The island of Tasmania, is located 200 km south of the eastern side of the continent Australia, being separated from it by Bass Strait. Tasmania has a population of 484,700 (March 2005, ABS) and an area of 68 332 km² (26,383 square miles). Tasmania promotes itself as the Natural State owing to its large, and relatively unspoilt, natural environment. 40% of Tasmania is formally in reserves, National Parks and World Heritage Sites. The capital and largest city is Hobart, which also encompasses the cities of Glenorchy and Clarence. Other major population centres include Launceston in the north, and Devonport and Burnie in the northwest.

Tasmania is located at latitude 40° South, longitude 144° East, right in the pathway of the notorious "Roaring Forties" wind that encircles the globe. Tasmania has a climate rather like England. The seasons are opposite to that of the Northern Hemisphere. Summer is from December to February when the average maximum temperature is 21 °C (70 °F). Winter is from June to August with an average maximum temperature of 12 °C (54 °F).

The annual rainfall varies from 626 mm (25 inches) in Hobart to 2400 mm (94 inches) on the west coast. The prevailing weather pattern is from west to east and creates a rain shadow in the same direction. The weather on the east coast is nearly always warmer and drier than the rest of the state. Rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year. Tasmania has four distinct seasons. Summer is warm with sunny days and mild evenings. Thunderstorms are normal in early summer. The weather is more stable between the months of February and April, from mid summer to late autumn. Autumn provides the classical transition to winter with very cool to frosty nights and clear cool days with deciduous trees displaying autumn colours and losing leaves. Winter is characterised by sudden storms, shorter daylight hours and snow on the higher peaks (Mt Ossa 1,617 m / 5300 ft the highest ).

All these factors contribute to the make-up of Tasmania and producing vegetation which is extremely diverse, from tall evergreen eucalypt forest, alpine heathlands and large areas of cool temperate rainforests and moorlands. Many flora species are unique to Tasmania, and some are related to species in South America and New Zealand through ancestors which grew on the super continent of Gondwanaland, 50 million years ago.

The fastest and cheapest method of travel across Bass Strait is by air. The main carriers are Qantas and its subsidiary JetStar, and Virgin Blue, which fly direct routes to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide. Major airports include the Hobart International Airport and Launceston Airport; the smaller airports, Burnie and Devonport, are serviced by Regional Express and Qantaslink, which generally fly only to Melbourne and the Bass Strait islands.

The domestic sea route is being serviced by the Bass Strait passenger/vehicle ferries operated by the Tasmanian Government-owned TT-Line (Tasmania). From 1986 the Abel Tasman made six weekly overnight crossings between Devonport and Melbourne. It was replaced by the Spirit of Tasmania in 1993, which performed the same route and schedule. The most recent change was the 2002 replacement of the Spirit by two Superfast ferries - Spirit of Tasmania I and Spirit of Tasmania II — which brought the number of overnight crossings up to fourteen, plus additional daylight crossings in peak times. In January 2004 a third ship, the slightly smaller Spirit of Tasmania III, started the Devonport to Sydney route. This service was axed by the Tasmanian Government in June 2006 due to low passenger numbers. Two container ships owned by Toll Shipping also make daily crossings between Burnie and Melbourne. The port of Hobart also serves as a host to visiting cruise ships and before the September 11, 2001 attacks was a regular port of call for United States Navy ships returning home from the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf.

The state is also home to International Catamarans, a manufacturer of very high-speed aluminium vessels (commonly known as SeaCat) that broke records regularly when they were first launched. The state Government tried using them on the Bass Strait run, but eventually the decision was made to discontinue the run due to concerns over viability and the suitability of the vessels to the sometimes extreme weather conditions experienced in Bass Strait.

Tasmania, Hobart in particular, serves as Australia's chief sea link to the Antarctic and south Pacific Ocean, with the Australian Antarctic Division located in Kingston. Hobart is also the home port of the French ship l'Astrolabe which makes regular supply runs to the French Southern Territories near and in Antarctica.

Hobart also has the second deepest natural port in the world, second to only Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Within the state, the primary form of transport is by road. Since the 1980s, many of the state's highways have undergone regular upgrades. These include the Hobart Southern Outlet, Launceston Southern Outlet, Bass Highway re-construction, and the Huon Highway.

Rail transport in Tasmania consists of narrow gauge lines to all four major population centres and to mining or forestry operations on the west coast and in the northwest. Services are operated by TasRail, a Pacific National subsidiary. Regular passenger train services in the state ceased in 1977; the only trains are for freight, and there are tourist trains in specific areas. In 2005 there were concerns that the rail service was in so much trouble that it might stop for everything but cement haulage.

The West Coast Wilderness Railway is a good example of a recently rebuilt tourism-specific railway (2002).

Information provided by Wikipedia.