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Tasmania 
As Australia's only major island, Tasmania was an attractive option to locate a penal settlement once Britain decided to ship convicts to Australia in the late 1700s.
The first European to see the island was a Dutchman, Abel Tasman, in 1642 and is why Tasmania is named as it is. Tasman originally called the island Van Diemen's Land after the governor of the Dutch East Indies. Most early European visitors to the island thought it was connected to the Australian mainland and it was not proven to be an island until Matthew Flinders sailed around it in 1798.
Hobart was established in 1804, and although some convicts were in Hobart at the start, the first penal settlements were only established in 1821, 1825 and 1832.
Van Deimen's Land had a fearsome reputation because of the terrible conditions that convicts endured, and after the last convicts were sent to the island, it officially became Tasmania.
Related weblinks -
• Visit the Tasmanian government website for information on Tasmania -
http://www.tas.gov.au
• Take a look at what Tasmania has to offer -
http://www.discovertasmania.com
• Check out this Encyclopedia entry about Tasmania -
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Tasmania