Question

The capital of Tasmania is _________
a. New Castle
b. Hobart
c. Launceston
d. Perth

Answer 1

Hint:
The island was permanently settled by the Europeans as a criminal arrangement of the British Empire in 1803 in order to avoid territorial disputes by the First French Empire after the Napoleonic Wars.
Originally part of the Province of New South Wales, the island became an independent, self-governing colony under the name Van Diemen's Land (named Anthony van Diemen) in 1825.

Complete step by step solution:
- Tasmania is an island state in Australia with its capital as Hobart.
- It is situated 240 km (150 mi) south of the Australian mainland, split by the Bass Strait.
- The state includes the main island of Tasmania, the 26th largest island in the world, and the adjacent 334 islands.
- The state has a population of roughly 540,000 as of March 2020. The state capital and largest city is Hobart, with about 40 % of the population live in the Greater Hobart area.
- Tasmania has an area of 68,401 km2 (26,410 sq. mi), of which the main island occupies 64,519 km2 (24,911 sq. mi).
- It is marketed as a natural state, and Tasmania's conservation reserves occupy nearly 42% of its land area, including national parks and World Heritage Sites.
- Tasmania was the founding site of the world's first environmental political party.
- The island is thought to have been inhabited by indigenous peoples for 30,000 years before the British colonization.


Hence, the correct answer is option B.

Note:
- Tasmania is named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who made the first European sighting of the island recorded on 24 November 1642.
- Tasman named Anthony van Diemen's Land after his patron Anthony van Diemen, the governor of the East Indies of the Netherlands.
- The British later changed the name to Van Diemen's Land.
- It was formally renamed Tasmania in honour of the first European discoverer on 1 January 1856.