and the proclamation of the
Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area
The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, abbreviated to TWWHA, is a World Heritage Site in Tasmania, Australia. It is one of the largest conservation areas in Australia, covering , or almost 25% of Tasmania. It is also one of the last ex ...
. The Franklin Dam was blocked by the federal government in 1983, and
CSIRO
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...
opened its marine studies center in Hobart.
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
would hold mass at
Elwick Racecourse
Elwick Racecourse (currently also known by its sponsored name of Ladbrokes Park Elwick) is a Thoroughbred horse-racing venue located on Goodwood Road within Glenorchy, Tasmania, Australia. It is located in close proximity to the Brooker Highw ...
in 1986.
The 1990s were characterised by the fight for
LGBT rights in Tasmania
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the Australian state of Tasmania have the same legal rights as non-LGBT residents. Tasmania has a transformative history with respect to the rights of LGBT people. Initially dubbed "Bigots ...
, culminating in the intervention of the
United Nations Human Rights Committee
The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per y ...
in 1997 and the decriminalization of homosexuality that year.
Christine Milne
Christine Anne Milne (; born 14 May 1953) is an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Tasmania. She was the leader of the parliamentary caucus of the Australian Greens from 2012 to 2015. Milne stepped down as leader on 6 May 2015, ...
became the first female leader of a Tasmanian political party in 1993, and major council amalgamations reduce the number of councils from 46 to 29.
On 28 April 1996, in the
Port Arthur massacre Port Arthur massacre may refer to:
*Port Arthur massacre (China), an 1894 event in which Japanese troops killed several thousand Chinese in the Liaodong Peninsula
*Port Arthur massacre (Australia)
The Port Arthur massacre was a mass shooting t ...
, lone gunman
Martin Bryant shot and killed 35 people (including tourists and residents) and injured 21 others. The use of
firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
s was immediately reviewed, and new gun ownership laws were adopted nationwide, with Tasmania's law one of the strictest in Australia.
In 2000, Queen Elizabeth II once again visited the state.
Gunns
Gunns Limited was a major forestry enterprise located in Tasmania, Australia. It had operations in forest management, woodchipping, sawmilling and veneer production. The company was placed into liquidation in March 2013.
History
Founded in 187 ...
rose to prominence as a major forestry company during this decade, only to collapse in 2013. In 2004, Premier
Jim Bacon James or Jim Bacon may refer to:
*Jim Bacon (politician) (James Alexander Bacon, 1950–2004), Premier of Tasmania, 1998–2004
*Jim Bacon (rugby)
James Arthur Bacon (fourth ¼ 1896 – fourth ¼ 1968) was a Welsh rugby union, and professional ...
died in office from lung cancer. In January 2011 philanthropist
David Walsh opened the
Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart to international acclaim. Within 12 months, MONA became Tasmania's top tourism attraction.
The
COVID-19 pandemic in Tasmania
The COVID-19 pandemic in Tasmania is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ().
Timeline 2020
Scotch Oakburn College in Tasmania closed as a preemp ...
resulted in at least 230 cases and 13 deaths . In 2020, after the outbreak of the
coronavirus pandemic (
SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...
) and its spread to Australia, the
Tasmanian government issued a public health emergency on 17 March, the following month receiving the state's most significant outbreak from the
North-West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east ...
which required assistance from the
Federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
. In late 2021, Tasmania was leading the nationwide vaccination response.
Geography
![Topography of Tasmania](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Topography_of_Tasmania.jpg)
Tasmania, the largest island of Australia, has a landmass of and is located directly in the pathway of the notorious "
Roaring Forties" wind that encircles the globe. To its north, it is separated from mainland Australia by
Bass Strait
Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...
. Tasmania is the only Australian state that is not located on the Australian mainland. About south of Tasmania island lies the
George V Coast
George V Coast () is that portion of the coast of Antarctica lying between Point Alden, at 148°2′E, and Cape Hudson, at 153°45′E.
Portions of this coast were sighted by the US Exploring Expedition in 1840. It was explored by members of t ...
of
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
. Depending on which
borders of the oceans
The borders of the oceans are the limits of Earth's oceanic waters. The definition and number of oceans can vary depending on the adopted criteria. The principal divisions (in descending order of area) of the five oceans are the Pacific Ocean ...
are used, the island can be said to be either surrounded by the Southern Ocean, or to have the Pacific on its east and the Indian to its west. Still other definitions of the ocean boundaries would have Tasmania with the
Great Australian Bight to the west, and the
Tasman Sea
The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...
to the east. The southernmost point on mainland Tasmania is approximately at
South East Cape, and the northernmost point on mainland Tasmania is approximately in
Woolnorth / Temdudheker near
Cape Grim / Kennaook. Tasmania lies at similar latitudes to
Te Waipounamu / South Island of New Zealand, and parts of
Patagonia in South America, and relative to the Northern Hemisphere, it lies at similar latitudes to
Hokkaido
is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel.
The la ...
in Japan,
Northeast China
Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of t ...
(
Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...
), the north
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
in Europe, and the
Canada-United States border.
![Mortimer Bay-3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Mortimer_Bay-3.jpg)
The most mountainous region is the
Central Highlands area, which covers most of the central western parts of the state. The
Midlands
The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...
located in the central east, is fairly flat, and is predominantly used for agriculture, although farming activity is scattered throughout the state. Tasmania's tallest mountain is
Mount Ossa at . Much of Tasmania is still densely forested, with the
Southwest National Park and neighbouring areas holding some of the last temperate rain forests in the
Southern Hemisphere. The
Tarkine
The Tarkine ( indigenous name: takayna), officially takayna / Tarkine, is an area containing the Savage River National Park in the north west Tasmania, Australia, which contains significant areas of wilderness. The Tarkine is noted for its beaut ...
, containing
Savage River National Park located in the island's far north west, is the largest
temperate rainforest
Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain.
Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American Paci ...
area in Australia covering about . With its rugged topography, Tasmania has a great number of rivers. Several of Tasmania's largest rivers have been dammed at some point to provide
hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other Renewabl ...
. Many rivers begin in the Central Highlands and flow out to the coast. Tasmania's major population centres are mainly situated around
estuaries
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
(some of which are named rivers).
Tasmania is in the shape of a downward-facing triangle, likened to a shield, heart, or face. It consists of the main island as well as at least a thousand neighbouring islands within the state's jurisdiction. The largest of these are
Flinders Island in the
Furneaux Group of
Bass Strait
Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...
,
King Island King Island, Kings Island or King's Island may refer to:
Australia
* King Island (Queensland)
* King Island, at Wellington Point, Queensland
* King Island (Tasmania)
** King Island Council, the local government area that contains the Tasmanian is ...
in the west of Bass Strait,
Cape Barren Island south of Flinders Island,
Bruny Island separated from Tasmania by the
D'Entrecasteaux Channel,
Macquarie Island 1,500 km from Tasmania, and
Maria Island
Maria Island or 'wukaluwikiwayna' in alawa kani) is a mountainous island located in the Tasman Sea">island.html" ;"title="alawa kani) is a mountainous island">alawa kani) is a mountainous island located in the Tasman Sea, off the east coast of ...
off the east coast.
Tasmania features a number of separated and continuous mountain ranges. The majority of the state is defined by a significant
dolerite
Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro,
is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grained ...
exposure, though the
western half of the state is older and more rugged, featuring
buttongrass
''Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus'', commonly known as buttongrass, is a species of tussock-forming sedge from southeastern Australia. It forms part of a unique habitat in Tasmania.
It was originally described as ''Chaetospora sphaerocephala'' by ...
plains, temperate rainforests, and
quartzite
Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...
ranges, notably
Federation Peak and
Frenchmans Cap
Frenchmans Cap is a mountain in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The mountain is situated in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.
At above sea level, it is within the top thirty highest mountains in Tasmania.
Location ...
. The presence of these mountain ranges is a primary factor in the
rain shadow effect, where the western half receives the majority of rainfall, which also influences the types of vegetation that can grow. The Central Highlands feature a large plateau which forms a number of ranges and escarpments on its north side, tapering off along the south, and radiating into the highest mountain ranges in the west. At the north-west of this, another plateau radiates into a system of hills where
takayna / Tarkine is located.
The
Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) divides Tasmania into 9 bioregions:
Ben Lomond,
Furneaux,
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
,
Central Highlands,
Northern Midlands
Northern Midlands Council is a local government body in Tasmania, extending south of Launceston into the northern region of the Tasmanian central midlands. Northern Midlands is classified as a rural local government area and has a populatio ...
,
Northern Slopes
The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England reg ...
,
Southern Ranges,
South East
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
, and
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
.
![TAS 04-08-20](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/TAS_04-08-20.jpg)
Tasmania's environment consistes of many different biomes or communities across its different regions. It is the most forested state in Australia, and preserves the country's largest areas of
temperate rainforest
Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain.
Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American Paci ...
. A distinctive type of
moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...
found across the west, and particularly south-west of Tasmania, are
buttongrass
''Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus'', commonly known as buttongrass, is a species of tussock-forming sedge from southeastern Australia. It forms part of a unique habitat in Tasmania.
It was originally described as ''Chaetospora sphaerocephala'' by ...
plains, which are speculated to have been expanded by
Tasmanian Aboriginal
The Aboriginal Tasmanians (Palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. For much of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were widely, and ...
burning practices. Tasmania also features a diverse
alpine garden environment
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally
* Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
, such as
cushion plant. Highland areas receive consistent
snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
fall above ~1,000 metres every year, and due to cold air from
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
, this level often reaches 800 m, and more occasionally 600 or 400 metres. Every five or so years, snow can form at sea level. This environment gives rise to the
cypress
Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...
forests of the
Central Plateau and mountainous highlands. In particular, the
Walls of Jerusalem with large areas of rare
pencil pine, and its closest relative
King Billy pine
''Athrotaxis selaginoides'' is a species of ''Athrotaxis'', endemic to Tasmania in Australia, where it grows at 400–1,120 m altitude. In its habitat in the mountains, snow in winter is very usual. It is often called King Billy Pine or King W ...
. On the
West Coast Range
The West Coast Range is a mountain range located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
The range lies to the west and north of the main parts of the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.
The range has had a significant number ...
and partially on
Mount Field, Australia's only winter-
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
plant,
deciduous beech is found, which forms a carpet or
krummholz, or very rarely a 4-metre tree.
Tasmania features a high concentration of
waterfalls. These can be found in small creeks, alpine
streams
A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...
,
rapid
Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence.
Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...
rivers
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
, or off precipitous plunges. Some of the tallest waterfalls are found on mountain
massifs
In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
, sometimes at a 200-metre cascade. The most famous and most visited waterfall in Tasmania is
Russell Falls
The Russell Falls, a Waterfall#Types, tieredcascade waterfall on the Russell Falls Creek, is located in the Central Highlands (Tasmania), Central Highlands region of Tasmania, Australia.
Location and features
The Russell Falls are situated on ...
in
Mount Field due to its proximity to
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
and stepped falls at a total height of 58 metres.
Tasmania also has a large number of
beaches
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shells ...
, the longest of which is
Ocean Beach on the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
at about 40 kilometres. Wineglass Bay in
Freycinet on the east coast is a well-known
landmark
A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances.
In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...
of the state.
The
Tasmanian temperate rainforests cover a few different types. These are also considered distinct from the more common wet
sclerophyll
Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaf, leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is paral ...
forests, though these
eucalypt forests often form with
rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
understorey and
ferns (such as
tree-ferns) are usually never absent. Rainforest found in deep
gullies are usually difficult to traverse due to dense understorey growth, such as from
horizontal (''Anodopetalum biglandulosum''). Higher-elevation forests (~500 to 800 m) have smaller ground vegetation and are thus easier to walk in. The most common rainforests usually have a 50-metre
canopy and are varied by environmental factors. Emergent growth usually comes from
eucalyptus
''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...
, which can tower another 50 metres higher (usually less), providing the most common choice of nesting for giant
wedge-tailed eagles.
The human environment ranges from urban or industrial development, to farming or grazing land. The most cultivated area is the
Midlands
The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...
, where it has suitable soil but is also the driest part of the state.
Tasmania's
insularity was possibly detected by Captain
Abel Tasman when he charted Tasmania's coast in 1642. On 5 December, Tasman was following the
east coast
East Coast may refer to:
Entertainment
* East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop
* East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017
* East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004
* East Coast FM, a ra ...
northward to see how far it went. When the land veered to the north-west at
Eddystone Point
Eddystone Point lies on the north-east coast of Tasmania, Australia at 40.994 S/148.349 E.
History
The first European to sight Eddystone Point was the Dutch navigator, Abel Tasman. In December 1642, Tasman sailed along the entire east coast of ...
, he tried to keep in with it but his ships were suddenly hit by the
Roaring Forties howling through
Bass Strait
Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...
. Tasman was on a mission to find the
Southern Continent, not more islands, so he abruptly turned away to the east and continued his continent-hunting.
The next European to enter the strait was Captain
James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
on
HMS ''Endeavour'' in April 1770. However, after sailing for two hours westward into the strait against the wind, he turned back east and noted in his journal that he was "doubtful whether they
.e. Van Diemen's Land and New Hollandare one land or no".
The strait was named after George Bass, after he and Matthew Flinders passed through it while circumnavigating Van Diemen's Land in the ''Norfolk'' in 1798–99. At Flinders' recommendation, the Governor of New South Wales, John Hunter, in 1800 named the stretch of water between the mainland and Van Diemen's Land "Bass's Straits". Later it became known as Bass Strait.
The existence of the strait had been suggested in 1797 by the master of Sydney Cove when he reached Sydney after deliberately grounding his foundering ship and being stranded on Preservation Island (at the eastern end of the strait). He reported that the strong south westerly swell and the tides and currents suggested that the island was in a channel linking the Pacific and southern Indian Ocean. Governor Hunter thus wrote to Joseph Banks in August 1797 that it seemed certain a strait existed.
Climate
![Tasmania Köppen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Tasmania_K%C3%B6ppen.svg)
Tasmania has a relatively cool temperate climate compared to the rest of Australia, spared from the hot summers of the mainland and experiencing four distinct seasons. Summer is from December to February when the average maximum sea temperature is and inland areas around Launceston reach . Other inland areas are much cooler, with
Liawenee
Liawenee () is a small town in Tasmania, Australia built near Great Lake and the River Ouse, and was established on 11 June 1920. The town is an ex-Hydro village and now a residence for Inland Fisheries Services (IFS) and a Tasmania Police stati ...
, located on the Central Plateau, one of the coldest places in Australia, ranging between and in February. Autumn is from March to May, with mostly settled weather, as summer patterns gradually take on the shape of winter patterns. The winter months are from June to August, and are generally the wettest and coldest months in the state, with most high lying areas receiving considerable snowfall. Winter maximums are on average along coastal areas and on the central plateau, as a result of a series of cold fronts from the
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...
. Inland areas receive regular freezes throughout the winter months. Spring is from September to November, and is an unsettled season of transition, where winter weather patterns begin to take the shape of summer patterns, although snowfall is still common up until October. Spring is generally the windiest time of the year with afternoon sea breezes starting to take effect on the coast.
Biodiversity
![Sarcophilus harrisii taranna](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Sarcophilus_harrisii_taranna.jpg)
Geographically and biological isolated, Tasmania is known for its unique
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
flora and fauna.
Flora
Tasmania has
extremely diverse vegetation, from the heavily grazed grassland of the dry Midlands to the tall evergreen
eucalypt forest,
alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
heathlands and large areas of cool
temperate rainforests and moorlands in the rest of the state. Many species are unique to Tasmania and some are related to species in South America and New Zealand through ancestors which grew on the supercontinent of
Gondwana
Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...
, 50 million years ago. ''
Nothofagus gunnii
''Nothofagus gunnii'', the tanglefoot or deciduous beech, is a deciduous shrub or small tree endemic to the highlands of Tasmania, Australia. It was described in 1847 by R.C GunnReid, James B.; Hill, Robert S.; Brown, Michael J.; & Hovenden, Mark ...
'', commonly known as Australian beech, is Australia's only temperate native deciduous tree and is found exclusively in Tasmania.
Distinctive species of plant in Tasmania include:
*
''Eucalyptus regnans'' (mountain ash) – the
tallest flowering plant and hardwood in the world,
reaching 100 m (328 ft).
*
''Nothofagus cunninghamii'' (myrtle beech) – the most abundant temperate rainforest canopy species found in Tasmania.
*
''Nothofagus gunnii'' (deciduous beech) – Australia's only winter-deciduous tree.
*
''Atherosperma moschatum'' (blackheart sassafras) – a co-dominant rainforest tree with a nutmeg aroma.
*
''Lagarostrobos franklinii'' (Huon pine) – one of the oldest-lived tree species, and a self-preserving timber.
*
''Phyllocladus aspleniifolius'' (celery-top pine) – a celery-leaved conifer found in rainforests.
*
Athrotaxis (Tasmanian cedar/redwood) – a genus comprising three extant species related to
sequoia found in Tasmania.
*
''Eucryphia lucida'' (leatherwood) – a prominent floral symbol of Tasmania and a unique
monofloral honey species.
= Bush tucker
=
Tasmania also has a number of
native
Native may refer to:
People
* Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Native Americans (disambiguation)
In arts and entert ...
edible
An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...
s, known as
bush tucker in Australia. These plants were
foraged
Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce. Foraging theory is a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behav ...
by the
Tasmanian Aboriginals and also used for other purposes, such as
construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
. Unusual trees such as
cider gum (''Eucalyptus gunnii'') had their
manna
Manna ( he, מָן, mān, ; ar, اَلْمَنُّ; sometimes or archaically spelled mana) is, according to the Bible, an edible substance which God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert during the 40-year period follow ...
used to make a
syrup or an
alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
(
cider
Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...
). Other trees such as
wattles (acacias) like
blackwood (''Acacia melanoxylon'') and
mimosa (''Acacia dealbata'') could have their
seeds
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm pl ...
eaten or crushed into a
powder. There are also many
berries
A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...
such as
snowberry (''Gaultheria hispida''),
fruits
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particula ...
such as
heartberry (''Aristotelia peduncularis''), and
vegetables
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...
such as
river mint (''Mentha australis''), though no
crops
A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponics ...
like
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
that are used for large production.
Fauna
Tasmania has a large percentage of
endemism
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
whilst featuring many types of animals found on mainland Australia. Many of these species, such as the
platypus
The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal Endemic (ecology), endemic to Eastern states of Australia, eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypu ...
are larger than their mainland relatives.
The island of Tasmania was home to the
thylacine
The thylacine ( , or , also ) (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'') is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. The last known live animal was captured in 1930 in Tasman ...
, a
marsupial
Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a po ...
which resembled a
fossa
Fossa may refer to:
Animals
* Fossa (animal), the common name of a carnivoran mammal of genus ''Cryptoprocta'' endemic to Madagascar
* ''Fossa'', the Latin genus name of the Malagasy civet, a related but smaller mammal endemic to Madagascar
Pla ...
or some say a wild dog. Known colloquially as the Tasmanian tiger for the distinctive striping across its back, it became extinct in mainland Australia much earlier because of competition by the
dingo
The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (Basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage of dog found in Australia (continent), Australia. Its taxonomic classification is de ...
, introduced in prehistoric times. Owing to persecution by farmers, government-funded bounty hunters and, in the final years, collectors for overseas museums, it appears to have been exterminated in Tasmania. The
Tasmanian devil
The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...
became the
largest carnivorous marsupial in the world following the
extinction
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
of the
thylacine
The thylacine ( , or , also ) (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'') is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. The last known live animal was captured in 1930 in Tasman ...
in 1936, and is now found in the wild only in Tasmania. Tasmania was one of the last regions of Australia to be introduced to domesticated dogs. Dogs were brought from Britain in 1803 for hunting kangaroos and
emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...
s. This introduction completely transformed Aboriginal society, as it helped them to successfully compete with European hunters, and was more important than the introduction of guns for the Aboriginal people.
Tasmania is a hotspot for
giant habitat trees and the large animal species that occupy them, notably the endangered
Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax fleayi''), the
Tasmanian masked owl (''Tyto novaehollandiae castanops''), the
Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish (''Astacopsis gouldi''), the
yellow wattlebird (''Anthochaera paradoxa''), the
green rosella (''Platycercus caledonicus'') and others. Tasmania is also home to the world's only three migratory parrots, the critically endangered
Orange-bellied parrot (''Neophema chrysogaster''), the
Blue-winged parrot (''Neophema chrysostoma''), and the fastest parrot in the world, the
swift parrot (''Lathamus discolor'').
Tasmania has 12
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
species of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
in total.
Mycology
Tasmania is a hotspot for
fungal
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...
diversity. The importance of fungi in Tasmania's ecology is often overlooked, but nonetheless they play a vital role in the natural vegetation cycle.
Conservation
Like the rest of Australia, Tasmania suffers from an
endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
problem. In particular, many important Tasmanian subspecies and world-significant species of
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
are classified as at risk in some way. A famous example is the
Tasmanian devil
The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...
, which is endangered due to
devil facial tumour disease. Some species have already gone
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
, primarily due to
human interference, such as in the case of the
thylacine
The thylacine ( , or , also ) (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'') is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. The last known live animal was captured in 1930 in Tasman ...
or the
Tasmanian emu. In Tasmania, there are about 90 endangered, vulnerable, or threatened vertebrate species classified by the state or Commonwealth governments. Because of a reliance on roads and private vehicle transport, and a high concentration of animal populations divided by this development, Tasmania has the worst (per kilometre)
roadkill
Roadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by drivers of motor vehicles on highways. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how it can be mi ...
rate in the world, with 32 animals killed per hour and at least 300,000 per year.
Protected areas of Tasmania
Protected areas of Tasmania consist of protected areas located within Tasmania and its immediate onshore waters, including Macquarie Island. It includes areas of crown land (withheld land) managed by Tasmanian Government agencies as well as priv ...
cover 21% of the island's land area in the form of
national park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
s. The
Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area
The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, abbreviated to TWWHA, is a World Heritage Site in Tasmania, Australia. It is one of the largest conservation areas in Australia, covering , or almost 25% of Tasmania. It is also one of the last ex ...
(TWWHA) was inscribed by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
in 1982, where it is globally significant because "most UNESCO World Heritage sites meet only one or two of the ten criteria for that status. The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) meets 7 out of 10 criteria. Only one other place on earth—China’s
Mount Tai
Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the '' Jade Emperor Peak'' (), which is commonly reported as being t ...
shan—meets that many criteria".
Controversy surrounds the decision in 2014 by the
Abbott federal
Liberal government Liberal government may refer to:
Australia
In Australian politics, a Liberal government may refer to the following governments administered by the Liberal Party of Australia:
* Menzies Government (1949–66), several Australian ministries under S ...
to request the area's delisting and opening for resource exploration (before it was rejected by the UN Committee at Doha), and the current
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
and
deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...
in the state's
Tarkine
The Tarkine ( indigenous name: takayna), officially takayna / Tarkine, is an area containing the Savage River National Park in the north west Tasmania, Australia, which contains significant areas of wilderness. The Tarkine is noted for its beaut ...
region, the largest single
temperate rainforest
Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain.
Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American Paci ...
in Australia.
Demography
![ABS-3101](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/ABS-3101.0-AustralianDemographicStatistics-EstimatedResidentPopulationStatesTerritories-EstimatedResidentPopulation-Persons-Tasmania-A2060848V.svg)
Tasmania's population is more homogeneous than that of other states of Australia, with many of
Irish and
British descent. Approximately 65% of its residents are descendants of an estimated 10,000 "founding families" from the mid-19th century.
Until 2012, Tasmania was the only state in Australia with an above-replacement
total fertility rate
The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if:
# she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime
# she were t ...
; Tasmanian women had an average of 2.24 children each. By 2012 the birth rate had slipped to 2.1 children per woman, bringing the state to the replacement threshold, but it continues to have the second-highest birth rate of any state or territory (behind the Northern Territory).
Major population centres include
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
,
Launceston,
Devonport,
Burnie, and
Ulverstone.
Kingston
Kingston may refer to:
Places
* List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated:
** Kingston, Jamaica
** Kingston upon Hull, England
** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia
** Kingston, Ontario, Canada
** Kingston upon Thames, ...
is often defined as a separate city but is generally regarded as part of the Greater Hobart Area.
Ancestry and immigration
At the 2016 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:
19.3% of the population was born overseas at the 2016 census. The five largest groups of overseas-born were from England (3.7%), New Zealand (1%),
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
(0.6%), Scotland (0.4%) and the Netherlands (0.4%).
4.6% of the population, or 23,572 people, identified as
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
(
Aboriginal Australians
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
and
Torres Strait Islanders) in 2016.
Language
At the , 86.1% of inhabitants spoke only English at home, with the next most common languages being
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
(1.5%),
Nepali
Nepali or Nepalese may refer to :
Concerning Nepal
* Anything of, from, or related to Nepal
* Nepali people, citizens of Nepal
* Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...
(1.3%),
Punjabi
Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan
* Punjabi language
* Punjabi people
* Punjabi dialects and languages
Punjabi may also refer to:
* Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...
(0.5%) and Spanish (0.3%).
Religion
According to the 2021 Census, 50.0% of the Tasmanian population identified as having no religious affiliation. Christianity is followed by 38.4% of the population.
About 4.5% of people in Tasmania follows non-Christian religion mainly Hinduism (1.7%), Buddhism (1.0%) and Islam (0.9%).
At the 2016 census, the most commonly nominated religions were
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
(20.4%) and
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
(15.6%), while 37.8% of the population cited
no religion.
Government
![Hobart-Tasmania-Australia04](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Hobart-Tasmania-Australia04.JPG)
The form of the government of Tasmania is prescribed in its constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. Since 1901, Tasmania has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the
Australian Constitution
The Constitution of Australia (or Australian Constitution) is a constitutional document that is supreme law in Australia. It establishes Australia as a federation under a constitutional monarchy and outlines the structure and powers of the ...
regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth and prescribes which powers each level of government is allowed.
Tasmania is represented in the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
by 12 senators, on an equal basis with all other states. In the
House of Representatives, Tasmania is entitled to five seats, which is the minimum allocation for a state guaranteed by the Constitution—the number of House of Representatives seats for each state is otherwise decided on the basis of their relative populations, and Tasmania has never qualified for five seats on that basis alone. Tasmania's
House of Assembly
House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level.
Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...
use a system of multi-seat
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
known as
Hare-Clark.
Elections
At the
2002 state election, the
Labor Party won 14 of the 25 House seats. The people decreased their vote for the
Liberal Party; representation in the Parliament fell to seven seats. The
Greens
Greens may refer to:
*Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc.
Politics Supranational
* Green politics
* Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics
* Global Greens
* Europ ...
won four seats, with over 18% of the popular vote, the highest proportion of any Green party in any parliament in the world at that time.
On 23 February 2004 the Premier
Jim Bacon James or Jim Bacon may refer to:
*Jim Bacon (politician) (James Alexander Bacon, 1950–2004), Premier of Tasmania, 1998–2004
*Jim Bacon (rugby)
James Arthur Bacon (fourth ¼ 1896 – fourth ¼ 1968) was a Welsh rugby union, and professional ...
announced his retirement, after being diagnosed with lung cancer. In his last months he opened a vigorous anti-smoking campaign which included many restrictions on where individuals could smoke, such as pubs. He died four months later. Bacon was succeeded by
Paul Lennon, who, after leading the state for two years, went on to win the
2006 state election in his own right. Lennon resigned in 2008 and was succeeded by
David Bartlett, who formed a coalition government with the Greens after the
2010 state election resulted in a
hung parliament. Bartlett resigned as Premier in January 2011 and was replaced by
Lara Giddings
Larissa Tahireh "Lara" Giddings (born 14 November 1972) is a former Australian politician who was the 44th Premier of Tasmania from 24 January 2011 until 31 March 2014, the first woman to hold the position. Born in Goroka, Papua New Guinea, she ...
, who became Tasmania's first female Premier. In March 2014
Will Hodgman
William Edward Felix Hodgman (born 20 April 1969) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who has been the High Commissioner of Australia to Singapore since February 2021. He was the 45th Premier of Tasmania and a member for the Division ...
's Liberal Party won government, ending sixteen years of Labor governance, and ending an eight-year period for Hodgman himself as
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
. Hodgman then won a second term of government in the
2018 state election, but resigned mid-term in January 2020 and was replaced by
Peter Gutwein
Peter Carl Gutwein () (born 21 December 1964) is an Australian politician who was the 46th premier of Tasmania from 2020 to 2022. He has been a Liberal Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly since 2002, representing the electorate of B ...
.
In May 2021, the
Tasmanian state election was held after being called
early
Early may refer to:
History
* The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.:
** Early Christianity
** Early modern Europe
Places in the United States
* Early, Iowa
* Early, Texas
* Early ...
by the incumbent
Liberal Party, resulting in their return to government and establishment of a one-seat majority. It was also the first time that the Liberal Party had been elected three-times in a row.
In April 2022, former deputy premier
Jeremy Rockliff became Premier after Gutwein announced his retirement from politics.
Politics
Tasmania has a number of undeveloped regions. Proposals for local economic development have been faced with requirements for environmental sensitivity, or opposition. In particular, proposals for hydroelectric power generation were debated in the late 20th century. In the 1970s, opposition to the construction of the
Lake Pedder reservoir impoundment led to the formation of the world's first
Green party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
, the
United Tasmania Group
The United Tasmania Group (UTG) is generally acknowledged as the world's first Green party to contest elections. The party was formed on 23 March 1972, during a meeting of the Lake Pedder Action Committee (LPAC) at the Hobart Town Hall in order ...
.
In the early 1980s the state debated the proposed
Franklin River Dam
The Franklin Dam or Gordon-below-Franklin Dam project was a proposed dam on the Gordon River in Tasmania, Australia, that was never constructed. The movement that eventually led to the project's cancellation became one of the most significant e ...
. The anti-dam sentiment was shared by many Australians outside Tasmania and proved a factor in the election of the
Hawke Labor government in 1983, which halted construction of the dam. Since the 1980s the environmental focus has shifted to
old growth logging and mining in the Tarkine region, which have both proved divisive. The Tasmania Together process recommended an end to clear felling in high conservation old growth forests by January 2003, but was unsuccessful.
In
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
, the House of Assembly consisted of 35 seats with 7 seats per each of the five electorates. By the
1998 election, the number of seats had been reduced down to 25, or 5 per each electorate. This resulted in the reduction of the Greens' number of seats from 4 to 1, and increased the proportion of seats held by both the Labor and Liberal parties. This was despite growth in population (five-fold since responsible government) and an increase in the voting percentage required for a majority government. There was also no public consultation, and inquiries at the time had recommended the opposite. The House of Assembly Select Committee in 2020 recommended in its report that the number should be increased again from 25 to 35, arguing that such a small representation would undermine democracy and limit the capabilities of the government. In 2010, the major party leadership had even endorsed reinstating the 35 seat number, but Liberal and Labor support was withdrawn the following year, with only the Greens keeping their commitment.
Local government
Tasmania has 29
local government areas
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory.
The phrase i ...
. Local councils are responsible for functions delegated by the Tasmanian parliament, such as urban planning, road infrastructure and waste management. Council revenue comes mostly from property taxes and government grants.
As with the
House of Assembly
House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level.
Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...
, Tasmania's local government elections use a system of multi-seat
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
known as
Hare–Clark. Local government elections take place every four years and are conducted by the
Tasmanian Electoral Commission
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission (TEC) in Tasmania, Australia, established in 2005, is an independent office which conducts parliamentary and local government elections in Tasmania. Elections for the House of Assembly take place every four year ...
by full
postal ballot
An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station to which the voter is normally allocated. Methods include voting at a different location, postal voting, proxy voting and online votin ...
. The next local government elections will be held during September and October 2022.
Economy
![Derwent Valley (22645573102)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Derwent_Valley_%2822645573102%29.jpg)
Traditionally, Tasmania's main industries have been mining (including copper,
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
,
tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal.
Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
, and iron), agriculture, forestry, and
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
. Tasmania is on
Australia's electrical grid and in the 1940s and 1950s, a hydro-industrialisation initiative was embodied in the state by
Hydro Tasmania
Hydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as the Hydro-Electric Commission (HEC) or The Hydro, is the trading name of the Hydro-Electric Corporation, a Tasmanian Government business enterprise which is the predominant electricity generator i ...
. These all have had varying fortunes over the last century and more, involved in ebbs and flows of population moving in and away dependent upon the specific requirements of the dominant industries of the time.
The state also has a large number of food exporting sectors, including but not limited to seafood (such as
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
,
abalone
Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Haliotidae. Other common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon o ...
and
crayfish
Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...
).
In the 1960s and 1970s there was a decline in traditional crops such as apples and pears, with other crops and industries eventually rising in their place. During the 15 years until 2010, new agricultural products such as wine,
saffron
Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent i ...
,
pyrethrum and
cherries
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
have been fostered by the
Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research
The Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) is a research institute in Tasmania dedicated to research and development of sustainable agricultural industries. Founded in 1996, it is a collaborative effort of the University of Tasmania (UTAS) and ...
.
Favourable economic conditions throughout Australia, cheaper air fares, and two new ''Spirit of Tasmania'' ferries have all contributed to what is now a rising tourism industry.
About 1.7% of the Tasmanian population are employed by local government. Other major employers include
Nyrstar,
Norske Skog, Grange Resources,
Rio Tinto, the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hobart
The Archdiocese of Hobart is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Australia located in Hobart and covering Tasmania, Australia.
Immediately exempt to the Holy See, the area covered was initially adm ...
, and
Federal Group
Federal Group is a privately owned family company which operates tourism, hospitality, retail, and a national sensitive freight company but are primarily known for their casino and gaming assets in Tasmania which is described as a "a licence to pr ...
. Small business is a large part of the community life, including
Incat,
Moorilla Estate
Moorilla Estate is a winery located in the suburb of Berriedale, 12 km north of the city centre of Hobart, in Tasmania.
Establishment
It was established in 1958 by Italian-Australian former textile merchant Claudio Alcorso.
Moorilla Est ...
and
Tassal
Tassal is a Tasmanian-based Australian salmon farming company founded in 1986. It was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) from 2003 until 2022. Tassal is the largest producer of Tasmanian grown Atlantic salmon, supplying salmon to ...
. In the late 1990s, a number of national companies based their call centres in the state after obtaining cheap access to broad-band fibre optic connections.
34% of Tasmanians are reliant on welfare payments as their primary source of income. This number is in part due to the large number of older residents and retirees in Tasmania receiving Age Pensions. Due to its natural environment and clean air, Tasmania is a common retirement selection for Australians.
Science and technology
The modern
scientific sector in Tasmania benefits from around $500 million in annual investment.
Tasmania has a long history of scientific and
technological innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
. The first scientific-style
observation
Observation is the active acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the perception and recording of data via the use of scientific instruments. The ...
s were conducted by the
First Nation Tasmanians, primarily through the
watching and
myth
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
ologising of the
night sky
The night sky is the nighttime appearance of celestial objects like stars, planets, and the Moon, which are visible in a clear sky between sunset and sunrise, when the Sun is below the horizon.
Natural light sources in a night sky include ...
. In a story explaining the
phases of the
moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
and
sun, it shows that it "is one of the rare accounts that explicitly acknowledges that the light of the Moon is a reflection of the Sun's light".
The French
D'Entrecasteaux Expedition of 1792–93 had anchored twice during its search of the missing
La Pérouse in the
Baie de la Recherche (Recherche Bay) in far-south Tasmania. During their stay, the crew took
botanical
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
,
astronomical, and
geomagnetic
Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the magnetic field that extends from Earth's interior out into space, where it interacts with the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun. The magnetic fi ...
observations which were the first of their kind performed on Australian soil. As well as this, they engaged in amicable relations with the locals and environment, gifting the area a "French
garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...
", in which "the relatively extensive, well-documented (both pictorially and written) encounters
..between
hemprovided a very early opportunity for meetings and mutual observation".
The longest-running branch of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
outside of the United Kingdom is the
Royal Society of Tasmania which was summoned in 1843. The Tasmanian Society of Natural History had been formed previously in 1838 before its merger with the Royal Society in 1849. It had been served by early
botanists working in Tasmania such as
Ronald Gunn
Ronald Campbell Gunn, FRS, (4 April 1808 – 13 March 1881) was a South African-born Australian botanist and politician.
Early life
Gunn was born at Cape Town, Cape Colony, (now South Africa), the son of William Gunn, lieutenant in the Britis ...
and his correspondences.
Although
Tamworth in
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
is often credited as being the first place in Australia with
electric street light
A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...
ing in 1888,
Waratah in
North West Tasmania was actually the first place to do so in Australia in 1886, although at a smaller scale.
Culture
Literature
![RichardFlanagan 300w](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/RichardFlanagan_300w.jpg)
Notable titles by Tasmanian authors include ''The Museum of Modern Love'' by
Heather Rose
Heather Rose (born 1964) is an Australian author born in Hobart, Tasmania. She is the author of the acclaimed memoir Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here. She is best known for her novels ''The Museum of Modern Love'', which won the 2017 Stella Prize, ...
, ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' by
Richard Flanagan
Richard Miller Flanagan (born 1961) is an Australian writer, who has also worked as a film director and screenwriter. He won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel '' The Narrow Road to the Deep North''.
Flanagan was described by the ''Washing ...
, ''The Alphabet of Light and Dark'' by
Danielle Wood Danielle Wood may refer to:
* Danielle Wood (writer) (born 1972), Australian writer, journalist and academic
* Danielle Wood (economist) (born 1979 or 1980), Australian economist and incoming chair of the Productivity Commission
* Danielle Wood ( ...
, ''
The Roving Party
''The Roving Party'' is a 2011 novel written by Tasmanian author Rohan Wilson. Wilson's first book, it is published by Allen & Unwin. ''The Roving Party'' won the 2011 Vogel Award. The novel was also shortlisted for the 2011 Victorian Premier's L ...
'' by Rohan Wilson and ''
The Year of Living Dangerously'' by
Christopher Koch, ''The Rain Queen'' by
Katherine Scholes
Katherine Anne Scholes (born 5 July 1959) is an Australian writer. She was born in the Dodoma Region of Tanzania where her parents were English missionaries, and spent most of her childhood there before moving to England and then Tasmania.Schole ...
, ''Bridget Crack'' by Rachel Leary, and ''The Blue Day Book'' by
Bradley Trevor Greive
Bradley Trevor Greive (born 22 February 1970) is an Australian author. He has written 24 books which have been translated into 27 different languages, and have been sold in 115 different countries, several of which have appeared in the ''New Y ...
. A small part of
Helen Garner
Helen Garner (née Ford, born 7 November 1942) is an Australian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. Garner's first novel, ''Monkey Grip (novel), Monkey Grip'', published in 1977, immediately established her as an origina ...
's ''
Monkey Grip'' is set in Hobart as the main characters take a sojourn there. Children's books include ''They Found a Cave'' by
Nan Chauncy
Nan Chauncy (28 May 1900 – 1 May 1970) was a British-born Australian children's writer.
Early life
Chauncy was born Nancen Beryl Masterman in Northwood, Middlesex (now in London), and emigrated to Tasmania, Australia, with her family in 1912 ...
, ''The Museum of Thieves'' by
Lian Tanner
Lian Tanner (born 17 March 1951 in Tasmania, Australia) is an Australian children's author who lives in southern Tasmania.
Tanner is the author of the fantasy Keepers trilogy of children's books. ''Museum of Thieves'' the first book in the serie ...
, ''Finding Serendipity'', ''A Week Without Tuesday'' and ''Blueberry Pancakes Forever'' by Angelica Banks, ''
Tiger Tale
''Tiger Tale'' is a children's picture book illustrated by Marion Isham and written by Steve Isham. First published in 2002, the book retells the Aboriginal story of how the Tasmanian tiger got its stripes. ''Tiger Tale'' is illustrated using ...
'' by Marion and Steve Isham. Tasmania is home to the eminent literary magazine that was formed in 1979,
Island magazine, and the biennial Tasmanian Writers and Readers Festival, now renamed the Hobart Writers Festival.
Tasmanian Gothic
Tasmanian Gothic is a genre of Tasmanian literature that merges traditions of Gothic fiction with the history and natural features of Tasmania, an island state south of the main Australian continent. Tasmanian Gothic has inspired works in ...
is a literary genre which expresses the island state's "peculiar 'otherness' in relation to the mainland, as a remote, mysterious and self-enclosed place."
Marcus Clarke's novel ''
For the Term of his Natural Life'', written in the 1870s and set in convict era Tasmania, is a seminal example. This distinctive
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
is not just restricted to literature, but can be represented through all
the arts
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...
, such as in
painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...
,
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
, or
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
.
Visual arts
The biennial ''Tasmanian Living Artists' Week'' is a ten-day statewide festival for Tasmania's visual artists. The fourth festival in 2007 involved more than 1000 artists. Tasmania is home to two winners of the prestigious
Archibald Prize
The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...
—
Jack Carington Smith
Jack Carington Smith (26 February 1908 – 19 March 1972) was an Australian artist from Launceston, Tasmania. Born simply "Smith", he adopted "Carington Smith" as his surname around 1936 when he won a travelling scholarship which enabled him to s ...
in 1963 for a portrait of Professor
James McAuley, and
Geoffrey Dyer
Geoffrey Dyer (1947 – 7 October 2020) was an Australian artist. He was born and died in Hobart, Tasmania.
Career
He won the Archibald Prize in 2003 with a portrait of Richard Flanagan.
He was a finalist of the 2011 Archibald Prize
The Ar ...
in 2003 for his portrait of
Richard Flanagan
Richard Miller Flanagan (born 1961) is an Australian writer, who has also worked as a film director and screenwriter. He won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel '' The Narrow Road to the Deep North''.
Flanagan was described by the ''Washing ...
. Photographers
Olegas Truchanas and
Peter Dombrovskis
Peter Dombrovskis ( lv, Pēteris Dombrovskis; 2 March 194528 March 1996) was an Australian photographer, known for his Tasmanian scenes. In 2003, he was posthumously inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame, the first Australia ...
are known for works that became iconic in the
Lake Pedder and
Franklin Dam conservation movements. English-born painter
John Glover (1767–1849) is known for his paintings of Tasmanian landscapes, and is the namesake for the annual
Glover Prize
The Glover Prize is an Australian annual art prize awarded for paintings of the landscape of Tasmania The prize was inaugurated in 2004 by the John Glover Society, based in Evandale, Tasmania, in honour of the work of British-born landscape pai ...
, which is awarded to the best landscape painting of Tasmania. The
Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) opened in January 2011 at the
Moorilla Estate
Moorilla Estate is a winery located in the suburb of Berriedale, 12 km north of the city centre of Hobart, in Tasmania.
Establishment
It was established in 1958 by Italian-Australian former textile merchant Claudio Alcorso.
Moorilla Est ...
in
Berriedale, and is the largest privately owned museum complex in Australia.
Music and performing arts
![Princess Theatre at night, Launceston](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Princess_Theatre_at_night%2C_Launceston.JPG)
Tasmania has a varied musical scene, ranging from the
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra whose home is the
Federation Concert Hall
The Hotel Grand Chancellor Hobart is a twelve-storey hotel located on the waterfront of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
History
Originally part of a waterfront district called 'Wapping', the site where the Hotel Grand Chancellor is situated was ...
, to a substantial number of small bands, orchestras, string quintets, saxophone ensembles and individual artists who perform at a variety of venues around the state. Tasmania is also home to a vibrant community of composers including
Constantine Koukias
Constantine Koukias (born 14 October 1965) is a Tasmanian composer and opera director of Greek ancestry based in Amsterdam, where he is known by his Greek name of Konstantin Koukias. He is the co-founder and artistic director of IHOS Music Theatre ...
,
Maria Grenfell
Maria Grenfell (born 1969) is an Australian music teacher and composer of New Zealand origin.
Early life and education
Maria Grenfell was born in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia in 1969. She grew up and was educated in Christchurch, New Zealand, where s ...
and
Don Kay. Tasmania is also home to one of Australia's leading new music institutions,
IHOS Music Theatre and Opera
IHOS Music Theatre and Opera is a Tasmanian opera company was established in Hobart in 1990, by composer and artistic director Constantine Koukias, and production director Werner Ihlenfeld to create original music-theatre and opera works.
Maj ...
and gospel choirs, the
Southern Gospel Choir
The Southern Gospel Choir is a gospel choir based at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music in Hobart, Tasmania, and is directed by Dr. Andrew Legg.
The choir and its band, the Very Righteous Gospel Band were formed by Dr. Legg in 2000, soon ...
. Prominent Australian metal bands
Psycroptic
Psycroptic are an Australian technical death metal band formed in Hobart, Australia in 1999. Mainstay members are Dave Haley on drums and his brother Joe Haley on guitar. Their lead vocalist, Jason Peppiatt, joined in 2004. In 2008 they signed ...
and
Striborg
Striborg is a black metal / ambient project of Australian musician Russell Menzies. The project first began in 1994 under the name Kathaaria and during this time the stage name "Vvelkaarn" was used. The name Kathaaria was adapted from a Darkt ...
hail from Tasmania. Noir-rock band
The Paradise Motel
The Paradise Motel are an independent Australian rock band that formed in Hobart, Tasmania in 1994. They relocated to Melbourne and issued two albums on Mushroom Records, ''Still Life'' (1996) and '' Flight Paths'' (1998) before moving to the Un ...
and 1980s power-pop band
The Innocents are also citizens.
The first season of the television series ''
The Mole'' was filmed and based mainly in Tasmania, with the final elimination taking place in
Port Arthur jail.
The
Tasmanian Aboriginals were known to have sung
oral traditions, as
Fanny Cochrane Smith
Fanny Cochrane Smith (December 1834 – 24 February 1905) was an Aboriginal Tasmanian, born in December 1834. She is considered to be the last fluent speaker of the Flinders Island lingua franca, a Tasmanian language, and her wax cylinder recor ...
(the last fluent speaker of any
Tasmanian language) had done so in recordings from 1899 to 1903. Tasmania has been home to some early and prominent
Australian composers. In piano,
Kitty Parker from
Longford
Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...
was described by world-famous Australian composer
Percy Grainger as his most gifted student.
Peter Sculthorpe
Peter Joshua Sculthorpe (29 April 1929 – 8 August 2014) was an Australian composer. Much of his music resulted from an interest in the music of countries neighboring Australia as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aborigin ...
was originally from
Launceston and became well known in Australia for his works which were influenced by his Tasmanian origins, and he is, by coincidence, distantly related to Fanny Cochrane Smith. In 1996, Sculthorpe composed the piece ''Port Arthur: In Memoriam'' for chamber
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
, which was first performed by the
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Charles Sandys Packer
Charles Sandys Stuart Shipley Packer (1810–1883), commonly referred to as Charles S. Packer, was an Australian classical music composer, born in Reading, Berkshire, England. He was a graduate of The Royal Academy of Music in London. Packer was co ...
was an early Tasmanian example of the tradition of
Australian classical music
The earliest western musical influences in Australia can be traced to two distinct sources: in the first settlements, the large body of convicts, soldiers and sailors who brought the traditional folk music of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland; ...
, transported for the crime of embezzlement in 1839, and at a similar time
Francis Hartwell Henslowe
Francis Hartwell Henslowe (1811–1878) was a British-born civil servant, business manager and composer who worked in England, Australia and India.
Born in England, Henslowe was the son of Edward Prentis Henslowe (1772–1857) and Cecilia Maria ...
had spent time as a
public servant
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
in Tasmania.
Amy Sherwin
Frances Amy Lillian Sherwin (23 March 1855 – 20 September 1935), the 'Tasmanian Nightingale', was an Australian soprano singer.
Biography
She was born at Forest Home, Huonville, Tasmania on 23 March 1855. She was taught singing by her moth ...
, known as the ''Tasmanian Nightingale'' was a successful
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
, and
Eileen Joyce, who came from remote
Zeehan
Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan, and neighbouring mining towns of Dundas, Rosebery and Queenstown.
History
The greater ...
, became a world-renowned pianist at the time of her peak.
Cinema
Films set in Tasmania include ''
Young Einstein'', ''
The Tale of Ruby Rose
''The Tale of Ruby Rose'' is a 1988 Australian film written and directed by Roger Scholes, produced by Andrew Wiseman and Bryce Menzies, and starring Melita Jurisic, Chris Haywood, Rod Zuanic, Sheila Florance, and Martyn Sanderson.
Synopsis
In ...
'', ''
The Hunter'', ''
The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce
''The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce'' is a 2008 Australian-Irish film directed by Michael James Rowland starring Irish actors Adrian Dunbar as Philip Conolly and Ciarán McMenamin as bushranger Alexander Pearce and an ensemble Australian ...
'', ''Arctic Blast'', ''
Manganinnie
''Manganinnie'' is an AFI Award-winning 1980 film which follows the journey of Manganinnie, a Tasmanian Aboriginal woman who searches for her tribe with the company of a lost white girl named Joanna. Based on Beth Roberts' novel of the same nam ...
'' (with music composed by
Peter Sculthorpe
Peter Joshua Sculthorpe (29 April 1929 – 8 August 2014) was an Australian composer. Much of his music resulted from an interest in the music of countries neighboring Australia as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aborigin ...
), ''
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...
'', ''
Lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
'', and ''
The Nightingale
The common nightingale is a songbird found in Eurasia.
Nightingale may also refer to:
Birds
* Thrush nightingale, a songbird found in Eurasia
* Red-billed leiothrix, a songbird of the Indian Subcontinent
Literature
* "Nightingale" (short sto ...
''. Common within
Australian cinema, the Tasmanian landscape is a focal point in most of their feature film productions. ''The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce'' and ''Van Diemen's Land'' are both set during an episode of Tasmania's convict history. Tasmanian film production goes as far back as the
silent era
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...
, with the epic ''
For The Term of His Natural Life'' in 1927 being the most expensive feature film made on Australian shores.
The Kettering Incident
''The Kettering Incident'' is an Australian television drama program, first broadcast on Foxtel's SoHo (Australian TV channel), Showcase channel on 4 July 2016.
The series was created by Victoria Madden and Vincent Sheehan (filmmaker), Vincent ...
, filmed in and around
Kettering, Tasmania, won the 2016 AACTA Award for Best Telefeature or Mini Series. The
documentary series Walking with Dinosaurs
''Walking with Dinosaurs'' is a 1999 six-part nature documentary television miniseries created by Tim Haines and produced by the BBC Science Unit the Discovery Channel and BBC Worldwide, in association with TV Asahi, ProSieben and France 3. Envi ...
was partly filmed in Tasmania due to its terrain.
The
Tasmanian Film Corporation The Tasmanian Film Corporation was a Tasmanian statutory corporation founded 1977 to replace the Tasmanian Government Department of Film Production.
Films
By far its biggest success was Manganinnie, an AFI Award and AWGIE Award
The AWGIE Award ...
, which financed ''
Manganinnie
''Manganinnie'' is an AFI Award-winning 1980 film which follows the journey of Manganinnie, a Tasmanian Aboriginal woman who searches for her tribe with the company of a lost white girl named Joanna. Based on Beth Roberts' novel of the same nam ...
'', was the successor to the Tasmanian Government Department of Film Production, but disappeared after privatisation. Its role is now filled by the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
,
Screen Tasmania
Screen or Screens may refer to:
Arts
* Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing
* Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry
* Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which mul ...
, and private ventures such as
Blue Rocket Productions
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ob ...
.
Media
Tasmania has five broadcast television stations which produce local content including
ABC Tasmania
ABT is a television station operated by the publicly-owned Australian Broadcasting Corporation, with a transmission area covering southern Tasmania. ABT began broadcasting on VHF channel 2 on 4 June 1960, with studios in inner-city Hobart and t ...
,
Seven Tasmania – an affiliate of the
Seven Network
The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...
,
WIN Television Tasmania – an affiliate of the
Nine Network
The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
,
10 Tasmania – an affiliate of
Network 10 (joint owned by WIN and Southern Cross), and
SBS.
Sport
![Bellerive oval hobart](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Bellerive_oval_hobart.jpg)
Sport is an important pastime in Tasmania, and the state has produced several famous sportsmen and women and also hosted several major sporting events. The
Tasmanian Tigers cricket team represents the state successfully (for example the
Sheffield Shield
The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...
in 2007, 2011 and 2013) and plays its home games at the
Bellerive Oval in Hobart; which is also the home ground for the
Hobart Hurricanes
The Hobart Hurricanes are an Australian professional men's T20 franchise cricket team based in Tasmania, Australia. They compete in Australia's domestic T20 cricket competition known as the Big Bash League, which is a league where many in ...
in the Big Bash League. In addition, Bellerive Oval regularly hosts international cricket matches. Famous Tasmanian cricketers include
David Boon, former Australian captains
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting (born 19 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former cricketer. Ponting was captain of the Australian national team during its "golden era", between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 20 ...
and
Tim Paine
Timothy David Paine (born 8 December 1984) is an Australian cricketer and a former captain of the Australia national cricket team in Test cricket. A right-handed batsman and a wicket-keeper, he plays for the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian dome ...
.
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
is also popularly followed, with frequent discussion of a proposed
Tasmanian team in the Australian Football League (
AFL
AFL may refer to:
Sports
* American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues:
** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...
). Several AFL games have been played at
Aurora Stadium
York Park is a sports ground in the Inveresk and York Park Precinct, Launceston, Australia. Holding 19,000 people – the largest capacity stadium in Tasmania, York Park is known commercially as University of Tasmania Stadium and was formerly ...
, Launceston, including the
Hawthorn Football Club and , at the Bellerive Oval with the
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos also ...
playing 3 home games there. The stadium was the site of an infamous match between
St Kilda and
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
which was
controversially drawn after the umpires failed to hear the final siren. Local leagues include the
North West Football League
The North West Football League is an Australian rules football competition in North West Tasmania. The league was previously known as the "Northern Tasmanian Football League" from its inception in 1987 until the end of the 2014 season.
History ...
and
Tasmanian State League
The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the "Tasmanian Football League (TFL)" (formerly known as the "Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL)" and several other short-term names) is the highest ranked Australian r ...
.
Rugby League
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
Football is also played in the area, with the highest level of football played is in the
Tasmanian Rugby League
NRL Tasmania (abbreviated as NRLTas, and formerly the Tasmanian Rugby League) is the organisation responsible for administering the game of rugby league in the Australian state of Tasmania. Tasmania is an affiliated State of the overall Australi ...
competition. The most successful team is the
Hobart Tigers, who have won the title three times.
Rugby Union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
is also played in Tasmania and is governed by the
Tasmanian Rugby Union
The Tasmanian Rugby Union, or TRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within the state of Tasmania in Australia. The TRU was established in 1933. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia.
Currently, the Tasmanian Rugb ...
. Ten clubs take part in the statewide Tasmanian Rugby Competition.
Association Football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
(soccer) is played throughout the state, including a proposed
Tasmanian A-League Club and an existing statewide league called the
NPL Tasmania.
Tasmania hosts the professional
Moorilla International tennis tournament as part of the lead up to the Australian Open and is played at the
Hobart International Tennis Centre, Hobart.
The
Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately . The race is run i ...
is an annual event starting in Sydney, NSW, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. It is widely considered to be one of the most difficult yacht races in the world.
In basketball, Tasmania was first represented in the
National Basketball League (NBL) by the
Hobart Devils
The Hobart Devils are a defunct professional basketball team that competed in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL). Based in Hobart, Tasmania, the team was the only representative from the state of Tasmania for the majority of its tenu ...
, although the team folded in 1996. However, a new National Basketball League team based in both Launceston and Hobart, the
Tasmania JackJumpers
The Tasmania JackJumpers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Hobart, Tasmania, who entered the National Basketball League (NBL) in the 2021–22 season, and play their home games at MyState Bank Arena and the Silverdome. T ...
entered the league in the 2021–22 season, reaching the finals in their debut season and finishing runners up.
Cuisine
Tasmanian Aboriginals had a diverse diet, including native currants, pigface, and native plums, and a wide range of birds and kangaroos. Seafood has always been a significant part of the Tasmanian diet, including its wide range of shellfish, which are still commercially farmed
such as
crayfish
Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...
,
orange roughy
The orange roughy (''Hoplostethus atlanticus''), also known as the red roughy, slimehead and deep sea perch, is a relatively large deep-sea fish belonging to the slimehead family (Trachichthyidae). The UK Marine Conservation Society has categoriz ...
,
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
and
oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...
s.
Seal meat also formed a significant part of the Aboriginal diet.
Tasmania's non-Aboriginal cuisine has a unique history to mainland Australia. It has developed through many subsequent waves of immigration. Tasmanian traditional foods include scallop pies – a pie filled with scallops in curry – and curry powder, which was popularised by
Keen's Curry in the 19th century Tasmania also produces and consumes wasabi, saffron, truffles and leatherwood honey
![Cascade Brewery 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Cascade_Brewery_1.jpg)
Tasmania now has a wide range of restaurants, in part due to the arrival of immigrants and changing cultural patterns. Scattered across Tasmania are many vineyards,
and Tasmanian beer brands such as
Boags
Boag's Brewery (J. Boag & Son) is an Australian brewery company founded in 1883 by James Boag and his son, also named James, in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. It is now owned by Lion, a Trans-Tasman subsidiary company of Japanese beverage co ...
and
Cascade
Cascade, Cascades or Cascading may refer to:
Science and technology Science
*Cascade waterfalls, or series of waterfalls
* Cascade, the CRISPR-associated complex for antiviral defense (a protein complex)
* Cascade (grape), a type of fruit
* Bioc ...
are known and sold in Mainland Australia.
King Island King Island, Kings Island or King's Island may refer to:
Australia
* King Island (Queensland)
* King Island, at Wellington Point, Queensland
* King Island (Tasmania)
** King Island Council, the local government area that contains the Tasmanian is ...
off the northwestern coast of Tasmania has a reputation for boutique cheeses
and dairy products.
The ''Central Cookery Book'' was written in 1930 by
A. C. Irvine and is still popular in Australia and even internationally. Tasmanian cuisine is often unique, and has won many awards. One example is the Hartshorn Distillery, which has won prizes in the World
Vodka
Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...
Awards for three years in a row since 2017.
Events
To foster tourism, the state government encourages or supports several annual events in and around the island. The best known of these is the
Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately . The race is run i ...
, starting on
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...
in Sydney and usually arriving at
Constitution Dock
Constitution Dock is the harbour-side dock area of Hobart, the capital city of the Australian state of Tasmania, in the Port of Hobart, on the Derwent River.
The dock is adjacent to other Hobart landmark areas, Victoria Dock, Salamanca Plac ...
in Hobart around three to four days later, during the
Taste of Tasmania
The Taste of Tasmania is Tasmania's largest food and wine festival. Established in 1988, the Festival operates from 28 December–3 January and will celebrate its 32nd year in 2022. The festival is held in Hobart's Salamanca Place and waterfr ...
, an annual food and wine festival. Other events include the
road rally Targa Tasmania which attracts rally drivers from around the world and is staged all over the state, over five days. Rural or regional events include
Agfest
Agfest is a renowned annual agricultural field day held in the Australian state of Tasmania. It was first held in 1983 and is run by the Rural Youth Organisation of Tasmania with profits assisting Tasmania Rural Counselling. It has grown to the ...
, a three-day
agricultural show held at
Carrick (just west of Launceston) in early May and
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
supported TastroFest – Tasmania's Astronomy Festival, held early August in
Ulverstone (North West Tasmania). The
Royal Hobart Show
The Royal Hobart Show is an annual event held in October at the Royal Showgrounds in Glenorchy, Tasmania, Australia. It is the largest of the Royal Shows held in cities and towns around the state by the Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania ...
and
Royal Launceston Show
The Royal Launceston Show is an annual event held in Carrick in October and is hosted by the Royal National Agricultural and Pastoral Society of Tasmania (RNAPS), established in 1873. The show marks a public holiday that is observed in northern ...
are both held in October annually.
Music events held in Tasmania include the
Falls Festival at
Marion Bay (a
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
event now held in both Victoria and Tasmania on New Year's Eve), the
Festival of Voices, a national celebration of song held each year in Hobart attracting international and national teachers and choirs in the heart of Winter,
MS Fest
MS Fest was a music festival, held annually in Launceston, Tasmania Australia since 2006 until 2011 when the MS Society unsuccessfully attempted to establish a new event under the brand. Hobart, Tasmania. It was a single day event, held in Febr ...
is a charity music event held in Launceston, to raise money for those with
multiple sclerosis
Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...
. The
Cygnet Folk Festival
The Cygnet Folk Festival, run since 1982, is a three-day folk music festival held in Cygnet, Tasmania, Cygnet in Tasmania, Australia, that occurs annually on the second weekend in January.
History
The festival has developed as one of the prem ...
is one Australia's most iconic
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
festivals and is held in
Cygnet in the
Huon Valley every year in January, the Tasmanian Lute Festival is an early music event held in different locations in Tasmania every two years. Recent additions to the state arts events calendar include the
10 Days on the Island 10 Days on the Island is a biennial cultural festival held in Tasmania, Australia. The first was held in 2001. It is Tasmania's premier cultural event, and presents exhibitions, performances and community events in 50 locations around the island.
...
arts festival,
MONA FOMA, run by
David Walsh and curated by
Brian Ritchie
Brian Ritchie (born November 21, 1960) is the bass guitarist for the alternative rock band Violent Femmes. Ritchie was born and raised in the United States and is currently a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia, with his full-time residence i ...
and
Dark Mofo
Dark Mofo is the winter version of the MONA FOMA festival, also held in Tasmania. With many of its events taking place at night, it celebrates the darkness of the southern winter solstice and features many musical acts, large scale light insta ...
also run by
David Walsh and curated by Leigh Carmichael.
The Unconformity
The Unconformity (formerly the Queenstown Heritage and Arts Festival) is an arts festival held in Queenstown, Tasmania in Australia.
Held on the West Coast, the festival is a biennial event. Elements of the festival capture a change in the fat ...
is a three-day festival held every two years in
Queenstown on the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
. Each February in
Evandale a
penny-farthing
The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds (owing to its travelling a large distance for every r ...
championships are held.
Perception within Australia
Tasmania is perceived within Australia and internationally as an island with pristine wildlife, water and air. It is known for its
ecotourism
Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds ...
for these reasons, and is considered an idyllic location for Australians considering a "tree-" or "sea-change", or are seeking
retirement
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
because of Tasmania's
temperate environment and friendly locals. In other parts of the world, Tasmania is considered as the opposite side of the planet to most places, and supposedly home to mythically exotic animals, such as the
Tasmanian Devil
The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...
as popularised by
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
.
Stereotypes
Tasmania has a reputation within Australia that is often at odds with the reality of the state, or may have only been true during colonial times and has only persevered on the Australian mainland as a
myth
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
. Because of these
stereotypes, Tasmania is often referred to as the primary target (i.e., "butt") of mainland Australian jokes. In more recent times, references to insults against Tasmania are more
sarcastic
Sarcasm is the caustic use of words, often in a humorous way, to mock someone or something. Sarcasm may employ ambivalence, although it is not necessarily ironic. Most noticeable in spoken word, sarcasm is mainly distinguished by the inflection ...
and jovial, but angst against the island still exists. The most commonly cited sarcastic comment is on the supposedly '
two-headed
Polycephaly is the condition of having more than one head. The term is derived from the Greek stems ''poly'' (Greek: "πολύ") meaning "many" and ''kephalē'' (Greek: "κεφαλή") meaning "head". A polycephalic organism may be thought o ...
' Tasmanians, which originated due to some colonists developing
goitres from the low amount of
iodine
Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid at standard conditions that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...
in the island's soil. But as Tasmania receives higher volumes of inter-state tourists, the perceptions are in the process of changing, due to a higher awareness of the state's unique beauty, and an acknowledgement of the similarities and '
mateship
Mateship is an Australian cultural idiom that embodies equality, loyalty and friendship. Russel Ward, in ''The Australian Legend'' (1958), once saw the concept as central to the Australian people. ''Mateship'' derives from ''mate'', meaning ''fri ...
' that hold Australia together.
The most prominent example of negative stereotype is of
inbreeding
Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...
due to the relatively small size of Tasmania compared to the rest of Australia (though Tasmania is nearly as large as Ireland in area, and more populous than
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
). This is untrue of course, and if it had once been the case, it would have existed in the rest of colonial Australia as well, though Tasmania's penal establishments were some of the harshest in the entire colony and home to infamous bushrangers. This is a part of the also-receding global stereotype that all Australians are or were derived from criminals, even as most
convicts
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...
were transported for petty crimes. During this period of European settlement, Tasmania was the second centre of power (and a significant port of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
) on the continent after
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, before being surpassed in the latter half of the 19th-century by
Victoria and regions sustained by
mining booms following the cessation of transportation in 1853.
A mentality developed in certain corners of Australia, and led to a general dislike of Tasmania amongst these people, even if the opinion-holder had never properly visited. It can rise to such an extent as to argue for the secession of Tasmania from the rest of Australia, in an effort to 'recover' Australia's reputation from Tasmania.
Transport
Air
Tasmania's main air carriers are
Jetstar and
Virgin Australia;
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
,
QantasLink
QantasLink is a regional brand of Australian airline Qantas and is an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is a major competitor to Regional Express Airlines and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines. As of September 2010 Qantas ...
and
Rex Airlines. These airlines fly direct routes to
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
,
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
,
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
and
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
. Major airports include
Hobart Airport and
Launceston Airport
Launceston Airport is a regional airport on the outskirts of Launceston, Tasmania. The airport is located in the industrial area of Western Junction from Launceston city centre. It is Tasmania's second busiest after Hobart Airport; it can als ...
; the smaller airports,
Burnie (Wynyard) and
King Island King Island, Kings Island or King's Island may refer to:
Australia
* King Island (Queensland)
* King Island, at Wellington Point, Queensland
* King Island (Tasmania)
** King Island Council, the local government area that contains the Tasmanian is ...
, serviced by Rex Airlines; and
Devonport, serviced by QantasLink; have services to Melbourne. Intra-Tasmanian air services are offered by
Airlines of Tasmania
Airlines of Tasmania, commercially known by the name Par Avion is a regional airline based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It operates scheduled services across a number of locations in Tasmania. Par Avion also operates a wide variety of chart ...
. Until 2001
Ansett Australia
Ansett Australia was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne, Australia. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 65 years, the airline was placed into adminis ...
operated majorly out of Tasmania to 12 destinations nationwide. Tourism-related air travel is also represented in Tasmania, such as in the
Par Avion
An airmail etiquette, often shortened to just etiquette, is a label used to indicate that a letter is to be sent by airmail.
Etymology
The term "airmail etiquette" derived from the French word ' ("label, sticker"), from which is also derived t ...
route between
Cambridge Aerodrome near Hobart to
Melaleuca
''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They range in size ...
in
Southwest National Park.
Antarctica base
Tasmania – Hobart in particular – serves as Australia's chief sea link to Antarctica, with the
Australian Antarctic Division located in
Kingston
Kingston may refer to:
Places
* List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated:
** Kingston, Jamaica
** Kingston upon Hull, England
** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia
** Kingston, Ontario, Canada
** Kingston upon Thames, ...
. Hobart is also the home port of the French ship ''l'Astrolabe'', which makes regular supply runs to the
French Southern Territories
The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (french: Terres australes et antarctiques françaises, TAAF) is an Overseas Territory (french: Territoire d'outre-mer or ) of France. It consists of:
# Adélie Land (), the French claim on the continent ...
near and in Antarctica.
Road
![Bridgewater Bridge, Tasmania](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Bridgewater_Bridge%2C_Tasmania.jpg)
Within the state, the primary form of transport is by road. Since the 1980s, many of the
state's highways have undergone regular upgrades. These include the Hobart
Southern Outlet, Launceston Southern Outlet,
Bass Highway reconstruction, and the
Huon Highway
The Huon Highway is an highway in southern Tasmania, Australia. The highway forms part of the A6 and connects Hobart with the southern parts of Tasmania. The original Huon Highway (now known as Huon Road) was a twisty two-lane road skirting a ...
. Public transport is provided by
Metro Tasmania bus services, regular taxis and Hobart only
UBER ride-share services within urban areas, with
Redline Coaches
Redline Coaches was Tasmania's largest coach operator. It operated both route and charter services. As of late 2022, Redline coaches has changed its name as part of a business re-brand by the parent company, Kinetic, and has now been dissolved ...
,
Tassielink Transit
Tasslielink Transit is a bus and coach operator in Hobart and Launceston, Tasmania.
History
In July 1987 Melbourne based Invicta Bus Services purchased the business of Morse's Bus Service, Devonport. This was sold in 1990.
The businesses o ...
and Callows Coaches providing bus service between population centres.
Rail
Rail transport in Tasmania
Rail transport in Tasmania consists of a network of narrow gauge track of reaching virtually all cities and major towns in the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Today, rail services are focused primarily on bulk freight, with no commercial pa ...
consists of narrow-gauge lines to all four major population centres and to mining and forestry operations on the west coast and in the northwest. Services are operated by
TasRail. Regular passenger train services in the state ceased in 1977; the only scheduled trains are for freight, but there are tourist trains in specific areas, for example the
West Coast Wilderness Railway
The West Coast Wilderness Railway is a reconstruction of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Mount Lyell railway in Western Tasmania between Queenstown and Regatta Point, Strahan. The railway is significant because of its Abt rack syst ...
. There is an
ongoing proposal to reinstate commuter trains to Hobart. This idea however lacks political motivation.
Shipping
![Spirit of Tasmania Port Melbourne](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Spirit_of_Tasmania_Port_Melbourne.jpg)
The port of Hobart is the second deepest natural port in the world, second to only
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
in Brazil. There is a substantial amount of commercial and recreational shipping within the harbour, and the port hosts approximately 120 cruise ships during the warmer half of the year, and there are occasional visits from military vessels.
Burnie and Devonport on the northwest coast host ports and several other coastal towns host either small fishing ports or substantial marinas. The domestic sea route between Tasmania and the mainland is serviced by
Bass Strait
Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...
passenger/vehicle ferries operated by the Tasmanian government-owned
TT-Line. The state is also home to
Incat, a manufacturer of very high-speed aluminium catamarans that regularly broke records when they were first launched. The state government tried using them on the Bass Strait run but eventually decided to discontinue the run because of concerns over viability and the suitability of the vessels for the extreme weather conditions sometimes experienced in the strait.
Gallery
File: Ossa and Pelion West - panoramio.jpg, Mount Ossa & Mount Pelion West
Mount Pelion West is a mountain located in the Central Highlands region of Tasmania, Australia. The mountain is part of the Pelion Range and is situated within the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park at the easternmost boundary of th ...
File: Hobart moonrise from Mt Wellington.jpg, Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
from kunanyi / Mount Wellington
Mount Wellington (officially kunanyi / Mount Wellington ()) is a mountain in the southeast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the summit of the Wellington Range and is within Wellington Park reserve. Hobart, Tasmania's capital city, is located at t ...
File: King River (30198084246).jpg, King River
File: Mixed forest, the Styx River, Tasmania.JPG, River Styx
In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...
File: Tasmania logging 01 under tallest tree.jpg, 92-metre-high '' Eucalyptus regnans''
File: Sun rays through the forest trees.jpg, Temperate rainforest
Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain.
Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American Paci ...
File: Western Arthur Range, SW Tasmania.jpg, Lake Pedder and Mount Anne
Mount Anne is a mountain located in the Southwest National Park in south-west region of Tasmania, Australia. The mountain lies within the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Tasmanian Wilderness.
With an elevation of above sea level, Mount Anne is ...
from Western Arthurs
File:Cradle Mountain from the shore of Dove Lake, Tasmania, Australia.jpg, Cradle Mountain
Cradle Mountain is a locality and mountain in the Central Highlands region of the Australian state of Tasmania. The mountain is situated in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.
At above sea level, it is the sixth-highest mountai ...
from the shore of Dove Lake
File:Cataract Gorge Tasmania.jpg, Cataract Gorge
The Cataract Gorge is a river gorge in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, approximately 1.5 km from the city centre. It is one of the region's premier tourist attractions with Cataract Gorge boat tripleaving from Home Point Parade. It is foun ...
, Launceston
File:Antarctic Garden Hobart BG.jpg, Sub-Antarctic Garden, Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens
The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens (''RTBG''), which cover an area of approximately 14 hectares (34.6 acres), in Hobart located within the Queens Domain.
History
The gardens were established in 1818 and is the second oldest Botanical Garden ...
, Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
File:Mt Roland, Tasmania, Australia.jpg, Mount Roland
See also
*
Index of Australia-related articles
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to Australia. A
*Adelaide
*Alfred Deakin
*Andrew Fisher
*Aquaculture in Australia
*Arthur Fadden
*Arthur Phillip
* Australia
*Australian:
**Australian actors
**Australian archaeology
...
*
List of amphibians of Tasmania
This is a comprehensive list of amphibians of Tasmania. They are all frogs.
Order Anura (frogs and toads)
*''Crinia nimbus'' (moss froglet)
*''Crinia signifera'' (common eastern froglet)
*''Crinia tasmaniensis'' (Tasmanian froglet)
*'' Geocrini ...
*
List of schools in Tasmania
Schools in the Tasmanian public education system include 138 primary schools (Kindergarten to Grade 6),
57 high schools (Grade 7 to 10), and 8 colleges (Grade 11 and 12). The public education system is run by the Tasmanian Department of Educati ...
*
Omission of Tasmania from maps of Australia
The Australian island state of Tasmania has been omitted from maps of Australia over time. Such omissions often provoke outrage from Tasmanians, or amusement on mainland Australia.
Early omissions
In 1909, the '' Daily Post'' of Hobart rep ...
*
Outline of Australia
*
Regions of Tasmania
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Tasmania Online—the main State Government websiteDiscover Tasmania– official tourism website
*
{{Authority control
Islands of Australia
States and territories of Australia
States and territories established in 1825
1825 establishments in Australia
1642 in the Dutch Empire