Tasmania << taz MAY nee uh >> is the smallest state in Australia. It lies off the southeastern corner of the Australian continent. Tasmania is separated from the mainland of Australia by Bass Strait, a shallow area of water about 150 miles (240 kilometers) wide. Hobart, in the southeast, is the state capital.
Tasmania’s scenic variety and historic sites attract many tourists. It is often called the Apple Isle, a title given to the state when apples were its most important fruit crop.
Two marsupials (mammals that usually carry their young in a pouch) that have been found in Tasmania are the Tasmanian thylacine and the Tasmanian devil. The thylacine is commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger because of the stripes on the lower part of its back. It is also known as the Tasmanian wolf. No positive sightings of this animal have been made since the 1930’s, and scientists believe it is extinct. Tasmanian devils are endangered. These badger-sized animals get their name from the shrill screams they make at night.
People
About 80 percent of Tasmania’s population was born in Australia. About 6 percent of the people were born in Europe, mainly in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The state’s population also includes people born in China, India, Nepal, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa, and the United States. About 5 percent of the population is of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.
Most people in Tasmania live in urban areas, such as Devonport, Hobart, and Launceston. Tasmania’s largest towns are on or near the coast.
Schools.
Children in Tasmania are required to attend school from the ages of 5 to 18. Most of the students attend government schools. The rest of the state’s students are homeschooled or attend private schools, most of which are run by either Roman Catholic or Protestant churches. Children under 5 can attend preschools or kindergarten.
The University of Tasmania has campuses in Hobart, Launceston, and Burnie in the state and includes a Conservatorium of Music and School of Creative Arts and Media. The Australian Maritime College in Launceston offers courses in maritime studies. The university also operates campuses in Sydney, New South Wales.
Technical education, adult education, and secondary colleges are available to students who meet the entrance requirements. As in other parts of Australia, the main institution for higher education in Tasmania is the TAFE (Technical and Further Education) system, which primarily provides vocational education. Tasmania has TAFE institutions throughout the state.
Tasmania has played a leading role in the development of education in Australia. In 1868, Tasmania became the first place in Australia to make education compulsory (required). In 1946, Tasmania became the first state in Australia to make education compulsory for students through the age of 16.
Land and climate
Location and size.
The state of Tasmania is made up of a main island and a number of smaller islands. The most important of these islands are Bruny, Flinders, and King. Macquarie Island, which lies 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) southeast of Tasmania, is also under Tasmanian administration. In 1997, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named Macquarie Island a World Heritage Site. The designation recognized the island as an area of cultural and natural importance based on its unique geology and its natural wildlife.
Tasmania and its islands cover an area of 26,262 square miles (68,018 square kilometers). The state is just under one-third the size of Victoria, the smallest mainland state of Australia. Tasmania has a coastline of 3,034 miles (4,882 kilometers), which includes 1,761 miles (2,833 kilometers) of mainland and 1,273 miles (2,049 kilometers) of islands.
Land regions.
Tasmania can be divided into six regions. They are (1) the Central Region, (2) the Northeastern Region, (3) the Northwestern Region, (4) the Eastern Region, (5) the West and Southwestern Region, and (6) the Southern Region.
The Central Region
includes a large plateau (raised tableland) that slopes from just over 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) above sea level in the northwest to about 1,970 feet (600 meters) in the southeast. This area is known as the lake country and is one of the chief sources of hydroelectric power. The lake country area contains Tasmania’s highest mountain, Mount Ossa. This peak rises 5,305 feet (1,617 meters) above sea level. The surrounding area is flat and exposed. A number of high mountains stand on the western and northern fringes of the region.
The Northeastern Region
is around Launceston and the Tamar Valley. The region stretches from a series of mountains and valleys called the Great Western Tiers to the northeastern coast. It is one of the richest farming and grazing lands in the state.
The Northwestern Region
is a coastal plain occupying the northwest part of the state. It has some of the richest soil in the state.
The Eastern Region
is on the eastern coast. The region covers a mountainous area that includes several tall peaks.
The West and Southwestern Region
consists of rugged, heath-covered country studded with mountain ranges. Much of this area is on the World Heritage List, an international registry of sites that have great natural or cultural value.
The Southern Region
is an area of broken landscape drained by the Huon and Derwent river valleys. The land rises sharply from the Derwent River’s edge at Hobart to flat-topped Mount Wellington (4,167 feet or 1,270 meters). The east coast is a region of hills that slope eastward from the central plateau.
Rivers and lakes.
The island of Tasmania is crisscrossed by a network of short rivers. The longest river in Tasmania is the South Esk River. The South Esk and the North Esk join to form the Tamar River.
The central plateau has several thousand shallow lakes. They include Great Lake, Arthurs Lake, and Lake Sorell. The Gordon River Dam created Lake Gordon and partly created Lake Pedder.
Climate.
Tasmania has mild winters and cool summers. At Hobart, in the south, the average January temperature is 72 °F (22 °C), and the average July temperature is 54 °F (12 °C). Launceston, in the north of the island, is farther inland. It has an average temperature of 73 °F (23 °C) in January and 52 °F (11 °C) in July. 
Tasmania has wide variations in precipitation. The heaviest snowfalls on the highlands come in late winter and spring, but flurries can occur at almost any time. Westerly winds known as the Roaring Forties bring heavy rain across the Indian Ocean to the western slopes of the central plateau. This area has many more rainy days than the east coast of the state. Queenstown, in the west, has about 95 inches (242 centimeters) of rain a year. At Hobart, the annual rainfall is 22 inches (56 centimeters), and at Launceston the annual rainfall is about 27 inches (69 centimeters). Parts of the Midlands average less than 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain a year.
Economy
Service industries account for about 70 percent of both Tasmania’s employment and its gross state product (GSP). The GSP is the value of all goods and services produced in the state. Manufacturing is decreasing and tourism is increasing as sources of employment and finance for the state.
Farming.
Tasmania’s most valuable crops include potatoes, which are grown primarily in the northern coastal area; apples, from the Huon Valley in the south of the state; and opium poppies, grown in the northwest region of the state. Other important crops in Tasmania include barley, green peas and other legumes, hay, nursery products, and onions. Many Tasmanian farmers grow blueberries, wine grapes, and other small fruit. Pyrethrum, used to make insecticide, and plants that yield essential oils (oils used in fragrances, flavorings, or medicines), such as aniseed, lavender, and peppermint, also flourish in Tasmania.
Tasmania grows much of Australia’s hops (vines used to make beer). Farmers grow the vines in the Derwent Valley in the south, in the northeast around Scottsdale, and at Gunns Plains.
The growth and export of opium poppies in Tasmania have increased dramatically since the late 1900’s. Tasmania provides much of the world’s requirement for poppy oil, which is used by the pharmaceutical industry to make codeine, morphine, and other medicines.
The northwest coast of Tasmania, with its fertile soil and reliable rainfall, is an area of intensive farming. It produces cheese and other dairy products, beef cattle, beans, carrots, hay, peas, and potatoes.
The livestock-raising districts of the central north and northern midlands produce large quantities of sheep and cattle. Farmers raise goats for dairy products and for mohair, a type of wool. The midlands area produces some of the best wool in Australia. Several deer farms also operate in Tasmania.
Fishing.
Commercial fishing in Tasmania is a growing and important industry. Abalones and lobsters account for the vast majority of the state’s fishing catch. Other catches include crabs, garfish, salmon, and scallops. Aquaculture (fish farming) has become an important part of the industry.
Forestry.
About half the island is forested, mainly with such hardwoods as eucalyptus trees, called eucalypts in Australia. The main commercial forests are in the northwest, northeast, and southern parts of the state. Tasmania has a complete range of forest-based industries, from wood products to fine paper and newsprint. Wood chips are a large and controversial export product in Tasmania. Environmentalists say the wood chip industry is destroying important old growth forests to produce wood chips to trade with Japan. The wood chip industry argues that only timber unsuitable for milling is exported.
Mining
is an important industry in the economy of Tasmania. The mountainous west coast is one of the most mineral-rich areas in Australia. It has copper, iron, tin, and ore bodies with a mixture of lead, silver, and zinc. One of the largest underground tin mines in the world is at Renison Bell in this region. Also in this area are copper, gold, lead, silver, and zinc mines at Rosebery. Workers mine iron ore at Savage River. Workers mine coal near Fingal and dolomite on the northwest coast.
Power projects.
Hydro Tasmania—a state-owned business formerly called the Hydro-Electric Commission—uses Tasmania’s geography and rainfall to develop cheap hydroelectric power for industries. Water from Lake St. Clair, where the Derwent River rises, passes through as many as eight power stations before reaching the tidal waters at New Norfolk. A second system uses the waters from the Mersey and Forth rivers and their tributaries to generate power at seven stations. A third system uses the water from the Great Lake that has been directed into the South Esk River system.
Manufacturing
accounts for about 10 percent of both the state’s employment and its GSP. The state’s factories produce aluminum; food products, especially baked goods, dairy products, and fruits and vegetables; machinery; and wood products. Plants in northern Tasmania process the island’s poppy seeds for cooking and pharmaceutical purposes. The biggest manufacturing centers in Tasmania are in the urban areas of Burnie, Devonport, Hobart, and Launceston.
Transportation and communication.
Ports are of vital importance to the island state. Major ports are at Hobart in the south; Triabunna in the east; and Burnie, Devonport, Launceston, and Port Latta in the north.
Tasmania’s rail system is for industrial use only. No passenger service is provided. The main line connects Hobart and Launceston. Major airports are at Hobart and Launceston.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation and commercial stations provide television and radio services. The Mercury is Tasmania’s leading daily newspaper.
Government
The government of Tasmania consists of a state parliament and a governor, who serves as the representative of the British monarch. City and municipal governments administer local issues.
Legislature.
Tasmania has a bicameral (two-house) parliament. The House of Assembly is the lower house. The Legislative Council is the upper house.
The House has 25 members—5 members elected from each of five districts—whose terms last for four years. The members of the House are elected by the Hare-Clark system of proportional representation, in which voters number the candidates on their ballot in the order of their choice (see Proportional representation (The Hare System)). Tasmania is the only Australian state to use this system.
The House of Assembly governs the state. The political party or coalition (alliance of political parties) with the majority in the House leads the government. The head of the majority or coalition becomes the premier and chooses ministers to advise him or her.
The Legislative Council has 15 members. Terms last for six years. Elections are held at regular intervals for only two or three members of the Council at a time. The Legislative Council serves as the house of review for bills submitted to the Parliament. Only the House of Assembly may introduce most financial bills. The Legislative Council may either accept or reject them, but it may not amend them.
Voting
in federal, state, and local elections in Tasmania is compulsory. Voters must be Australian citizens and at least 18 years of age.
Local government
in Tasmania consists of 29 councils whose members are elected for four years. These councils provide services, such as water, sewerage, garbage disposal, and the construction of streets and recreation facilities.
History
Aboriginal peoples.
According to Aboriginal traditions, Aboriginal people have always lived in Australia. The ancestors of today’s Aboriginal peoples likely have lived in Australia for more than 65,000 years. Archaeologists (scientists who study the cultural remains left behind by past civilizations) estimate that Australia’s Aboriginal people came from Southeast Asia during the most recent ice age, a period in Earth’s history when ice sheets covered vast regions of land. At that time, conditions on the continent were much different than they are today. The sea level was lower, and land bridges connected Australia and Tasmania.
The first Aboriginal people traveled by raft or some other kind of boat to the northern parts of Australia. They soon spread throughout the continent, probably following the coastline and moving up the river valleys into the interior. They reached Tasmania about 40,000 years ago. When the last ice age ended and large parts of the ice sheets melted, sea level rose during a period of several thousand years. Water covered the land bridge between the mainland and Flinders Island just under 14,000 years ago. Tasmania became a separate island about 12,000 years ago. As Tasmania became cut off from the mainland, the Aboriginal people of Tasmania became isolated from the Aboriginal peoples of mainland Australia. The social organization, daily life, art, and religion of Tasmania’s Aboriginal peoples resembled those of the mainland Aboriginal groups. Because of long separation, however, Tasmanian Aboriginal culture developed unique aspects as well. See Aboriginal peoples of Australia; Aboriginal peoples of Tasmania.
European arrival.
The first recorded date for a European sighting of Australia is 1606, when the Dutch explorer Willem Jansz led an expedition to northern Australia. For the next 100 years, the Dutch continued to explore Australia. Their ships sailed along every coastline except the eastern seaboard. The most significant Dutch expeditions were those led by the Dutch sea captain Abel Tasman. In 1642, the governor of the Dutch colonies, Anthony van Diemen, instructed Tasman to find a route from the Cape of Good Hope, at the bottom of South Africa, to South America.
On Nov. 24, 1642, Tasman sighted the island now named Tasmania at Cape Sorell on the island’s west coast. He sailed around the southern part of the island, which he claimed for the Netherlands. He named the island Van Diemen’s Land, in honor of the Dutch governor. The name Tasmania did not come into use until the mid-1800’s.
The Dutch found Australia harsh and forbidding, with no opportunities for trade in such goods as spices and precious metals. As a result, the Dutch lost interest in the continent and made no settlements there.
In 1772, a French explorer, Marion du Fresne, sighted Van Diemen’s Land and came ashore. Fresne’s visit was soon followed by several British journeys of exploration. Tobias Furneaux, the lieutenant of the British explorer James Cook, visited Adventure Bay in 1773. Cook landed in the same place in 1777. Bruni d’Entrecasteaux, a French navigator, discovered D’Entrecasteaux Channel in the Derwent in 1792.
Two British navigators, Matthew Flinders and George Bass, completed the exploration of Australia’s coastlines in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. They sailed completely around Van Diemen’s Land, proving that it was an island. The two explorers also explored the strait between it and the mainland, which was named after Bass.
The first British settlements.
Governor Philip Gidley King of New South Wales feared that France would attempt to establish a colony in the Tasmania area. To claim the territory first, King sent a party of 49 people, including 35 convicts, under the command of Lieutenant John Bowen to the Derwent River in southern Van Diemen’s Land. The party landed at Risdon Cove, on the Derwent River, in September 1803.
Also in 1803, the British government sent David Collins to establish a settlement at Port Phillip Bay, in what is now Victoria, on the mainland. About a month after Bowen’s landing, Collins landed at Port Phillip. However, he found the area unsuitable for colonization. On Feb. 15, 1804, he moved to Sullivan’s Cove, which was south of Risdon. There, he established a settlement that eventually became Hobart.
British colonizers also came to the north side of the island. In 1804, Governor King received instructions from the British government to establish a settlement in the area. King sent William Paterson to found a colony along the northern coast of Van Diemen’s Land. Paterson landed at Port Dalrymple, on the Tamar River, late in 1804. He called his settlement York Town. But it was soon abandoned for George Town. George Town, in turn, was abandoned in favor of the present site of Launceston in 1806.
In 1812, Lachlan Macquarie, the governor of New South Wales, joined the northern and southern settlements under one administration. He announced that the lieutenant governor would administer the settlements and report to the governor at Sydney.
Thomas Davey, who succeeded Collins as lieutenant governor, was ineffective in the post. Under his administration, bushranging (crime in the rural areas) became common. Davey was replaced by William Sorell, who worked to eliminate bushranging. Soldiers killed Michael Howe, a notorious bushranger, in 1818. For a short time after his death, the bushrangers ceased to be a serious menace.
In the early 1820’s, Sorell established the Macquarie Harbour penal settlement on the remote west coast of the island. Sorell planned the settlement as a place of isolation for hardened criminals. See Convicts in Australia.
In 1825, Van Diemen’s Land became a separate colony from New South Wales. A lieutenant governor administered the new colony. An act of Parliament in 1828 established a nominated legislative council for Van Diemen’s Land with powers to make laws and raise revenue for the colony.
Aboriginal resistance.
Lieutenant Governor George Arthur, who replaced Sorell, decided that Aboriginal people had so seriously obstructed the settlement of Van Diemen’s Land that they should be removed from most of the island. In 1830, he organized a combined group of police, military, and civilians to form a line, called the Black Line, to force the Aboriginal population into Tasman Peninsula. There the authorities could isolate them. The drive claimed only two captives. However, Arthur’s policy was put into effect slowly over the next few years, as government officials and missionaries encouraged Tasmania’s Aboriginal peoples to surrender. Colonial officials resettled the Aboriginal people on Flinders Island, where the majority of them died of diseases they caught from the Europeans.
Governor Arthur established a penal settlement at Port Arthur, on the Tasman Peninsula, in the 1830’s. The Port Arthur settlement replaced the Macquarie Harbour prison. 
Abolition of the convict system.
The great majority of convicts in Tasmania during the early 1800’s were instructed to work for settlers, under a system called assignment. A settler got free labor from the assigned convict in return for providing meals, clothing, and housing. With good conduct, a convict could progress to the status of ticket-of-leave—a type of parole allowing the convict to work for wages within a limited area. A convict could then gain a pardon requiring him or her to remain within the colony and, finally, a full pardon. 
Unfavorable feelings toward the convict system developed in the 1830’s in several of the Australian colonies. Free immigrants to New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land increasingly objected to living in a prison colony. Cheap convict labor kept wages low, and restrictions on civil liberties were greater than those in England. This opposition intensified in 1842, when convict assignments to private citizens stopped.
The British government temporarily suspended convict transportation (deportation) to Van Diemen’s Land in 1846. Officials abolished it in 1852, with the last convict ship reaching the island in 1853. More than 60,000 convicts were transported to the island. See Transportation of convicts.
Self-government.
Although the name Tasmania was used as early as the 1820’s, it was not officially substituted for Van Diemen’s Land until 1856. In 1855, Tasmania became the first of the Australian colonies to have its constitution approved. The first state premier was William Champ.
In the late 1800’s, support grew for the idea of joining the Australian colonies in a federal union. After a series of proposals and discussions, the union was established on Jan. 1, 1901. Tasmania became one of the six states of the new Commonwealth of Australia. See Federation of Australia.
Economic developments.
During the second half of the 1800’s, Tasmania was troubled by periodic economic depressions. Important mining discoveries helped the economy develop in the late 1800’s, however. In 1871, the prospector James “Philosopher” Smith discovered tin at Mount Bischoff. Copper was discovered at Lyell in 1883. Prospectors discovered the silver fields of Dundas, Mount Farrell, Waratah, and Zeehan. Gold fields were discovered north of the Pieman River and at Beaconsfield. The wool industry also expanded during this period.
In 1909, the government allowed the development of a hydroelectric power facility at the Great Lake. Cheap electric power spurred the state’s industrial growth.
A period of prosperity after World War I (1914-1918) was followed by the severe, worldwide Great Depression of the 1930’s. Debt and unemployment increased. By 1932, about one-third of the work force was unemployed. Many people were evicted from their houses because they could not pay rent.
Recovery from the Depression began in 1933, but it did not gain strength until 1936. By 1939, unemployment had dropped to around 10 percent.
World War II
(1939-1945) resulted in increased immigration to Tasmania and a transformation of the state’s economy. The war boosted all of Australia’s manufacturing industry. Tasmania’s population increased at a greater rate than the rest of the nation, and the state shared in Australia’s industrial boom through the 1960’s. See World War II.
Environmental movements.
As the hydroelectric power industry grew, conservation organizations rallied to protest the effects of the industry’s expansion on the environment. In the 1970’s, environmental groups opposed the building of the Gordon River Dam because it involved flooding Lake Pedder. The Hydro-Electric Commission completed the project in 1976 despite this opposition. But in the 1980’s, the Australian federal government intervened to stop the building of another dam across the Gordon River that would have flooded the Franklin River wilderness area.
The protests against dam building and the attention they earned marked the beginning of Australia’s conservation movement. Tasmania was the founding place for the Greens political movement, a national environmental organization that now supports political candidates in local, state, and national elections. In 1989, the Greens joined a ruling coalition with the minority Labor Party in the state Parliament. In 1992, the Greens in Tasmania formed a separate group from the national group and renamed themselves the Tasmanian Greens. Their goals have gained widespread community support and have increased the knowledge and importance of environmental issues in Tasmania and Australia.
Recent developments.
In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, the state’s economy suffered from population losses and the relocation of national companies to the mainland. The state government has supported two industrial projects to boost the economy: the completion of a natural gas pipeline from Victoria, and a proposed cable from Tasmania to Victoria to export surplus electric power to the Australian mainland.
On April 28, 1996, a man shot at tourists and residents at the Port Arthur settlement, killing 35 people and wounding 21 others. The massacre led to stricter gun control laws throughout Australia.
From 2011 to 2014, Lara Giddings served as the first female premier of Tasmania. Giddings was a member of the Labor Party.
Widespread flooding during the winter months of June and July in 2016 caused millions of dollars in damage. During Australia’s summer months in 2018 and 2019, Tasmania experienced its worst bushfires since the severe bushfire season of 1967. About 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) were impacted. Large areas in the Tasmanian World Wilderness Heritage Area suffered damage. This region includes habitats for some plants and animals that are found nowhere else in the world. The next bushfire season of 2019 to 2020 was severe across much of Australia, but especially in the eastern mainland. More than 75,000 acres (30,000 hectares) of land burned in Tasmania.
