Tasmania — Overview
Lush rainforests, soaring peaks, white-sand beaches and dense bushland characterize Tasmania, Australia's island state. Enchanting forests feature the world's tallest and rarest trees, and some of the most beautiful spots in Australia are to be found on this, the smallest of the country's six states.
Situated south of mainland Victoria in southeast Australia, Tasmania was named after a Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman, who sighted the island in 1642. Today it is home to half a million people, of which nearly half the population lives in and around the state capital, Hobart.
Tasmania harbors distinct wildlife, many of which are endangered or extinct elsewhere; the infamous Tasmanian devil, the spotted-tail and the eastern quoll are the three biggest carnivorous marsupials on the planet.
Geography
The island of Tasmania is located 240km (149 miles) south of Melbourne across the Bass Strait. Roughly heart-shaped, Tasmania is 296km (184 miles) long, ranging from 315km (196 miles) wide in the north to 70km (44 miles) in the south.
The diverse landscape is comprised of rugged mountains (snow-capped in winter), dense bushland (including the Horizontal Forest, so-called because the tree trunks are bent over parallel to the ground), tranquil countryside and farmland. Approximately 40% of Tasmania is protected in national parks and other reserves, over half of this being the World Heritage-listed temperate wilderness in the west of the island.
Featured Tours to Tasmania
iExplore Tasmania Experience
This island-state off the Australia's southern coast, known as "Tassie" by the locals, is perhaps best known outside of Australia as the…
