SMITHTON

town, northwestern Tasmania, Australia, at the mouth of the Duck River on Duck Bay. The site was included in a grant made to the Van Diemen's Land Company in 1825 and was settled the next year. Smithton is the centre of Circular Head municipality. On the Bass Highway and a rail line to Launceston (110 miles southeast), the town serves a productive dairy-, vegetable-, and potato-farming region. Its industries include dairying (butter and cheese), bacon processing, vegetable canning, sawmilling, and lime quarrying. A fishing fleet operates from Smithton's port. Pop. (1991) 3,495.