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Apr 12, 2023 · Where is Tasmania? Tasmania is an island state located off the southern coast of Australia. It is geographically positioned both the Southern and Eastern hemispheres of the Earth. Tasmania is bordered by the Indian Ocean in the west, and by the Tasman Sea in the east.
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Tasmania, island state of Australia. It lies about 150 miles (240 km) south of the state of Victoria, from which it is separated by the relatively shallow Bass Strait. Structurally, Tasmania constitutes a southern extension of the Great Dividing Range. The state comprises a main island called Tasmania; Bruny Island, nestling close to the southeastern coast of the main island; King and Flinders islands in Bass Strait; numerous smaller islands off the coast of the main island; and subantarctic Macquarie Island, about 900 miles (1,450 km) to the southeast. The main island is roughly heart-shaped, with a maximum length and width of about 200 miles (320 km), and its latitude and climate are broadly comparable to those of northern California and northwestern Spain. With an area slightly larger than that of Sri Lanka, Tasmania is the smallest of Australia’s states. Hobart is the state capital.
The state owes its name to the Dutch navigator-explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 became the first European to discover the island. Until 1856, however, the island was known as Van Diemen’s Land, named for Anthony van Diemen, the governor of the Dutch East Indies who had sent Tasman on his voyage of exploration. The island of Tasmania contains some of the most spectacular mountain, lake, and coastal scenery in the country, and much of its land is protected in national parks and reserves. The state also produces a major portion of Australia’s hydroelectric power and possesses a great diversity of natural resources. Nevertheless, Tasmania has remained among the poorest of Australia’s states, with a steadily decreasing share of the country’s population. Although insularity renders much of its political, economic, and social life distinctive, proximity to Melbourne and air travel make Tasmania less isolated and more cosmopolitan than is often assumed in other Australian states. Area 26,410 square miles (68,401 square km). Population (2021) 557,571.
Tasmania is essentially a mountainous island. In the west, where the highest peak on the island, Mount Ossa, reaches 5,305 feet (1,617 metres), the landscape comprises several parallel northwest-southeast ridges and valleys. Eastward lies a series of plateaus at various elevations; the highest point is Ben Lomond in the northeast, which rises to 5,...
There are two major river systems in Tasmania—the Derwent in the southeast and the South Esk in the northeast. Many smaller systems, especially in the western region, flow to the west coast. The Central Plateau is studded with more than 4,000 lakes in a landscape similar to that of northern Canada and Finland; almost all, including Great Lake, are shallow. Lake St. Clair, the deepest lake in Australia (reaching more than 700 feet [215 metres]), is a piedmont lake similar to the lakes of northern Italy. Several of the state’s lakes, notably Lake King William, are artificial reservoirs created as a part of hydroelectric power development.
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Most Tasmanian soils are leached, acidic, poorly drained, high in humus, and low in fertility. Least fertile and most extensive are the soils of the west and northeast, especially the moor peats. Fertile areas occur extensively in the northwest and locally elsewhere, notably in the northeast and southeast. Brown earths occupy the drier areas east o...
Tasmania, located in the midlatitude westerly wind belt and dominated by southern maritime air masses, generally enjoys a moist, equable climate, with mild to warm summers, mild winters in most settled areas, and rain during all seasons. However, the southwest has much rugged weather, and the southeast can suffer drought. Collision between tropical air masses—in summer from the continent and in spring and autumn from the eastern Tasmanian coast—and the mountainous surface results in greater climatic variety than in other parts of Australia. Annual precipitation, seasonal moisture deficiencies, and temperatures range widely and irregularly across the state. Average annual precipitation exceeds 100 inches (2,500 mm) on the western ranges and declines eastward to less than 20 inches (510 mm) in some places; along the north coast it exceeds 30 inches (760 mm) in all locations. The seasonal incidence in the north and west is greatest in winter, and in the south and east it is greatest in spring. Summer rainfall may vary markedly from year to year, especially in the drier east. Mean January temperatures are higher in the north and east than elsewhere, reaching 64 °F (18 °C) at Launceston; mean July temperatures are 46 to 49 °F (8 tο 9 °C) in all coastal stations, declining sharply with elevation.
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It is located 240 kilometres (150 miles) to the south of the Australian mainland, separated from it by the Bass Strait, 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. [16]
Tanzania... Easy to see the confusion. But Tasmania lies a long way from Africa—over 6,000 miles east across the Indian Ocean, a small, heart-shaped island 150 miles south of the Australian...
Apr 4, 2013 · Tasmania’s true wilderness. 3 April 2013. By Andrew Bain,Features correspondent. Tarkine Tasmania. The Tarkine, the planet’s second-largest temperate rainforest, is a magical world of ancient ...
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History of Tasmania. The history of Tasmania begins at the end of the Last Glacial Period (approximately 12,000 years ago) when it is believed that the island was joined to the Australian mainland. Little is known of the human history of the island until the British colonisation of Tasmania in the 19th century.
4 days ago · Tanzania, East African country situated just south of the Equator. Tanzania was formed as a sovereign state in 1964 through the union of the theretofore separate states of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Learn more about Tanzania’s people, economy, culture, history, and government here.
