formerly Van Diemen's Land
Island (pop., 2001: 472,931) and state, Australia.
Located off the southeastern corner of the continent and separated from it by Bass Strait , the state has an area of 26,410 sq mi (68,400 sq km) that also includes numerous smaller islands. Hobart is the capital. Originally inhabited by Australian Aboriginal s, it was explored and named Van Diemen's Land by Abel Janszoon Tasman in 1642. Taken by the British in the early 1800s and made a colony in 1825, it was used as an auxiliary penal settlement until the 1850s. It was granted self-government and renamed Tasmania in 1856; it became a state of the Australian Commonwealth in 1901. Chief economic activities include copper, zinc, tin, and tungsten mining and livestock raising, especially for wool.