TASMANIA. A State of Australia occupy ing the island of Tasmania with its neighbor ing islands. The island of Tasmania, formerly called Van Diemen's Land, lies between latitudes 40° 33' and 43° 39' S. and longitudes 144° 39' and 148° 23' E. It is separated from the south eastern portion of the Australian continent, the coast of Victoria, by Bass Strait, 140 miles wide; the Indian Ocean bounds the island on the west, and the Pacific on the east, the two meeting at its southern extremity. Tasmania is of nearly triangular shape, measuring 200 miles from north to south and 245 miles from east to west. The area of the main island is 24,331 square miles, and of the State, including the smaller islands, 26,335 square miles.
Tasmania is an ancient plateau,which has been extensively and irregularly dissected by the action of running water. In the west central portion there still remains an extensive plateau region with a nearly uniform height of 3000 to 4000 feet, though some isolated peaks and ridges are scattered over it. In the northwest this plateau reaches an altitude of 5069 feet in Cradle Mountain, the highest point of the island. In the northeastern corner of the island there is a similar plateau remnant, but between the two there is a series of great valleys extending from the mouth of the Tamar in the north to that of the Derwent in the south and affording the route for the main railroad line. The re maining parts of the island are cut up into a. maze of deep valleys and high ridges and peaks, often of a precipitous character. There are about. 20 peaks over 4000 feet high scattered through nearly every part of the island. The coasts are generally bold, and in the southeast are irregu larly indented with fiords and harbors suggesting, together with the generally lower level of the surrounding mountains and the outlying islets, a subsidence of the land in this direction.
The central plateau is studded with a num ber of mountain lakes of considerable size, most of which feed the Derwent River. The rivers of Tasmania are large and numerous consider ing the size of the island. The most important are the Derwent and Huon in the south, the Gordon in the west, and the Tamar in the north, all of which enter the sea through large, navi gable estuaries.
The climate is more temperate and equable than that of the continent. At Hobart the mean temperature in summer is 62°, and in winter 47°, ranging to 100° and 29°. The rainfall varies greatly in the different localities, and depends largely on the degree of exposure to the west winds, which bring most of the moist tire. In the east the general average is 22 inches, in the north 30 inches, and in the west 40 inches, though some western localities have had 100 inches of rain in a year. In the west and south west, where the rocks are granitic and schistose, the soil is rather poor. In the central valley and in the northern and southeastern districts the Tertiary deposits have combined with volcanic detritus to form a very rich soil of a chocolate color.
The flora is essentiall• Australian, and close ly related to that of Victoria. There are mag nificent forests conthining acacias and the gi gantic eucalyptus, as well as other valuable timbers, such as the Huon pine (Dacrydium, Franklini). The conifers are well represented, there being 9 species peculiar to the island, and of the 1100 species of angiosperms, or higher plants, over 250 are restricted to Tasmania. The fauna, though also distinctively Australian, in cludes several mammals unknown on the main land. The most remarkable of these are two carnivorous marsupials, the Tasmanian wolf and the Tasmanian devil. See DASYURE.
The central table land and the western and southern portions consist mainly of Arehtean granites, crystalline schists, and quartzites over laid by much eroded Paleozoic rockr.. Toward the coast Mesozoic and Tertiary formations ap pear, chiefly as sandstones, while throughout, but especially in the east, there are extensive volcanic outpourings, dikes of porphyry and greenstone, and large fields of basalt of Tertiary age. The latter, capping and protecting the softer sandstones, are largely responsible for the rugged and irregular nature of the surface. Considerable beds of coal and lignite appear in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic formations. Rich iron ores occur along the north coast, and tin, lead, plumhago, and some gold have been found in various parts of the island.