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'Hobart' is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony, it is Australia's second oldest and eleventh largest city, with a metropolitan population of approximately 202,000. The city is the financial and administrative heart of Tasmania, and also serves as the home port for both Australian and French Antarctic operations.

Contents

History

Geography

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Distinctive Features

Culture

Events

Entertainment

Media

Sport

Hobart in culture

Education

Transport

Famous Hobartians

References

External links

History

The first settlement was started in 1803 as a penal colony at Risdon Cove on the eastern shores of the Derwent River, amid British concerns over the presence of French explorers. In 1804 it was moved to a better location at the present site of Hobart at Sullivan's Cove. The city, initially known as 'Hobart Town' or 'Hobarton', was named after Lord Hobart the Colonial Secretary. 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 February, 1836 as part of the Beagle expedition. He writes of Hobart and the Derwent estuary in his ''Voyage of the Beagle'':

...The lower parts of the hills which skirt the bay are cleared; and the bright yellow fields of corn, and dark green ones of potatoes, appear very luxuriant... I was chiefly struck with the comparative fewness of the large houses, either built or building. Hobart Town, from the census of 1835, contained 13,826 inhabitants, and the whole of Tasmania 36,505.

But since the Derwent River was one of Australia's finest deepwater ports and was the centre of the Southern Ocean whaling and seal trade, it rapidly grew into a major port, with allied industries such as shipbuilding. Hobart Town became a city in 1842, and was renamed Hobart in 1875.

Geography

Hobart is located on the estuary of the Derwent River in the state's south-east at . The central business district is located on the western shore, adjacent to Sullivan's Cove, with the inner suburbs spread out along the shores of the Derwent and climbing up the hills at the foot of Mount Wellington (1270 metres). The Port of Hobart occupies the whole of the original Sullivan's Cove.
The Greater Hobart Metropolitan area consists of three self-governing cities, City of Hobart, City of Glenorchy and City of Clarence, plus the urbanised areas of the Municipality of Kingborough and Municipality of Brighton. The suburban areas cover a significant amount of both the western and eastern sides of the river. Apart from the city, the main commercial centres are Glenorchy (the ''northern suburbs'') and Rosny Park (the ''eastern shore''). The satellite town Kingston, south of the city, is fast becoming an outlying suburb of Hobart. Other surrounding towns such as Sorell, Margate, Brighton and New Norfolk are popular residential areas for commuters.
See also ''List of Hobart suburbs''

Climate

Hobart has a mild temperate oceanic climate, with four distinct seasons. The highest maximum temperature recorded was 40.8°C on 4 January 1976 and the lowest minimum was -2.8°C on 25 June 1972. Compared to other major Australia cities Hobart has the 2nd least daily average hours of sunshine, with 5.9 hours. Melbourne has the least. ^[1] The city rarely receives snow in Winter, however the adjacent Mount Wellington is often seen with a covering in Winter, and has received unseasonal snowfalls in all seasons including Summer.

'Climate Table'

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum temperature (°C)	21.6	21.6	20.1	17.3	14.4	11.9	11.6	13.0	15.0	16.9	18.6	20.3	16.9
Mean daily minimum temperature (°C)	11.8	12.0	10.8	8.9	6.9	5.2	4.5	5.2	6.4	7.7	9.2	10.8	8.3
Mean total rainfall (mm)	48.0	39.8	45.7	51.8	47.0	54.6	52.8	53.0	52.4	62.6	54.5	57.2	619.5
Mean number of rain days	10.9	9.4	11.3	12.2	13.4	14.0	14.9	15.2	15.1	16.4	14.2	12.9	159.9
'Source:' Bureau of Meteorology

:''See also:''

Demographics

The greater Hobart area has a population of around 245,000 (census 2005) people. The City of Hobart local government area has a population of 47,319 (census 2001). According to the 2001 census, approximately 17.5% of Hobart's urban residents were born overseas, mainly the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany and Italy.^[2]

Economy

Hobart is a busy seaport, notably serving as the home port for the Antarctic activities of Australia and France. It supports several other industries, 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 city as a base from which to explore the rest of Tasmania.

A leading manufacturer of high speed catamaran ferries, InCat is based here. Other local attractions include the Australian Cadbury chocolate factory, and for a day trip places like Port Arthur, and the tessellated 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.
The Cascade Brewery is located in South Hobart, near the natural spring waters of Mount Wellington. The Hobart surrounding area has many vineyards, including Moorilla Estate at Berriedale.
Nationally known bootmaker Blundstones is based in Moonah in the northern suburbs, however, it is to move it's operations offshore in 2007. National lottery company Tattersalls was founded by George Adams in Hobart but is now based in Melbourne.

Distinctive Features

The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens is a popular recreation area a short distance from the City centre. It is the second-oldest Botanic Gardens in Australia and holds extensive significant plant collections as well as built heritage.
Mount Wellington, accessible by passing through Fern Tree, is the dominant feature of Hobart's skyline, indeed many descriptions of Hobart have used the phrase "nestled amidst the foothills" to describe the city, so undulating is the geographical landscape. At 1271 metres, the mountain has its own ecosystems, is rich in biodiversity and plays a large part in determining the local weather. An attempt to construct a cable car from the Cascade Brewery to the summit in the early 1990s was met with vocal disparagement, indicating just how important Hobartians consider "The Mountain".
The Tasman Bridge is also a uniquely important feature of the city, connecting the two shores of Hobart and visible from many locations. This is a real icon of Hobart.

Culture

Events

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). The arrival of the yachts is celebrated as part of the Hobart Summer Festival, a food and wine festival beginning just after Christmas and ending in mid January. The Taste of Tasmania is a major part of the festival, where locals and visitors can taste fine local and international food and wine.
Hobart is the finish point of the Targa Tasmania rally car event held annually in April since 1991.
The annual Tulip Festival at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens is a popular Spring celebration in the City.
The Austalian Wooden Boat Festival is a bi-annual event held in Hobart celebrating wooden boats. It is held concurrently with the Royal Hobart Regatta, which began in 1830 and is therefore Tasmania's oldest sporting event.
Hobart also hosts the bulk of the Ten Days on the Island festival (http://www.tendaysontheisland.org/) a biannual international arts festival.

Entertainment

Australia's first legal casino was the 17-storey Wrest Point Hotel Casino in Sandy Bay, opened in 1973. It is still the tallest building in the city, despite being several kilometres out of the CBD, and is a nationally recognised icon.
The Hobart nightlife primarily revolves around Salamanca Place and the waterfront area, but popular pubs, bars and nightclubs exist around the city as well. Major national and international music events are usually held at the Derwent Entertainment Centre, or the Casino.
Popular restaurant strips include Elizabeth Street in North Hobart, and Salamanca Place near the waterfront. These include a large number of ethnic restaurants including Chinese, Thai, Greek, Italian, Indian and Mexican.
Hobart is home to Australia's oldest theatre, the Theatre Royal. It also has three Village Cinema complexes, one each in the city, Glenorchy and Rosny.
Hobart is home to the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, which is resident at the Federation Concert Hall on the city's waterfront. It offers a year-round program of concerts.
Hobart has also long been home to a thriving folk, punk, hip-hop, electro, metal and rock music scene. Nationally recognised musicians such as singer/songwriters Michael Noga (of The Drones), two thirds of indie rock band Love Of Diagrams, Tim Evans (of bands Sea Scouts, Mouth and Bird Blobs), Monique Brumby, blues guitarist Phil Manning (of blues-rock band Chain), power-pop group The Innocents and metal bands Psycroptic and The Ruins are all successful expatriates. In addition, founding member of Violent Femmes, Brian Ritchie, now calls Hobart home, and has formed a local band, The Green Mist.
Several festivals such as the Hobart Fringe Festival, Hobart Summer Festival, Southern Roots Festival, Ten Days On The Island and the Falls Festival in Marion Bay all capitalise on the Hobart's artistic communities.

Media

Hobart's major newspaper is ''The Mercury'', which was founded by John Davies in 1854 and has been continually published ever since. The paper is currently owned and operated by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited.
Television broadcasts in the city were restricted to two channels until 1986 - TVT-6 and the ABC. In 1986, multicultural broadcaster SBS began transmission to the city.
In 1994 market aggregation allowed Launceston based station TNT-9 (now Southern Cross Tasmania) to broadcast to Hobart as well. TVT-6 (since known as TasTV, now WIN Television) took on a Nine Network affiliation, with Southern Cross carrying both Seven and Ten programming.
All stations commenced digital broadcasting during 2003, and in December 2003, a fifth station, Tasmanian Digital Television (TDT) began broadcasting. TDT is a joint venture between Southern Cross and WIN. In March 2005 ABC2 the second ABC channel came on-line as well.
Commercial radio stations licensed to cover the Hobart market include HO FM, Sea FM (formerly Triple T) and Heart 107.3. Local community radio stations include Christian radio station Ultra106five, national award-winning youth station Edge Radio and radio station 92FM (which targets the wider community with specialist programs) which also transmits its signal through a translator on 96.1FM in the northern suburbs of Hobart. There is also one shortwave broadcaster based in the area, Hobart Radio International. The ABC has all five of its radio networks broadcasting to Hobart, via 936 ABC, Radio National, Triple J, Newsradio and ABC Classic FM.

Sport

Due to Tasmania's heavily distributed population, most Hobart sporting teams in national competitions are statewide teams. These include the Tasmanian Tigers cricket team, which plays home games at Bellerive Oval on the eastern shore. Despite Australian rules football's huge popularity in the state, Tasmania does not have a team in the Australian Football League. They do have a team (the Tasmanian Devils) in the VFL (Victorian league), and a team in the national league is a popular topic among supporters as well as the state government (one of the potential sponsors of such a team). Some AFL teams play scheduled games at Aurora Stadium (at York Park in Launceston) and occasionaly at North Hobart Oval.
Tasmania's small population and low sponsorship potential results in the state not being represented in national, rugby union, rugby league, netball, soccer and basketball leagues; although the Oasis Hobart Chargers do represent Hobart in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL).

Hobart in culture

★ Most recently, Hobart ranked 91st in "The Cities Book - A Journey through the Best Cities in the World" (published by Lonely Planet).^[3]

Education

Main articles: Education in Tasmania


Hobart is home to the main campus of the University of Tasmania, situated in Sandy Bay. On site accommodation colleges include Christ College, Jane Franklin Hall and St John Fisher College. Other campuses are in Launceston and Burnie.
Senior secondary colleges in the Hobart area include Hobart College, at the top of Mt Nelson just south of the city; inner-city Elizabeth College and St Michael's Collegiate School; The Friends' School in North Hobart; St Mary's College and Guilford Young College in North Hobart; The Hutchins School and Fahan School in Sandy Bay; Rosny College at Rosny on the eastern shore; and Claremont College at Claremont in the northern suburbs. Some of these colleges also function as community colleges, open to students outside the formal secondary school system. Many of these colleges are not exclusively colleges as they also provide primary and high school education.

Transport

Most public transport within the city is via an extensive network of Metro buses and some private bus services. The main arterial routes within the urban area are the Brooker Highway to Glenorchy and the northern suburbs, the Tasman Bridge and Bowen Bridge across the river to Rosny and the Eastern Shore, and the Southern Outlet south to Kingston and the D'Entrecasteaux Channel.
Leaving the city, motorists can travel the Lyell Highway to the west coast, Midland Highway to Launceston and the north, Tasman Highway to the east coast, or the Huon Highway to the far south.
Hobart is serviced by Hobart International Airport, and the smaller Cambridge Aerodrome (which mainly serves small charter airlines offering local tourist flights).
Like many large cities, Hobart once operated passenger tram services, a Trolleybus network consisting of six routes which operated until 1968. However, the tramway closed in the early 1960s and passenger rail services closed in 1980.

Famous Hobartians

★ Errol Flynn (1909-1959), a flamboyant Hollywood actor

★ Crown Princess Mary of Denmark (nee Mary Elizabeth Donaldson)

★ Regina Bird, winner of the 3rd season of the Australian version of the reality TV program ''Big Brother''

★ Hector Ernest Brooks (1894-1984), an early AFL Legend

★ Martin Bryant, gunman of the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre

★ Andrew Inglis Clark (1848-1907), founding politician of the Australian Electoral System

★ Charles Davis founder of Charles Davis Limited in 1847

★ Simon Ditcham, previously of Scandal'us

References

1. www.bom.gov.au
2.
3. "The Cities Book"

External links

★ Hobart City Council

★ Satellite image from Google Maps

★ Street map from Whereis.com