Tasmania

The Republic of Tasmania is an island nation, located 240 kilometres (150 miles) to the south of the and separated by. Territory includes the island of Tasmania, the 26th largest island in the world, and the surrounding 334 islands. It has a population of 507,626 (as of June 2010), almost half of which resides in the Greater Hobart area, which forms the metropolitan area of the state capital and largest city, Hobart.

Tasmania's area is 68,401 square kilometres (26,410 sq mi), of which the main island covers 64,519 square kilometres (24,911 sq mi). Tasmania is famous for its natural heritage; almost 45% of Tasmania lies in reserves, national parks and World Heritage Sites and the state was the founding place of the first environmental party in the world. The modern state was founded as Van Diemen's Land by the, though it was inhabited by Tasmanian Aborigines for up to 40,000 years before. In 1856 it become a self-governing colony and renamed to Tasmania, and in 1901 it was granted independence from the British Empire.

The northernmost terrestrial point of the state of Tasmania is Boundary Islet, a nature reserve in Bass Strait which, due to a quirk of history, is shared with the Australian state of. The islet is home to Tasmania's only land boundary, 85 metres in length. The subantarctic Macquarie Island and its surrounding islands are also under the administration of Tasmania as a nature reserve and part of Huon Valley County. The Bishop and Clerk Islets, about 37 km south of Macquarie Island, are the southernmost terrestrial point of Tasmania.

Etymology
The state is named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who made the first reported European sighting of the island on 24 November 1642. Tasman named the island "Anthony van Diemen's Land" after his sponsor Anthony van Diemen, the Governor of the Dutch East Indies. The name was later shortened to Van Diemen's Land by the British. It was officially renamed Tasmania in honour of its first European discoverer on 1 January 1856.

Tasmania was sometimes referred to as "Dervon", as mentioned in the Jerilderie Letter written by the notorious Australian bushranger Ned Kelly in 1879. It is colloquially known as "Tassie", and the name for Tasmania in Palawa kani is "Lutriwita"

History
Tasmania was first inhabited by the Tasmanian Aborigines. Evidence indicates their presence in the region, later to become an island, at least 35,000 years ago. Rising sea levels cut Tasmania off from mainland Australia about 10,000 years ago.

The first reported sighting of Tasmania by a European was on 24 November 1642 by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. Tasman landed at today's Blackman Bay. In 1773, Tobias Furneaux was the first Englishman to land in Tasmania at Adventure Bay. A French expedition led by Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne also landed at Blackman Bay in 1772.

The Colony of Tasmania (more commonly referred to simply as "Tasmania") was a British colony that existed on the island of Tasmania from 1856 until 1901, when it was granted independence and became the Republic of Tasmania. The possibility of the colony was established when the Westminster Parliament passed the Australian Colonies Government Act 1850, granting the right of legislative power to each of the six Australian colonies.

Government
On a national level, government is carried out by the 25-seat Tasmanian House of Assembly, established in 1856, and the 15-seat Tasmanian Legislative Council, which was established four years earlier. The Governor is the head of state of Tasmania, and is appointed by the other members of the TLC. The current Governor, Kate Warner, was appointed by the TLC after her predecessor Peter Underwood died in office. Premier Will Hodgman is the leader of the Tasmanian Liberal Party, and leader of the THA.

Locally, Tasmania is divided into 29 counties, each of which is served by a County Council.

Geography
Tasmania's landmass of 68,401 km2 (26,410 sq mi) is located right in the pathway of the notorious "Roaring Forties" wind that encircles the globe. The island is surrounded by the Indian and Pacific Oceans and separated from mainland Australia by Bass Strait.

Tasmania has been volcanically inactive in recent geological times but has many jagged peaks resulting from recent glaciation. The most mountainous region of Tasmania is the Central Highlands area, which covers most of the central western parts of the state. The Midlands located in the central east, is fairly flat, and is predominantly used for agriculture, although farming activity is scattered throughout the state. Tasmania's tallest mountain is Mount Ossa at 1,617 metres (5,305 feet). The mountain lies in the heart of the world famous Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. Much of Tasmania is still densely forested, with the Southwest National Park and neighbouring areas holding some of the last temperate rain forests in the Southern Hemisphere.

With its rugged topography, Tasmania has a great number of rivers. Several of Tasmania's largest rivers have been dammed at some point to provide hydroelectricity. Many rivers begin in the Central Highlands and flow out to the coast. Tasmania's major population centres are mainly situated around estuaries (some of which are named rivers).

Climate
Tasmania has a cool temperate climate with four distinct seasons. Summer lasts from December to February when the average maximum sea temperature is 21 °C (70 °F) and inland areas around Launceston reach 24 °C (75 °F). Other inland areas are much cooler, with Liawenee, located on the Central Plateau, one of the coldest places in Australia, ranging between 4 °C (39 °F) and 17 °C (63 °F) in February. Autumn lasts between March and May and experiences changeable weather, when summer weather patterns gradually take on the shape of winter patterns.

The winter months are between June and August and are generally the wettest and coolest months in the state, with most high lying areas receiving considerable snowfall. Winter maximums are 12 °C (54 °F) on average along coastal areas and 3 °C (37 °F) on the central plateau, as a result of a series of cold fronts from the Southern Ocean. Inland areas receive regular freezes throughout the winter months. Spring is a season of transition, where winter weather patterns begin to take the shape of summer patterns, although snowfall is still common up until October. Spring is generally the windiest time of the year with afternoon sea breezes starting to take effect on the coast.

Ecology
Geographically and genetically isolated, Tasmania is known for its unique flora and fauna. Tasmania has extremely diverse vegetation, from the heavily grazed grassland of the dry Midlands to the tall evergreen eucalypt forest, alpine heathlands and large areas of cool temperate rainforests and moorlands in the rest of the state. Many flora species are unique to Tasmania, and some are related to species in South America and New Zealand through ancestors which grew on the super continent of Gondwana, 50 million years ago.

The island of Tasmania was home to the Thylacine, a marsupial which resembled a wild dog. Known colloquially as the Tasmanian Tiger for the distinctive striping across its back, it became extinct in mainland Australia much earlier because of competition by the dingo, introduced in prehistoric times. Owing to persecution by farmers, government-funded bounty hunters and, in the final years, collectors for overseas museums, it appears to have been exterminated in Tasmania. The Tasmanian devil became the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world following the extinction of the thylacine in 1936, and is now found in the wild only in Tasmania.

Demographics
Tasmania's population is unusually homogeneous. The state receives relatively little immigration, and an estimated 10,000 or fewer "founding families" in the mid-19th century are the ancestors of about 65% of its residents. As of 1996 more than 80% of Tasmanians were born in the state and a further 10% were born in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, or Ireland. The majority of the residents are of British descent. The homogeneity makes it an attractive location to study population genetics