Tasmania: Geography

Tasmania is an island off south-eastern corner of the Australian mainland. It is separated from the mainland by the Bass Strait, which is an average of 150 miles (240 kilometres) wide. The rest of Tasmania's coastline is on the Southern Ocean, in the south and west, and on the Tasman Sea in the east. From north to south, the maximum dimensions of Tasmania are 185 miles (296 kilometres) from north to south and 197 miles (315 kilometres) from east to west. Tasmania is also Australia's smallest state, consisting of a group of islands. Its total area, including the islands, is 42,574 square miles (68,119 square kilometres). Tasmania's most mountainous region is the Central Highlands, in the central and western parts of the state. By contrast, eastern central Tasmania (the Midlands) is flat and rural. South-western Tasmania is densely forested and its National Park has some of the last temperate rainforests in the Southern Hemisphere.