Q 01/05

What is the capital city of Tasmania?

A) Hobart

B) Launceston

C) Devonport

D) Burnie

Answer · why

A) Hobart

Around 40 percent of Tasmanians live in the Greater Hobart area, the lowest share of any Australian state capital.

Q 02/05

Which body of water separates Tasmania from mainland Australia?

A) Torres Strait

B) The Tasman Sea

C) The Great Australian Bight

D) Bass Strait

Answer · why

D) Bass Strait

The island sits about 240 kilometres south of the mainland.

Q 03/05

Tasmania is named after an explorer of which nationality?

A) British

B) Dutch

C) French

D) Portuguese

Answer · why

B) Dutch

Abel Tasman sighted the island on 24 November 1642 and named it for his sponsor, Anthony van Diemen.

Q 04/05

What was Tasmania called before it was officially renamed on 1 January 1856?

A) New Holland

B) Terra Australis

C) Van Diemen's Land

D) Trouwunna

Answer · why

C) Van Diemen's Land

The change was partly to distance the free-settler society from its convict past.

Q 05/05

What was Anthony van Diemen's job when Tasman named the island after him?

A) Admiral of the Dutch fleet

B) Mayor of Amsterdam

C) Stadtholder of the Netherlands

D) Governor of the Dutch East Indies

Answer · why

D) Governor of the Dutch East Indies

The British later shortened 'Anthony van Diemen's Land' by dropping the first name.