Tasmania has more than 505,000 people and the population is steadily growing.
The population is divided almost equally between a cluster of relatively large centres in the north, including Launceston and Devonport, and the state’s capital, Hobart in the south.
Like the rest of Australia, Tasmania’s modern population is primarily descended from white Europeans, mainly English and Irish. The island’s original Aboriginal population is thought to have migrated to Tasmania some 40,000 years ago, when the island was still connected to the Australian mainland.
Tasmania is slightly less ethnically diverse than Australia’s larger cities, but it does have a long history of migration. The first Chinese people in Tasmania came to look for gold in the late 1800s, along with French, Germans, Americans, Dutch, Greeks and Italians. The end of WWII saw many Polish people arrive, and in the 1970s many Vietnamese refugees came to Australia.
Most recently, many African refugees have come to call Tasmania home. These ethnic communities remain small and Tasmania does not have any overt ethnic neighbourhoods, such as a ‘Chinatown’. But there are clubs and places of worship for all peoples, along with restaurants serving food from all over the world.
Famous Tasmanians
Simon Baker – Actor
The Emmy and Golden Globe nominated star of The Mentalist was born in Launceston. He started out in Australian TV shows such as Home & Away before graduating to Hollywood, with roles in LA Confidential, The Devil Wears Prada and Land of the Dead.
Crown Princess Mary Donaldson of Denmark
Mary Elizabeth Donaldson is a former real estate agent and advertising account manager from suburban Taroona, south of Hobart, where she attended Taroona High School. After a chance meeting in a bar, in 2004 she married Prince Frederick, heir to the Danish throne.
Ricky Ponting - Cricketer
The former Captain of the Australian cricket team is regarded as one of the finest cricketers Australia has ever produced and internationally as one of the leading players of the modern game.
Errol Flynn – Actor
This Hobart lad’s roguish charm led him to Hollywood in the 1930s, where he soon became a major star. He is renowned as much for his swashbuckling roles in films such as The Adventures of Robin Hood and Captain Blood, as for his playboy lifestyle.
Alannah Hill – Fashion Designer
This internationally recognised designer spent her formative years in small, rural Tasmanian communities. After fifteen years working in a fashion boutique, she launched her own label in the 1990s, the success of which has led to a chain of stores throughout Australia and New Zealand.