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Australia AustraliaIsland

Tasmania

65,022 km² rising to 1,617 m out of the Tasman Sea.

When to go

Tasmania seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
HobartLauncestonDevonportBurnieBlackmans Bay
N 50 km

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

65,022km²

Area

2,131km

Coastline

measured on a simplified outline

1,617m

Highest point

Mount Ossa

536,600

People

17°C

Warmest sea

February

216km

To the mainland

When to go to Tasmania

Best to visit from January to February.

The sea is warmest in February (17 °C) and coolest in September (12 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.

Island of Australia (for the state of Australia consisting of this island and nearby isles)

Tasmania is an island in Australia. It covers 65,022 km², with 2,131 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Ossa, rises to 1,617 m. About 536,600 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 216 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

On the island

What you find on Tasmania.

This island is too large to count beaches and viewpoints in a meaningful way.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Tasmania in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Tasmania, each with its own numbers.

  • 232beaches and covesCoastya
  • 204lakesLakeyas
  • 23waterfallsCascadyas
  • Tallest waterfall

    160m

    Liffey Falls

    according to Cascadyas

  • Largest lake

    230km²

    Lake Gordon

    according to Lakeyas

  • Deepest lake

    200m

    Lake St Clair

    according to Lakeyas

  • Warmest lake

    23.6°C

    Briseis Hole

    surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas

  • Beach with the warmest sea

    18.6°C

    Ransons Beach

    sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

232 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

  1. Hawley Beach18.4°C
  2. Ocean Beach16.7°C
  3. Roaring Beach16.5°C
  4. Clifton Beach16.5°C
  5. Taroona Beach16.5°C
  6. Coningham Beach16.5°C
  7. Legacy Beach16.5°C
  8. Little Coningham Beach16.5°C

224 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗

204 lakes

on Lakeyas, the lake atlas

  1. Lake Gordon230km²
  2. Great Lake148km²
  3. Arthurs Lake51.7km²
  4. Lake Sorell45.7km²
  5. Lake Burbury36.6km²
  6. Lake King William31.9km²
  7. Lake St Clair200 m deep28.0km²
  8. Dove Lake0.86km²

196 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

23 waterfalls

on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas

  1. Liffey Falls160m
  2. St Columba Falls90m
  3. Delaneys Falls25m
  4. Russell Falls
  5. Lady Barron Falls
  6. Dip Falls
  7. Nelson Falls
  8. Horseshoe Falls

15 more on CascadyasCascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 383 m above the sea. 34 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 9 %0–50 m
  • 24 %50–200 m
  • 37 %200–500 m
  • 25 %500–1,000 m
  • 5 %1,000–2,000 m

Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).

Size, for real

Next to islands you may know.

Tasmania65,022 km²
Iceland101,695 km²
Cuba106,092 km²

500 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Towns on the island

  • Hobart254,930 people
  • Launceston90,953 people
  • Devonport26,150 people
  • Burnie20,417 people
  • Sandy Bay11,727 people
  • Glenorchy10,647 people
  • Kingston10,154 people
  • Howrah8,317 people
  • Claremont7,629 people
  • Blackmans Bay6,890 people
  • Newnham6,481 people
  • Riverside6,303 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)1918161297668111416
Night low (°C)776432111246
Sea (°C)161717161514131212131415
Rain (mm)5542626274888611195766667
Wet days9810121415181816151312
Sun h/day9.88.77.35.64.33.73.84.76.07.88.59.2
Wind (km/h)141313131414141516151414

Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.

Recent years

Warmer and cooler years at sea.

Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020−0.3−0.2−0.4−0.2−0.5−0.1±0.0+0.2+0.1−0.1+0.7+0.3
2021+0.4+0.4+0.3+0.4+0.2+0.3+0.4+0.4+0.4+0.2+0.3+0.6
2022+1.0+1.4+1.3+1.4+1.0+0.4+0.1±0.0+0.2+0.6+0.6−0.1
2023+1.2+0.9+0.4+0.4+0.5+0.3+0.5+0.8+0.9+0.8+1.0+1.4
2024+1.4+1.2+1.1+1.4+0.8+0.5±0.0+0.6+0.4+0.7+0.8+1.0
2025+1.4+1.4+1.3+1.5+1.3+1.1+0.8+1.1+0.6±0.0−0.4−0.6

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Parque Nacional Cradle Mountain-Tasmania-Australia01
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 3.0
The Nuggets, Tasmania
VirtualSteve · CC BY-SA 3.0
Freycinet-Tasmania-Australia01
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 3.0
Highland Lakes Road near Great Lake, Miena, Tasmania 01
Chuq · CC BY-SA 4.0

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q3593416) · CC0
OutlineNatural Earth · public domain
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsCoastya, Lakeyas, Cascadyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit