Hobart
- For other places named Hobart, see Hobart (disambiguation).
The state capital of Tasmania, Australia, Hobart is a city of 191,169 (census 2001) people on the estuary of the Derwent River in the state's south-east.
Located largely on steep hills up to the often snow-covered peak of Mount Wellington (approximately 1270 metres high), this picturesque little city is
a busy seaport, notably serving as the home port for Australia's and France's Antarctic activities, and supports several secondary industries (notably including a high-speed catamaran factory and a zinc smelter) as well as a vibrant tourist industry. Visitors come to the city to explore its historic inner suburbs, to visit the weekly craft market in Salamanca Place, as well as to use the town as a base from which to explore the rest of Tasmania.
Other local attractions include the Cadbury factory, and for a day trip places like Port Arthur, and the tesellated pavement, the Huon Valley, the Tahune Forest Air Walk, Cockle Creek (the southernmost point reachable by car) and the walk to South Cape Bay Beach which also forms part of a 6 day walk to South Western Tasmania.
Hobart is internationally famous among the yachting fraternity as the finish of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race which starts in Sydney on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas Day).
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark was born and raised in Taroona, a southern suburb of Hobart.
History
Hobart is the second-oldest city in Australia (after Sydney). Amid British concerns over the presence of French explorers, the first settlement was started in 1803 as a penal colony at Risdon Cove on the eastern shores of the Derwent River. In 1804 it was moved to a better location at the present site of Hobart at Sullivan's Cove. The area's original inhabitants were members of the semi-nomadic Mouheneer tribe. A series of bloody encounters with the Europeans and the effects of diseases brought by the settlers forced away the aboriginal population, which was rapidly replaced by free settlers and the convict population.
Charles Darwin visited Hobart Town in
Geography
The greater Hobart area today is covered by five councils - the city councils of Hobart, Glenorchy and Clarence, as well as a small part of Kingborough and Brighton municipalities.
See also: Local Government Areas of Tasmania
