Facts & Stats

Geography
Tasmania is the smallest state of the Commonwealth of Australia.

It is an island about 250 kilometres (150 miles) south of the state of Victoria, across Bass Strait.
Tasmania lies between latitudes 40 degrees and 44 degrees south, and between longitudes 143 degrees and 149 degrees east.

It has many offshore islands, including Macquarie Island, which lies close to the point 54 degrees south, 159 degrees east.  It is estimated that Tasmania includes 334 islands.

Size
At 315 kilometres (189 miles) west to east and 286 kilometres (175 miles) north to south, Tasmania is comparable in size with the Scotland (UK), West Virginia (USA) and Hokkaido (Japan).

The area of Tasmania is 68,331 square kilometres (26,376 square miles).

Total length of Tasmania’s coastline (including islands) is approximately 5,400 kilometres.

Highest mountain – Mt Ossa 1617 metres

Longest river – South Esk 201 kilometres

Largest lake – Lake Gordon 272 square kilometres (man-made)

Population
The population of Tasmania is 486,000 (ABS September 2005).
Main centres are Hobart (the capital city with 205,000 people), Launceston (98,500), Burnie (21,000), and Devonport (26,000).

Politics
The State Government of Tasmania is centred in Hobart and legislates with residual powers (powers not reserved for the Commonwealth).

The Tasmanian Parliament consists of the House of Assembly (lower house) and the Legislative Council (upper house).

All laws must receive royal ascent from the monarch’s representative, the Governor of Tasmania.

www.parliament.tas.gov.au
www.tas.gov.au

Climate
Named ‘Best Temperate Island in the World’ in 1999 and 2000 by Conde Nast Traveler, Tasmania has a mild, temperate maritime climate, with four distinct seasons.

Summers are mild, with any hot periods rarely lasting more than a few days.

Winters are not excessively cold, especially compared to places at similar latitudes in the northern hemisphere, thanks to the sea’s moderating influence.

Hobart has the second lowest rainfall (after Adelaide) of all Australian capital cities, with an average annual rainfall of 626mm.

Check Australian Bureau of Meteorology

How to Get Here
Tasmania has four domestic airports: Hobart Airport in the south, Launceston, Devonport and Wynyard Airports in the north. Flying time direct from Melbourne is 1 hour 10 minutes and from Sydney 1 hour 50 minutes.

There are two passenger and vehicular ferries travelling to and from Tasmania. Spirit of Tasmania I and II depart Melbourne nightly taking approximately 10 hours to reach Devonport.

A number of luxury cruise ships from around the world make Tasmania one of their destinations, with Hobart as the primary port. In 2005, 31,500 people came to Tasmania as cruise ship visitors.

Visitor Statistics Page