Tasmania

Tasmania is a small Island, and state in Australia. Its population is approximately 1 million and its capital, Hobart, has a population of just over 400 000 people.

Early History

Prior to contact from Europe, Tasmania was home to a number of indigenous groups, closely related to the Maoris of New Zealand, with whom they traded and occasionaly fought wars. Unlike Aboriginals to their north, they were not nomadic people and settled in villages, traded with each other and developed agriculture.

Around 1600, various tribal groups were united under a central chief (Chief Treponema). For unknown reasons, the number of inhabitants of the Island fell rapidly during the 17th century until less than about 10 000 people were left.

European Colonization

Tasmania was first discovered by French explorers attempting to locate a safer passage from the Cape of Good Hope to China and Japan. It wasn't claimed until Captain James Cook of Great Britain explored the coast of Australia and found Tasmania to the south. It was settled as Australia's second penal colony under Tasmania's first Governor, Captain B Newton.

Gold Rush

The colony of Tasmania declined further shipments of convicts after gold was found west of Hobart in 1835. The discovery of gold caused a rush of immigrants from the mainland and overseas. At one time, there were 10 times as many males as females in the colony- a situation which Governor L Patterson attempted to correct by paying females to immigrate to the new colony. Unfortunately, the payment of females was not a complete success with cases of immigrants providing false passports and accepting payments under false claims.

Modern Era

Tasmania joined the Australian federation in 1900, a move that was not supported by a significant minority of the voting population. In 2004, a referendum to leave the federation was only just defeated (it required a majority in both houses as well by voters and failed to gain a majority in the upper house).