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Tasmania (English: Tasmania, Australian-English often Tassie; formerly: Van Diemen’s Land) is an island located about 240 km south of the Australian mainland. Tasmania is a separate Australian state, which also includes several small, mostly uninhabited island groups in the region. The capital of Tasmania is Hobart.
Geography
Tasmania, as the largest island of the Australian Federation, covers 0.89% of the total area of Australia with 68,400 km2 (excluding offshore islands 64,519 km2, 296 km north-south extension and 315 km from east to west). The island is dominated by mountains and plateaus up to about 1,600 m above sea level. The highest elevation is Mount Ossa (1,617 m).
Tasmania is located between 40° and 44° south latitude and between 144° and 149° east longitude. The island is located on the southern tip of the Australian continental shelf and is approximately the size of Ireland. It is by far the largest of the over a hundred islands of the Bass Archipelago. Macquarie Island, located 1300 km to the south, is also part of the state of Tasmania.
There are still relatively many natural landscape types on Tasmania. About a quarter of the island is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, 37% of the island consists of national parks. The landscape at Cradle Mountain as well as the untouched and partially inaccessible wilderness of the southwest are particularly impressive.
Compared to the mainland, Tasmania offers the visitor a completely different, independent picture. The landscape is varied and reminiscent of the British Isles, Scotland or New Zealand. The sparsely populated island offers rugged mountains, cool temperate rainforests, picturesque lakes, rivers and waterfalls, breathtaking coastal scenarios and many unexplored regions. In contrast to this, although not predominantly, are green pastures, fragrant lavender fields and large orchards.
Flora and fauna have a few surprises in store: the Tasmanian Devil (Tasmanian Devil) is a black and very lively marsupial rat that resembles a small dog. It is the only carnivorous marsupial in Australia. The Tasmanian tiger is considered extinct, but mysterious sightings are repeatedly reported. The marsupial wolves are/were about the size of sheepdogs and wore a striped coat. Many waterfowl are native to the coasts of Tasmania. Unique are huon trees (Huon Pines), which grow very slowly and live for over a thousand years. In the valleys of the southwest and northeast, Californian redwoods and swamp gums (eucalyptus species) grow, reaching up to 95 m in height.
Is Tasmania part of Australia or its own country?
What language is spoken in Tasmania?
What is Tasmania famous for?
Does Tasmania have snow?
