Tasmania is Australia's only island State. Long periods of isolation from the mainland meant that the Tasmanian Aborigines developed their own idiosyncracies, and Tasmania is full of remnants of their heritage. But those in pursuit of history will find gruesome details. When British colonisers sought a new penal colony, Tasmania's isolation rendered it favorite, triggering years of tragic violence against its Aborigines. Eeriness haunts the Victorian streets of Launceston and the penal colony, Port Arthur. Tasmania's preserved buildings are aesthetically wonderful and historically shocking.

Tasmania's relatively small size contradicts its ecological diversity. Being an island, it harbors distinct wildlife, many of which are endangered or extinct elsewhere: the infamous Tasmanian devil, the spotted-tail and the eastern quoll are the three biggest carnivorous marsupials on the planet. Additionally, its island status has indirectly shaped its history. Tasmanian Aborigines displayed more resistance to invasion than mainland Aborigines because they had less land to escape to. War between colonisers and indigenous inhabitants meant that by 1876, the last full-blooded Tasmanian Aborigine had died, severing a link that had run roughly 60,000 years.

Tasmania has since sought to heal its historical scars by championing some of the most forward-thinking policies in Australia: outspokenly supportive of humane treatment for asylum seekers and keenly environmental. Indeed, Tasmania's countryside owes its conservation to decades of struggle – thankfully, considering some of the most beautiful spots in Australia are to be found here, from enchanting forests with the world's tallest and rarest trees, to 20 national parks with one of the world's last temperate-climate rainforests, to beautiful falls and soaring peaks.

Geography
A separate island located 240km (149 miles) south of Melbourne across Bass Strait. Roughly heart-shaped, Tasmania is 296km (184 miles) long, ranging from 315km (196 miles) wide in the north to 70km (44 miles) in the south. The island has a diverse landscape comprising rugged mountains (snow-capped in winter), dense bushland (including the Horizontal Forest, so-called because the tree trunks are bent over parallel to the ground), tranquil countryside and farmland. Approximately 40% of Tasmania is protected in national parks and other reserves, over half of this being the World Heritage-listed temperate wilderness in the west of the island. Located midway between Victoria and the northwest of Tasmania in Bass Strait lies King Island. This rich and fertile island, famous for its beef and dairy products, is regularly serviced by air carriers and is a popular tourist destination. To the northeast of Tasmania, also in Bass Strait, can be found Flinders Island, part of the Furneaux group of islands. Flinders Island is also popular with visitors and is particularly noted for its excellent coastal fishing and pristine beaches. Bruny Island, south of Hobart across the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, has superb beaches and an abundance of marine wildlife. The two parts of the island are joined by a narrow isthmus of sand dunes, the home of Fairy Penguins from August to April.