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Main article: History of Tasmania
It is believed that the island was joined to the mainland until the end of the most recent ice age approximately 10 000 years ago.
Tasmania was once inhabited by an indigenous population, the Tasmanian Aborigines, and evidence indicates their presence in the territory, later to become an island, at least 35 000 years ago. The indigenous population at the time of British settlement in 1803 has been estimated at 5 000, but through persecution (see Black War and Black Line) and disease the population was decimated (some mixed-blood descendants still survive). The impact of introduced diseases, prior to the first European estimates of the size of Tasmania's population, means that the original indigenous population could have been somewhat larger than 5 000. The last full-blooded Tasmanian Aborigine was Truganini - she died in Hobart in 1876.
The first reported sighting of Tasmania by a European was on November 24th 1642 by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman who named the island Anthoonij van Diemenslandt, after his sponsor, the Govenor of the Dutch East Indies. The name was later shortened to Van Diemens Land by the British. Captain James Cook also sighted the island in 1777, and numerous other European seafarers made landfalls, adding a colourful array to the names of topographical features.
The first settlement was by the British at Risdon Cove on the eastern bank of the Derwent estuary in 1803, by a small party sent from Sydney, under Lt. John Bowen. An alternative settlement was established by Capt. David Collins 5 km to the south in 1804 in Sullivan's Cove on the western side of the Derwent, where fresh water was more plentiful. The latter settlement became known as Hobart Town or Hobarton, later shortened to Hobart, after the British Colonial Secretary of the time, Lord Hobart. The settlement at Risdon was later abandoned.
The early settlers were mostly convicts and their military guards, with the task of developing agriculture and other industries. Numerous other convict-based settlements were made in Van Diemens Land, including secondary prisons, such as the particularily harsh penal colonies at Port Arthur in the south-east and Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast.
Van Diemens Land was proclaimed a separate colony from New South Wales, with its own judicial establishment and Legislative Council, on December 3, 1825.Although the state is seldom in the world news, global attention turned to Tasmania on April 29 1996 when lone gunman Martin Bryant opened fire, killing 35 tourists and residents and injuring 37 others in an incident now known as the Port Arthur Massacre.
Recently it has also received attention with the 2004 wedding of former Hobart woman Mary Donaldson to Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, on May 14, 2004.
Cataract Gorge, near Launceston Main article: Geography of Tasmania
Tasmania is a rugged island of temperate climate, so similar in some ways to pre-industrial England that it was referred to by some English colonists as 'a Southern England'.
Geographically, Tasmania is similar to New Zealand to the east. As Tasmania has been volcanically inactive in recent geological times, Tasmania has 'rounded smooth' mountain ranges similar to mainland Australia, unlike most of New Zealand. The most mountainous region is the Central Highlands area, which cover most of the central west parts of the state. The central east area (the Midlands) is fairly flat, and is predominantly used for agriculture, although farming activity is also scattered around the state.
The South-West region, in particular, is densely forested, the National Park holding some of the last temperate rainforests in the Southern Hemisphere. Management of such an isolated and inaccessible area has been made easier and more reliable with the advent of satellite imaging.
Most of the population lives on and around the coastal rivers - the Derwent and Huon River s in the south, the Tamar and Mersey Rivers in the north.
The temperate climate (only Australian state with any land below the 40th parallel,) rustic environment and numerous historic features (for example, Richmond Bridge in south-eastern Tasmania is the oldest bridge in Australia) has made Tasmania a popular choice for retirees who prefer a temperate climate over a tropical one such as Queensland.
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