Facts about Tasmania
The growth of industry prompted increasing penetration into Tasmanian wilderness.
Rail transport in Tasmania consists of narrow gauge lines to all four major population centers and to mining and forestry operations on the west coast and in the northwest.
Significantly in the 1940s and 1950s there had been a notion of 'Hydro-Industrialization' embodied in the state by Hydro Tasmania.
Truganini (1812-1876) is generally recognized as the last full-blooded Tasmanian Aborigine, although there is strong evidence that it was in fact Fanny Cochrane Smith, who was born at Wybalena and died in 1905.
The endemic Tasmanian Emu was exterminated in the mid-nineteenth century.
Three of these are found only in Tasmania, the Tasmanian Tree Frog (Litoria burrowsae), the Tasmanian Froglet (Crinia tasmaniensis) and the recently discovered Moss Froglet (Bryobatrachus nimbus).
Legislatures called parliaments operate under a parliamentary system of government in which the executive is constitutionally answerable to the parliament.
School attendance is compulsory in Tasmania between the ages of six and 16 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate of 99 percent.
Tasmania's House of Assembly is the lower house of the Tasmanian parliament.
The form of the Government of Tasmania is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then.
Many flora species are unique to Tasmania, while 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.
Tasmania has the world's largest areas of dolerite, with many distinctive mountains and cliffs formed from this rock type.
The taste of aspartame is not identical to that of sugar: the sweetness of aspartame has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sucrose, and some consumers find it unappealing.
Australian rules is also a significant sport in Tasmania where Launceston regularly hosts home games of Hawthorn in the AFL.
The island of Tasmania was home to the Thylacine, a marsupial which resembled a wild dog.
The Devil survived European settlement and was considered widespread and common throughout Tasmania until recently.
Like a lot of wildlife, fast vehicles on roads are a problem for Tasmanian Devils, which are often killed while feeding on other road-killed animals such as wallabies.
Tasmania is governed according to the principles of the Westminster System, a form of parliamentary government based on the model of the United Kingdom.
Today, Tasmania is known for its extreme natural beauty with spectacular mountain, lake, and coastal scenery.
Sports are popular in Finland and many Finns regularly attend sporting events.
The Tasmanian Devil is a carnivorous marsupial found exclusively on the island of Tasmania.
Favorable economic conditions throughout Australia, cheaper air fares and two new Spirit of Tasmania ferries have all contributed to what is now a booming tourism industry.
Tasmania, Hobart in particular, serves as Australia's chief sea link to Antarctica, with the Australian Antarctic Division located in Kingston.
Given its island setting and dispersed development, transportation is especially important to Tasmania.
The state of Tasmania includes the island of Tasmania, nearby islands, and the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island.
Tasmania's history is one of grim and sometimes brutal relations with the indigenous Aboriginal people as well as having once been a harsh convict enclave.
The Aboriginal people in Tasmania were divided into nine main ethnic groups.
Colonial self-government came into existence in 1855–1856 and Tasmania became the colony’s official name.
Tasmania's Labor Premier at that time, Albert George Ogilvie, worked to procure federal grants to support capitalization projects, which softened the effect of the Depression.
The size of a small dog but stocky and muscular, the Tasmanian Devil is characterized by black fur with white patches.
Most soils on the Bass Strait Islands, the east coast and western Tasmania are very infertile Spodosols or Psamments, with some even less fertile "lateritic podzolic soils" in the latter region.
The only Tasmanian team in a major national sport is the Tasmanian cricket team which play in Australian domestic competitions.
Rainfall in Tasmania follows a complicated pattern rather analogous to that found on large continents at the same latitude in the northern hemisphere.
The Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle is a threatened endemic subspecies.
Other major employers include the Federal Group, owner of several hotels and Tasmania's two casinos, and Gunns Limited, the state's largest forestry company.
The domestic sea route is serviced by Bass Strait passenger/vehicle ferries operated by the Tasmanian Government-owned TT-Line (Tasmania).
Tasmanian Aborigines, thought by many to be extinct, began to assert their identity.
Traditionally Tasmania's main industries have been: mining, including copper, zinc, tin, and iron; agriculture; forestry; and tourism.
Tasmania's Legislative Council is the upper house of the Tasmanian parliament.
Tasmania has been volcanically inactive in recent geological times and has rugged mountain ranges over much of its land area.
Under the Australian Constitution, Tasmania ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas.
Tasmania is home to the largest breeding population of Growling Grass Frogs (Litoria raniformis), a vulnerable species, which has declined over much of its range.
Environmentalists fought its construction and failed, but the battle spawned what many consider the world’s first Green Party, the United Tasmania Group, later known as the Tasmanian Greens.
The settlement below Prague Castle became New Town of Prague in 1257 under King Prince P?emysl Otakar II; it was later renamed Lesser Town (Malб Strana).
Death Metal band Psycroptic hail from Tasmania and are one of the most prominent Australian metal bands.
Tasmania is separated from the Australian mainland by Bass Strait, which is typically rough, primarily a result of its shallow depth (typically around 60 m) and its susceptibility to Southern Ocean currents and swells.
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.
The first reported sighting of Tasmania by a European was on November 24, 1642, by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman.
Tasmania is also home to one of Australia's leading new music institutions, IHOS Music Theatre and Opera and gospel choirs, the Southern Gospel Choir.
Many birds of the Australian mainland and surrounding oceans are also found in Tasmania.
Other events include the road rally Targa Tasmania which attracts world-class rally drivers and is staged all over the state over a period of five days.
The Midlands in central east Tasmania is fairly flat by comparison and is predominantly used for agriculture, although various types of farming activity can be seen throughout the state.
A significant number of Tasmanians work for the government.
Tasmania is located in the pathway of the notorious "Roaring Forties" wind that encircles the globe.
Most soils on the Bass Strait Islands, the east coast and western Tasmania are very infertile Spodosols or Psamments, with some even less fertile "lateritic podzolic soils" in the latter region.
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.