TASMANIA

Australia formerly Van Diemen's Land island state of Australia, lying off the southeastern corner of the continent. formerly Van Diemen's Land island state of Australia, lying about 150 miles (240 kilometres) south of the state of Victoria, from which it is separated by the relatively shallow Bass Strait. Physically, Tasmania forms part of the Great Dividing Range. The state comprises a main island called Tasmania; Bruny Island, nestling close to the southeastern coast; King and Flinders islands in Bass Strait; numerous smaller islands off the coast of the main island; and subantarctic Macquarie Island, about 900 miles to the southeast. The main island is roughly heart-shaped, with a maximum length and width of about 200 miles, and its latitude and climate are broadly comparable to those of northern California and northwestern Spain. The smallest of Australia's states, Tasmania is slightly larger than the area of Sri Lanka; it comprises less than 1 percent of the total area of Australia. The capital is Hobart. The state owes its name to the Dutch navigator-explorer Abel Tasman, the first European to discover the island, in 1642, though until 1856 it was known as Van Diemen's Land, after the governor of the 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 continent, and it has a higher proportion of its land in national parks and reserves (21 percent) than any other Australian state. It also has much of Australia's hydroelectric power and displays a great diversity of natural resources. Throughout much of its history, Tasmania has experienced a net out-migration that has deprived the state of a wealth of talent but has contributed, perhaps disproportionately, to the leadership of the nation. Although insularity renders much of the political, economic, and social life distinctive, proximity to Melbourne and modern air travel make Tasmania less isolated and more progressive than is often assumed in other Australian states. Area 26,200 square miles (67,800 square km). Pop. (1996) 459,659. Additional reading J.L. Davies (ed.), Atlas of Tasmania (1965), offers comprehensive map coverage with detailed commentary. The Tasmanian Year Book (biennial) is the most comprehensive single reference. C.F. Burrett and E.L. Martin (eds.), Geology and Mineral Resources of Tasmania (1989), is also useful. Margaret Stones and Winifred Curtis, The Endemic Flora of Tasmania, 6 pt. (196776), is a definitive study, beautifully illustrated. W.A. Townsley, The Government of Tasmania (1976), is a good political guide. The great 19th-century history is by John West, The History of Tasmania, 2 vol. (1852, reissued in 1 vol., 1971); its successor is by Lloyd Robson, A History of Tasmania, 2 vol. (198391), who has also written A Short History of Tasmania (1985). Outstanding historical monographs include Peter Bolger, Hobart Town (1973); Geoffrey Blainey, The Peaks of Lyell, 4th ed. (1978), on copper mining; and Marilyn Lake, A Divided Society: Tasmania During World War I (1975). P. Conrad, Down Home: Revisiting Tasmania (1988, also published as Behind the Mountain: Return to Tasmania, 1989), is an account by an intellectual aghast at the oddities of his native spot. Peter Scott Michael Roe